Noctua NH-U14S CPU Cooler Review

1. Introduction2. Packaging and Bundle3. The Noctua NH-U12S CPU Cooler4. Installing the Noctua NH-U12S5. Testing Methodology6. Thermal Performance7. Acoustic Performance8. Closing Thoughts9. View All Pages

Today we are going to look at the Noctua NH-U14S which is a recent addition to the Noctua family of coolers.  This is slim single-tower air cooler which is designed for those users who want to maintain decent RAM compatibility.

Noctua are still one of the best respected manufacturers in the air-cooling market and have one of the most diverse ranges of high quality products available on the market.  We haven't yet seen an all-in-one liquid cooler from Noctua and it seems unlikely in the near future.  They seem to be concentrating on what they do best, providing some of the best performing air coolers on the market.

Specification

• Socket Compatibility: Intel LGA2011, LGA1156, LGA1155, LGA1150 and AMD AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, FM1, FM2.
• Dimensions (with fan): 165 x 150 x 78 mm.
• Dimensions (without fan): 165 x 150 x 52 mm.
• Weight (with fan): 935g.
• Weight (without fan): 770g.
• Warranty: 6 years.

The packaging of the NH-U14S is very familiar indeed, following very similar design themes to products we've seen in the past from Noctua.  The box itself is fairly compact and features an attractive white and brown livery.

All sides of the box are covered in information about the cooler, including lists of features and more detailed specifications.  There aren't any large images of the cooler on the box, though which is surprising.  The box feels very good quality and should help to protect the cooler from damage during transit.

The included accessories are supplied in separate boxes inside the packaging, based on the platform they apply to.  There are separate boxes for Intel and AMD mounting kits, as well as common accessories that will be used on both platforms.

There isn't anything revolutionary about the design of the Noctua NH-U14S.  It consists of a stack of aluminium fins arranged around a series of six U-shaped nickel-plated copper heatpipes.

Noctua has used a staggered design for the heatpipes which helps to distribute the heat across the aluminium fins more evenly, improving overall heat dissipation.  The six heatpipes meet at the CPU block in the middle which is also made from nickel-plated copper.  It features a textured design which increases the surface area slightly.

Rather unusually, the NH-U14S is supplied with a 150 mm fan.  This features 140 mm mounting points, meaning you would have to replace it with a 140mm model if you're considering alternatives.

This fan is PWM controlled, spinning up to a maximum of 1,500 RPM at full speed. Like the U12S, the U14S is very thin indeed and won't encroach into the RAM areas, even if they are on both sides of the CPU socket.

Noctua thoughtfully supplies different installation guides for AMD and Intel installation to prevent confusion.  These are located in the boxes dedicated to each mounting kit.  We will be documenting the installation procedure on an Intel Socket 2011 motherboard.

First of all, we have to attach the retention screws into the CPU cooler bracket built into the motherboard.

Then, the retention bars can be secured down using the thumb-nuts provided.

Next, the heatsink can be secured down onto the motherboard using the spring screws on either side of the heatsink.

The fan simply clips into place using a pair of wire clips.  There is an additional set of clips provided should you want to install a fan on the other side of the cooler.

To test the performance of the Noctua NH-U14S we built a powerful X79 based system on an open test bench to push the cooler to it’s limits.  As we were testing on an open test bench, we directed a Be Quiet! Shadow Wings 120 mm fan at the VRM circuitry to better simulate the airflow generated in a case. We will be testing the cooler both in single and dual fan configurations.

Overclocking

We manually overclocked the i7-3930K to 4.3 GHz by increasing the multiplier to 43x, leaving the baseclock set at 100 MHz.  We set the voltage to 1.35V.

For our temperature tests we loaded the system for 10 minutes using Prime 95 and recorded the CPU temperature using CPUID HWMonitor. We then restarted the system and left it idling at the desktop for 10 minutes before recording temperatures. The temperatures recorded are based on an ambient temperature of 20 degrees C.

Some impressive numbers here from the NH-U14S. It will be ideal for those looking for a slightly better performing cooler than the NH-U12S, without sacrificing RAM compatibility.

In our noise level tests we switched off all the case fans and replaced the AMD Radeon HD 7950 graphics card with a HD 5550 passive model so were just taking into account the noise generated by the cooler fans themselves.

We measured the noise level with a Digital Noise Level meter at a distance of 1 m from the front of the system.

The Noctua NH-U14S delivers great results proving that it is well suited to those users who are looking to built a very quiet system.

The Noctua NH-U14S is certainly a very impressive cooler.  It slots nicely into the Noctua range just above the NH-U12S, offering slightly improved performance levels without sacrificing any memory compatibility.  It is slightly larger, though, and may encounter some minor compatibility issues in some systems.

The cooling performance we recorded in our tests was very impressive, outpacing the comparison models by a significant margin.  It also excelled in the acoustic test, in which it proved to be very quiet indeed.

Noctua's coolers are renowned for being built very well indeed and the NH-U14S is no exception to this.  The design is clever and the materials and quality of finish are exemplary.  The mounting mechanism used by Noctua is also one of the best out there and makes it simple to install, even for the most inexperienced of users.

At a price of £59 from Quiet PC, we feel that the Noctua NH-U14S is a little overpriced however.  This only makes it around £8 cheaper than the class leading Noctua NH-D14 which is a far superior model for cooling performance.

Pros

• Great cooling performance.
• Runs very quietly.
• Well designed and built.
• Leave's memory slots completely clear.

Cons

• Overpriced.

Kitguru says: Another impressive cooler from Noctua which performed well in our tests.

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