Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler / Heatsink Review @ [H]

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Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler / Heatsink Review - Noctua's new CPU cooler works with about any Intel or AMD processor still in use by enthusiasts, and packs a lot of cooling power into a huge package. Two fans, two columns of cooling fins, and six heatpipes are engineered to give the computer hardware aficionado more cooling at less decibels.

Sometimes determining the value of a heat sink is tough and sometimes it is easy. At the current time of writing this cooler is being sold for $88.00 USD. Now there is more to value than just the asking price.
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$88?!?! Holy crap. This is definitely not marketed for me lol. Thanks for the review!
 
88$ hahahahahaha

Is it april already? How do you make a part worse than the Thermalright and price it more.
 
There has to be a point where people say the sizes of these coolers are a bit out of hand. I know that I hit that point with my I7 cooler and looking to go the route of Corsair. I think this cooler does a good job but the price of it and the size for me is over the limit.
 
Well, remove the price of fans from the $88, and you will get to a totally different price level. Do you get a 1 or 2 fans with TRUE-120 ? No. Do you get 1 or 2 fans with Megahalem ? No.

So if you take the price of NH-D14 ($87.95) minus the price of 14cm fan ($24.95) minus the price of 12cm fan ($20.75) you are at $42.25.

The only direct competitor to NH-D14 is Thermalright IFX-14 - which is priced at $79.99, with no fan in price.

Is NH-D14 still priced high ? Don't think so.
 
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I think HS manufacturers are finding themselves stuck between a rock and a [H]ard place, pun intended. If they make it tall enough to clear the increasingly taller HS on ram, it will simply be too big to fit inside a case.
 
Stangs55 said:
A Noctua review without a comparison to the Noctua nh-u12p se? Really?
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they arent even in the same league so theres no reason to compare them.. the U12P doesnt beat the TRUE so why put it in there when you have the TRUE as the comparison..


and i completely agree with you faugusztin.. id take Noctua's over priced fans over anything, along with their warranty..
 
You guys need to use the same fan on all the heatsinks when testing out the temps with i7 overclocked and running P95.

Hardly anyone around here uses the stock fans that come with heatsinks....and usually high end heatsinks don't come with fans anyways.
 
DeadSkull said:
You guys need to use the same fan on all the heatsinks when doing the oc temps under load.

Hardly anyone around here uses the stock fans that come with heatsinks....and usually high end heatsinks don't come with fans anyways.
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great concept.. except 2 of the top heatsinks thats impossible to do on.. zalman and the NH-D14.. since the NH-D14 runs a 140mm and a 120mm fan and the zalman fan is the only one you can run on that heatsink... they usually do run heatsinks with that friggin loud high CFM fan.. but thats not possible with this heatsink..
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
they arent even in the same league so theres no reason to compare them.. the U12P doesnt beat the TRUE so why put it in there when you have the TRUE as the comparison....
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Because (please correct me if I'm wrong) it's a successor to the U12P SE2...
 
Wow the D14 did not perform well at all for its cost. If it was priced in the Megahalem range, that would be one thing. But another $15-18 premium over that just doesn't make any sense.
 
faugusztin said:
Well, remove the price of fans from the $88, and you will get to a totally different price level. Do you get a 1 or 2 fans with TRUE-120 ? No. Do you get 1 or 2 fans with Megahalem ? No.

So if you take the price of NH-D14 ($87.95) minus the price of 14cm fan ($24.95) minus the price of 12cm fan ($20.75) you are at $42.25.

The only direct competitor to NH-D14 is Thermalright IFX-14 - which is priced at $79.99, with no fan in price.

Is NH-D14 still priced high ? Don't think so.
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Umm.... or you can get a Rev C (55$) which and have 33$ to purchase a single fan with. Using just the 15$ 1600RPM fan it preforms better than the NH-D14. Lets review, 88$ worse preformance, 70$ better preformance.

Yes, I still think the NH-D14 is ludicrous.
 
The price/performance may be leveled if you are looking at 1156 coolers (of the more silent genre). The megahalem rev. b does not come with fans... if you are going to buy two, you'd be playing the same price for the D14 [at least in Canuck land - megahalems are also fairly hard to find out here for some reason]. But you do not get the power splitter for the fans and if this is the same as its predecessor, the resistive wires to slow down the fans.
 
Reading these replies some of you guys buy some expensive fans! Don't think ive ever payed over $10 or $15 max for one.
 
I just hate the beige fans. Putting anything beige in my pc goes against everything in my being. They need to come up with a different color.
 
I accept the facts stated in this review but I don't agree with the conclusions you draw from them.

For your $88 you get the cooler, two fans, and thermal paste. That is really quite good value compared to the price of buying any alternative cooler, fan(s) and paste (and you need all three). Especially considering that the fans and paste included here are very good choices. A "Performance / Dollar" graph taking into account 2 fans and good thermal paste for each cooler would look very different.

On the size issue (and consequential inability to fit all your RAM modules), well, the only problem I see here is the use of heatsinks on the RAM modules. I was under the impression that RAM heatsinks make no difference. These RAM modules, as just one random example, would seem to fit comfortably while offering high performance.

I also think it would have been beneficial to test the temperatures and fan noise with the Low Noise and Ultra Low Noise Adapters. These adapters might offer some nice options in terms of noise/performance tradeoffs.

I've read reviews of the NH-D14 elsewhere and had already formed a positive opinion of the product based off those reviews. I'm planning on buying a NH-D14 for my new PC build early next year. Your conclusions did not change my mind... I simply disagree with you.

That said, I am grateful to you for writing this review as an alternative viewpoint (to those stated at other sites) can at times be very helpful.
 
since the NH-D14 runs a 140mm and a 120mm fan and the zalman fan is the only one you can run on that heatsink... they usually do run heatsinks with that friggin loud high CFM fan.. but thats not possible with this heatsink..
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The fans on the NH-D14 are replaceable and you can run it with a single, dual (stock), or even triple fan config, so yes they could do an "apples to apples" test with a single fan.

I was very interested in [H]ard's eval as the NH-D14 is getting really good reviews everywhere else, and [H]ard manages to find things that slip through the cracks at other sites.
 
I expected better results from the D14, but then again you have the superior zalman cnps9900 beating every high end heatsink...
 
vengence said:
Umm.... or you can get a Rev C (55$) which and have 33$ to purchase a single fan with. Using just the 15$ 1600RPM fan it preforms better than the NH-D14. Lets review, 88$ worse preformance, 70$ better preformance.

Yes, I still think the NH-D14 is ludicrous.
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You can use a 1600RPM fan, for me that equals to damn noisy fan. 1000RPM is the upper limit for acceptable cooling/noise ratio of most fans.
 
The HTPC crowd isn't the only one who wants silent computing. There are those who want overclocked computers (in normal ATX cases) running as quietly as possible. This is the target market for the D14.

The closest competitor to this heatsink is the IFX14. Though the D14 cost $10 more, it comes with 2 excellent fans and some extra accessories. I'm interested in this heatsink because it has potential to be the best heatsink for overclocked but quiet computers - best of both worlds :) Basically, the question I am most interested in having answered is:
How does the D14 running with only the 14cm fan @ 800 rpm compare with Megahalems with a Scythe S-Flex @ 800 rpm (just as an example).
 
Oh no wonder your results are so different! You are doing open air testing...

Are you sure the ambient temperature is always the same?

I bet the Zalman cnps9900 would fare a lot worst inside a case.
 
88 bucks for CPU cooler? Gee what not just buy a faster cpu and be done with it?

Too much for me!

DM
 
faugusztin said:
Well, remove the price of fans from the $88, and you will get to a totally different price level. Do you get a 1 or 2 fans with TRUE-120 ? No. Do you get 1 or 2 fans with Megahalem ? No.

So if you take the price of NH-D14 ($87.95) minus the price of 14cm fan ($24.95) minus the price of 12cm fan ($20.75) you are at $42.25.

The only direct competitor to NH-D14 is Thermalright IFX-14 - which is priced at $79.99, with no fan in price.

Is NH-D14 still priced high ? Don't think so.
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Yup, this seems to be the point everyone is missing.

The performance/dollar ratio at the end of the review also seemed to be missing the fact that several of the coolers don't come with fans. The TRUE 120 Revision C is a great heatsink, no doubt, but what kind of 1600RPM fan was it using and how much did that cost? The price listed does not take into account the fans that it was using while the Noctua cooler comes with ~$50 worth of fans in the package.

Now, the difference in performance and noise (what I always look for) between the Noctua and the TRUE are very small so I reckon that the TRUE would still come out on top from a dollar/performance standpoint even with the fan included, but not by nearly as much of a difference as what the review is making it out to be. A single 120mm Noctua or Noiseblocker fan would easily add another $20-$25 to its price.

It would be much appreciated if Marc or Kyle could include the type and price of the fan used with the heatsinks in the testing.
 
some1x said:
The HTPC crowd isn't the only one who wants silent computing. There are those who want overclocked computers (in normal ATX cases) running as quietly as possible. This is the target market for the D14.
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Pretty much. My builds are fast but I also don't want to hear them. Its why I went with the Corsair 800D case, Corsair PSU, Noctua NH-U12P SE2 heatsink, components like that. What would have been most useful for users like me is a direct comparison between the NH-D14 and the NH-U12P. How much quieter is it, how much better does it cool? Based on the benchmarks it doesn't seem like the difference would be justified by the price, but maybe its better for overclocking, I dunno.
 
Now, the difference in performance and noise (what I always look for) between the Noctua and the TRUE are very small so I reckon that the TRUE would still come out on top from a dollar/performance standpoint even with the fan included, but not by nearly as much of a difference as what the review is making it out to be.
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Plus the TRUE is a nicer size. Still hard to beat it seems.
 
The problem with in-case-testing is:
Every case will yield different results. In some, the airflow from the PSU may affect the heatsink performance. In others, the airflow from then in-case fans will. And so on.

Open benchtable measurements though tell nothing about real-world scenarios. The Zalman fans are utter crap when put into a case, a normal Phenom 9850BE can reach 60°C in a Cosmos 1000 with a 9900 Zalman. With an IFX14 and only one single slow moving (>1000upm) fan, it will not reach 50°c in the same case. Plus, it will go from Boeing at startup to whisper quiet.

I think that Noctua fans are overpriced. Though I have to admit that they are very very good, even if their color scheme is... quite interesting.
Still, if I had to go for some reliable silent fans when building a case for someone else I would probably go for them.
Therefore, this heatsink would be a clear winner, since the price of the fans alone makes this not the looser, but the winner of the price-performance ratio.

And remember: It is almost the quietest cooler tested in the setup and among the most efficient even when tested in a way that favours less-well made coolers.
 
I just built a i7 920 system inside an Antec P183. Asus P6T and Scythe Mugen 2.

I've got mine running at 4.2 with 1.3v. Holy hell tho it was hard to get that heatsink on/installed then plug in all the cables.

The great thing about the Mugen 2 is the price, cooling ability, and noise levels. Give it a try H!
 
faugusztin said:
You can use a 1600RPM fan, for me that equals to damn noisy fan. 1000RPM is the upper limit for acceptable cooling/noise ratio of most fans.
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The 1600 RPM fan was 0.5dB QUIETER than NH-D14. I'm assuming it is the thermalright 1600rpm fan they sell for 15$.
Pyrolistical said:
Oh no wonder your results are so different! You are doing open air testing...

Are you sure the ambient temperature is always the same?

I bet the Zalman cnps9900 would fare a lot worst inside a case.
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The laws of physics suddenly change when you go into a case? If you have even 1/2 decent air flow you'll so no difference. If you don't have even 1/2 decent air flow you should be investing in a better case, not a high end heat sink.

And if you read the article it even says the measured the ambient air temp.


Serpico said:
Yup, this seems to be the point everyone is missing.

The performance/dollar ratio at the end of the review also seemed to be missing the fact that several of the coolers don't come with fans. The TRUE 120 Revision C is a great heatsink, no doubt, but what kind of 1600RPM fan was it using and how much did that cost? The price listed does not take into account the fans that it was using while the Noctua cooler comes with ~$50 worth of fans in the package.
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I've never thought much of their preformance/dollar ratio. But even after you add the fan you are still looking at a 70$ Rev C vs an 88$ NH-D14 that preforms worse.

Serpico said:
Now, the difference in performance and noise (what I always look for) between the Noctua and the TRUE are very small so I reckon that the TRUE would still come out on top from a dollar/performance standpoint even with the fan included, but not by nearly as much of a difference as what the review is making it out to be. A single 120mm Noctua or Noiseblocker fan would easily add another $20-$25 to its price.
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Sure. You actually have a 33$ fan budget and again the 15$ fan exceeds the "50$" worth of fans preformance and noise figures.

Serpico said:
It would be much appreciated if Marc or Kyle could include the type and price of the fan used with the heatsinks in the testing.
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YES!
 
faugusztin said:
You can use a 1600RPM fan, for me that equals to damn noisy fan. 1000RPM is the upper limit for acceptable cooling/noise ratio of most fans.
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Not sure what kind of fans you are using but I have an S-Flex 1900 RPM fan and if I push it to full speed it only makes a low humming noise.
 
I also disagree with the part of the review where you were complaining about clearance issues.

Umm anyone who's buys a cooler this size and has ram modules with oversized heatsinks deserve what you get for not doing your research. I don't blame the Nochua at all, it should be fairly obvious and they shouldn't have to print on the box you need to take measurements before using this cooler.

Anyone that would run into this issue I would consider a novice system builder.
 
vengence said:
The 1600 RPM fan was 0.5dB QUIETER than NH-D14. I'm assuming it is the thermalright 1600rpm fan they sell for 15$.
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Sorry, but it's simply impossible for any 1600RPM fan to have same noise level as a quality 700-800RPM fan. You can argue with numbers measured by devices, but that is not the only thing which matters. It's the sound of air at that RPM which is making the noise, not the fan. The only other possibility is that their fan is so weak that it at 1600RPM it pushes even less air than Noctua at 800-1000RPM.

For example i use Enermax Magmas at max 1000RPM when gaming (does not matter as much, i have headphones when playing), 500 RPM in idle. More than that, and it is damn noisy.

Makaveli@BETA said:
Not sure what kind of fans you are using but I have an S-Flex 1900 RPM fan and if I push it to full speed it only makes a low humming noise.
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Same as my reply to vengence - you can't have a low humming noise over 1000 RPM unless the fan does nothing with air. Go out, buy Enermax Magma and try it out at 12V (1500RPM) - if you will say it's a low humming noise then you can't hear anything.

Edit: Before anyone says i have no experience - my fans so far - Nexus D12SL, Noctua 12cm fans (both types), Enermax Magma fans, Noiseblocker fans, Gelid fans, Yate Loon fans, Scythe fan bundled to Ninja, Antec and Lian Li fans bundled with cases.
 
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faugusztin said:
Sorry, but it's simply impossible for any 1600RPM fan to have same noise level as a quality 700-800RPM fan. You can argue with numbers measured by devices, but that is not the only thing which matters. It's the sound of air at that RPM which is making the noise, not the fan. The only other possibility is that their fan is so weak that it at 1600RPM it pushes even less air than Noctua at 800-1000RPM.

For example i use Enermax Magmas at max 1000RPM when gaming (does not matter as much, i have headphones when playing), 500 RPM in idle. More than that, and it is damn noisy.
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Your ignornace is beyond my abilities. Have a nice life.
 
Did you ever think that maybe your idea of a low humming noise and mine might be different. I believe what my ears tell me and its quiet, obviously a 1000rpm fan will be running less db's. However, in my system even at full load 1900rpm is not that noticeable, for the most part tho when idling at the desktop the fan is only running at 900 rpm as its on a fan controller.

And you need to relax alittle on what other people can and cannot notice in terms of noise level's everyone ears are different. You response comes off with you sounding like you know it all.
 
vengence said:
Your ignornace is beyond my abilities. Have a nice life.
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Makaveli@BETA said:
Did you ever think that maybe your idea of a low humming noise and mine might be different. I believe what my ears tell me and its quiet, obviously a 1000rpm fan will be running less db's. However, in my system even at full load 1900rpm is not that noticeable, for the most part tho when idling at the desktop the fan is only running at 900 rpm as its on a fan controller.
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It's not my "idea", it is a pretty much commonly accepted fact.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article695-page5.html
S-Flex SFF21F (1,600 RPM)

12V = 31 dBA@1m = 1590 RPM = 47 CFM

Silent is 21 dbA. Surprise, S-Flex SFF21F does that bellow 1000 RPM :
7V = ~20 dBA@1m = 890 RPM = 23 CFM

So yes, in your eyes (ears) 31dBA or more can be silent, but that does not change the numbers. But the fans are really silent at 21dBA or less, which is impossible to reach at higher RPM levels due the noise of air flowing through.

You can call me ignorant, but you can't change the numbers. Browse through the silentpcreview.com and show me a fan, which is at max 21dBA with RPM higher than 1000. Even the old Noctuas with their weakest airflow on market can't do that.

But yes, i seen people who had a PC with a noise of airplane which they called silent.
 
Well this is surprising, of all the reviews from websites and users this is the first one where the D14 does not get top honors.
I am sorry but this review=fail to me.
Not possible for all other reviews to be wrong and this one been the only one right...does not make sense dont you agree? ;)
 
In regards to the silence issue:

Remeber that "silent" or "in-audible" is relative to the ambient noise as well. I can have 40dBA fans that are "silent/in-audible" if my ambient noise level is above that. Simply put, you don't know the other guy's ambient noise, so what might actually be quiet for him isn't for you.
 
The cogage is less then half the price of the noctua, comes with a fan, and performs better on the overclocked processor. Sure its a little louder (3.4 decibels), but not much.
 
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