Hardware Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler Review

was my post invisible?

 

Maybe, but they're also not real-world tests. How many people do you know who run their systems outside of a case? Consistency is most important above all else, but I agree the case does add in another variable (although there enough variables as it is).

It's perhaps worth considering the cost of Noctua coolers isn't so much due to the cost of the heatsink itself, but the fans they comes with. In this case, it includes 2 fans which alone come to £35 if you were to buy them separately, or half the total cost.

It's just a shame the included fans don't appear to be up to the job, and for £70 I would expect a well designed HDT heatsink.

 

Exactly! A bit pricey!

I'm suprised there's barely any difference between the fans at full and low speeds, makes me wonder why most fans want to spin fast as default unless you use a fan controlling method.

Bit-tech did you take any pics of the cooler actually installed? It'd be nice to show people the kind of space this thing takes up.

I love my watercooling setup but it did cost about 5x the price of this cooler but it keeps my pc chilly and near silent and my 4870X2 is in the loop too so I could get rid of the NOISY fan on that! (and it looks beautiful in subtle glowing uv blue) only problem now is my heating bill has gone up (and my living room, where the pc is, still isn't as hot) as my previous PC was like an extra radiator in the room pumping out hot air!

EDIT: thanks for the interesting article BTW, I think bit-tech needs some love at the moment lol, don't listen to all the moaners!

 

i hear ya, but how many people own the cases they are using? not really a real-world scenario there either. sure, most people have a case, but not the ones they are using. open test benches removes that variable, but as you say there are others...

open test benches, standard tim...removes a couple big variables

 

re-donk-u-lous.

i'll stick with my $20 CM TX3. it doesn't make slushies, but i havent blowed anything up yet.

 

I second pretty much everything pointing out the poor case choice, surely the general public are more likely to have a lower grade case such as an Antec 300 or 900. These cases will skew the results somewhat but I do agree that bench testing isn't going to give accurate real world results.

If you argue that the Cosmos is an enthusiast grade case I'd have to ask you to reconsider and on that train of thought, guess which case I have. No, not one of those. A what now? Ah well, let me stop you there as it's uncommon but quite brilliant:

An Acme ACM826, it's a 6U rackmount case with a removable motherboard tray, dual PSUs and 2 rows of 4x80mm fans. It was free.

Enthusiasts either tend to be rich and buy the very best they can brand new, or they just take advantage of what they can find and my guess is that most are in that latter category in which case they wont have a Cosmos or anything of the sort. The only conclusion to be drawn there is that the case argument is pointless and for those of you who bothered to read this, "you read it! you cant un-read it!"

 

Sorry mate, but you are either lying/exaggerating, or your higher heating bill is entirely not related. Watercooling helps you remove the heat from your components faster and more efficiently, thus your room will be warmer. It's not like a WC loop employs magic that mysteriously destroys energy.

 

Few days back we reviewed this product on 1366 fitted in Stacker 830 and results were gr8…. Unfortunately never tested this cooler on AMD

Now coming back to its price tag we also believe that it’s a bit pricier but then again here in Pakistan only Cooler Master is available commercially for almost US$ 100 – 105.

 

lol..y not?!

 

lol are you doubting my energy destroying pc? (I haven't actually checked my heating bill BTW!)

Before on my last PC my 4870X2 idle temp was over 60degrees and there was always hot air coming out the back of my PC. Now the same card watercooled in new PC idles at around 24degrees and if i put my hand near any fan exhaust on my TJ07B there is a cool breeze.

 

How big is your radiator, and how many fans etc?

The fact of the matter is, that unless your case is storing a lot of the heat, there should be more heat coming out of it than there used to be. I have a triple rad in the roof of my Cosmos S, and because the heat is much more dispersed through the fan area than just the thin bracket slots, it did feel like less heat was coming out. But that was just because the heat wasn't nearly as densely dispersed. It's especially cool now, since I got rid of my 4870X2 (well, I say I got rid of it, but I died and I happened to come across an Asus Matrix GTX285 instead!), but even back in the day it felt like room temperature.

Those things do throw out a silly amount of heat!

 

I get 40-45 degrees C according to HW Monitor when I'm merely running Windows and a browser is open. I'm using the AMD reference cooler with Arctic Silver 5 for AMD Phenom II X4 2.5Ghz stock. Are these temperatures too high?

 

Idle temps don't matter (so long as they aren't redonkulous). What are your loads like?

 

Just ran Prime95 for ten minutes or so and the highest temps hit were 66C.

 

Was that with all of the cores loaded? It's a little high IMO, but should be okay. You could try reseating the HSF, I suppose... Check the fans, fan filters, level of dust, etc first tho'

Another way to look at the AMD high temps / case discussion would be to consider that BT have found a potentially expensive flaw in the cooler with this type of case.

*IF* they had used a case with a rear exhaust fan (and assuming the temps did lower significantly), this effect wouldn't have been discovered.

SouperAndy

 

Think I'll just have to swap it for a Titan Fenrir.

 

I don't see what everybody is complaining about. They tested all the different HSF's in the same case and this one performed worse. Regardless of the orientation of the exhaust the coolers were all tested in the same case and some did better, it's still pointing towards a problem with this cooler as no other variables were changed.

Fine review BT. Guess I'll be sticking with my 6420 with ref cooler on. God I need some money. (or more accurately, need to save some)

 

I understand what you are getting at. Here's my setup:

I suppose before all the GPU heat was being expelled with the 4870X2 reference cooler all in one place at the back of the PC which was under my desk keeping me warm.

Now the heat is spread out thru the waterloop and being expelled thru 3 radiator fans on the side pointing away from me (so i don't get the heat blowing my direction) and some heat will rise up and be expelled thru the top 2 case fans too (only had 1 intake & 1 exhaust case fans on last PC).

My new PC is on a stand next to PC desk now so I can show it off and so the roof fans are not blocked under a desk.

 

X-Bit Laboratories Review of NH-D14

For anyone who hasn't seen the review at X-bit Labs, take a look here:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/noctua-nh-d14.html

It has some good pics of optional installation methods and fan setups.

 

its too large and not enough of a performance gap I will still to my TRUE!