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In the chart below we have sorted each CPU cooler from highest to lowest by the fan size in millimeters. This chart is pretty self-explanatory but it should give you an idea of the different fan sizes that come with each cooler.
I chose this cooler to go on a 5600X that went into a SFF gaming rig in the living room attached to a TV. Because of this environment, I wanted as quiet as possible. I considered an AIO -- which I still believe might be a good choice for this, especially since the case I have supports it -- but I love the simplicity of a large, efficient air cooler. And that's what this is. It's massive. It provides a huge amount surface area to keep the processor cool. The size of this thing does come with some potential pitfalls depending on your situation. Noctua has done a really good job of providing options in case there are issues with RAM clearance. You can simply move the fan to the top of the cooler to get more clearance under it. I suspect you would only have to do this in extreme cases (RAM with huge LED pipes or tall heat sinks). But I did have to customize my power supply mount to provide enough clearance for this cooler. Moving the power supply meant getting custom cables made to reach the now-longer cable runs. These are sacrifices I was willing to make to keep this cooler in my build, but your scenario might be different. Even under heavy gaming loads, the fan on this cooler barely runs. And when it does, it is very quiet. Inside the case, it is audible when it spins up, but only slightly. And usually there's enough yelling and shouting in my living room when gaming is that intense that we don't notice it. :-) The NF-A14 premium fan supplied with the NH-C14S supports PWM for convenient automatic speed control through the motherboard. In addition, the maximum fan speed can be reduced from 1500 to 1200 RPM using the supplied Low-Noise Adaptor for even quieter operation. SecuFirm2 mounting systemRealTemp will be used to monitor the temperature of the CPU and Prime95 (Large FFTs) will be used to deliver the full load to the CPU for 20 minutes.
The NF-A14 premium fan supplied with the NH-C14S supports PWM for convenient automatic speed control through the motherboard. In addition, the maximum fan speed can be reduced from 1500 to 1200 RPM using the supplied Low-Noise Adaptor for even quieter operation. Compared to the original NH-C14, the layout of the NH-C14S has been offset in two axis. Thanks to this measure, the heatsink will clear the top PCIe slot on most micro-ATX and ATX motherboards when the bendings of the heatpipes face the PCIe slots or the I/O panel.
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Having received more than 100 awards and recommendations from hardware journalists around the world, Noctua’s NT-H1 is a proven professional grade TIM solution that provides minimum thermal resistance, excellent ease of use and outstanding reliability. Six years warranty Overall, the price of the NH-C14S might be a little bit steep for some people but it's worth every penny considering that this is a very well engineered cooler. We will measure the noise levels for both in idle and load using a dBA meter and point it at the computer at a distance of ~50 CM.
In the chart below we have sorted each CPU cooler from highest to lowest by the maximum amount of airflow they move in CFM. Hold onto your receipts. From my own interactions with customer support and the interactions of others, I can tell you that Noctua provides world class support to their customers. Noctua offers a six year warranty on their products and has an excellent customer service. If your fans every stop working or if you need a new mounting kit, they will send you a new one free of charge. Moving on to the noise level under load, the NH-C14S with one fan is 2 dBA quieter than the NH-C14S with two fans. The above chart shows all the CPU coolers that we have in our lab sorted from highest to lowest by the amount of fin count each cooler has.
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Noctua ships the NH-C14S with SecuFirm 2 mounting kit that makes the installation process a breeze. The NH-C14S performs great with just one fan and it is whisper quiet just what you would expect from a Noctua product. The NH-C14S has a single 140 mm NF-A14 PWM fan installed. The major twist with the design of the NH-C14S is the position of the fan, which is underneath the fin array and is pushing the air upwards through it. Still, standard RAM modules will fit underneath the NH-C14S. The user has the option to place the fan (or another fan) at the top of the fin array, increasing the clearance of the RAM modules by 25 mm but adding the same height to the overall height of the cooler. With the fan at the top of the array, RAM modules up to 70 mm tall can fit, allowing greater hardware compatibility if the case can support a cooler that is 142 mm tall.
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