Noctua NH-D14 review

Posted by Hilbert Hagedoorn on: 12/13/2009 02:00 PM [ 0 comment(s) ]

Features

Right, calm yourself down .. yes, yes. It's big man! So you guys know that the Noctua NH-U12P CPU cooler has been around for quite some time and got raving reviews. Understandably you can see it's a bit of a challenge to further improve on that success. Noctua had to go back to the drawing board and came up with the NH-D14 premium CPU cooler. It is a six heatpipe dual radiator design to improve both cooling performance and noise levels. Obviously what catches the eyes is that dual radiator, uneven design with a 140mm fan sitting smack down in the middle of the cooler-- it gives the cooler more clearance over the RAM slots while more surface area and greater heat distribution.

The fins are cooled by supplied NF-P14 (140mm) and NF-P12 (120mm) fans rated at 19.6 and 19.8 dB(A) respectively.

Courtesy of Noctua: "Our NH-U12P coolers are widely regarded as one of the best solutions on the market, so it makes us especially proud that we can offer a further substantial improvement in quiet cooling performance with the new NH-D14", explains Mag. Roland Mossig, Noctua CEO. "The NH-D14 in Ultra-Low-Noise mode actually outperforms the NH-U12P at full fan speed, so we're confident that this cooler will appeal to overclockers and silent enthusiasts alike."

Providing more surface area, better heat-distribution and superior airflow efficiency than conventional tower style heatsinks, the NH-D14's six heatpipe dual radiator design was developed to provide ultimate quiet cooling performance with the supplied NF-P14 (140mm) and NF-P12 (120mm) fans. Both fans feature Vortex-Control Notches, SCD technology and SSO-Bearings in order to achieve a perfect balance of performance and quietness.

The NH-D14's asymmetrical design gives more clearance towards the RAM slots and thus ensures good compatibility despite of the cooler's size. Hanging out at the bottom of the fin-stacks, the NF-P14 fan doesn't only contribute to the NH-D14's superb CPU cooling capabilities but also provides massive airflow over surrounding motherboard components and heatsinks.

Topped off with a tube of Noctua's NT-H1 thermal compound as well as the new SecuFirm2 multi-socket mounting system (LGA1366, LGA1156, LGA775, AM2, AM2+ and AM3), the NH-D14 is an elite choice for the highest demands in premium quality quiet cooling.

Right -- Lets move onwards to the product gallery and installation.

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