Need help choosing between Noctua D14 or Corsair H100

N

newster

Gawd
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Aug 22, 2004
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I have a 500R case and I am debating between these two coolers to cool my FX8120. The main concern is, I do not want to take out my motherboard, ever, because my CPU power cord was a huge PITA to run, and I never want to go through that ordeal again.

I like the Noctua because I am used to using air cooling, and it should be the quieter solution. However, I am also uneasy hanging such a heavy object on my motherboard.

I like the H100 because my case was designed to work with that, and I have enough fans for a push pull configuration, but I don't know if I can install it without pulling the motherboard.

If anyone has experience with these coolers, I would appreciate your insight. I am also open to recommendations on other coolers, but it needs to be sold by Amazon, as I am using accumulated Amazon points to buy it. Thanks for the help!
 
Performance-wise,H100 all the way.

Since the 500R has cut-out hole in the side panel,i believe that you can install the H100 easily without removing the motherboard,unless you put the PSU wires in the way.
 
afaik, unless you have a CPU backplate cutout, you'll have to remove the mobo either way. I'd say for the H100 as I've always been worried about hanging such a heavy cooler on the mobo!
 
I ended up going NH-D14 instead of the H100 for an upcoming build in a 550D. Reasons:

1) Price, D14 was on sale for $50
2) Noise, don't want pump noise.

The thing is stupidly large, and I am a bit worried about the weight of it, but people have been using them for over a year now so I assume it's ok.
 
It's big as fuck. But I love it. I just wish the fans weren't such an ugly color but it's in my case so I don't see it anyway.
 
Dunno if the H100 is different, but my H70 was very quiet, I never heard the pump over the damn graphics card fan :p
 
As far as I know, those corsair watercooling sets barely cool better than highest-end air coolers such as the noctua
 
kazaakas said:
As far as I know, those corsair watercooling sets barely cool better than highest-end air coolers such as the noctua
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its about on par with the noctua, but the difference is you don't have a 1200+ gram heatsink hanging off your motherboard with a small bracket holding it on that doesn't spread the weight across the entire board. plus it makes about the same amount of fan noise as the noctua..
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
its about on par with the noctua, but the difference is you don't have a 1200+ gram heatsink hanging off your motherboard with a small bracket holding it on that doesn't spread the weight across the entire board. plus it makes about the same amount of fan noise as the noctua..
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If you are not overclocking, try running the Noctua D14 passively, well semi-passive, no fans attached, yet the rear case fan 120mm fan as an intake blowing in on the cooler and a large 180mm Silverstone Air Penetrator or Cooler Master 200mm megaflow mounted as top exhaust just and inch or two away from the cooler pulling air up and thru the cooler via negative pressure. It works keeping my CPU a constant 30degrees at idle, during load it goes up to 37 per core but then recovers quickly, and the great thing is No Moving Parts=No Noise at all...ummm pump noise? what's pump noise? no pump.
 
The H100 isn't loud at 1 bar. 2 bars you can hear it. At 3 bars...you have a jet. But that's when you buy Noctua fans.
 
There's been a review for these two before, the only time the H100 beats the D14 is when the fan's are set at a higher rpm which get's quite noisy. I was in the same situation when deciding between the two and money for value and performance ratio the D14 is unbeatable. The only time I do recommend watercooling is when your going to custom loop ones, not the AIO because:

1. They are more expensive and depending on the price and model, similarly priced air coolers perform better.
2. At least with air coolers if a fan breaks or whatever, the HSF is of use to dissipitate heat passively, if the radiator with pump together breaks it will become a heat block. At least for custom watercooling loop systems, pumps and radiators are all separate and each component can be fixed and diagnosed separately. You'll void warranty if you for e.g. open up the radiator/pump housing of a H50 or H100.
3. Unless your overclocking, I see no reason to spend the extra for watercooling setups, even for something that doesn't produce alot of noise, the D14's are very quiet.

And finally this is just my opinion based on my experience, don't take it personally and don't want fanboys of AIO watercooling trolling or getting angry at this post. ;)
 
I went with the H100, and I have been pleased so far. I managed to overclock my CPU to 4.4 GHz at 1.4 volts and the H100 in silent mode manages just fine. Most importantly, the installation was easy. I didn't have to remove anything and I didn't even need to access the motherboard backplate, as the adapter for AM3+ uses the stock bracket. I would have loved to save a few bucks and went with the Noctua, but imagining having that thing hanging sideways off my motherboard really did not sit well in my mind. Thanks for the suggestions everyone!
 
newster said:
I would have loved to save a few bucks and went with the Noctua, but imagining having that thing hanging sideways off my motherboard really did not sit well in my mind. Thanks for the suggestions everyone!
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You think the Noctua D14 is bad ayeee??? You should have a feel and look at the limited edition TRUE 120 Copper Edition mounted on....thing puts every other heatsink in terms of weight to shame.:D
 
I have a d14 currently and im very impressed with the performance and quietness of it. No worries with the size and weight as the mounting system is superb. I considered the h100 but they are more expensive, noisier and perform no better than the d14. Easy choice in the end.
 
I love my Noctua D14 and would keep it if I weren't going for a mITX build. It's simply too enormous to to put on a small board and try to get a fullsize gpu on.
 
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