![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Tuesday , December 08, 2009
- Author:
- Marc Adams
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
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.
Results: Temperatures
For our stock testing our i7 920 will be kept at 2.66 GHz with a minimal 1.25v. For overclocked CPU testing we will be running our i7 920 at 3.6GHz with 1.45v. Idle temperatures will be recorded after a fifteen minute period of inactivity. Any fluctuation during the last sixty seconds will reset the timer for an additional five minutes. Load temperatures will be recorded after a fifteen minute period of 100% load. To obtain this load we will be using Prime95 v25.3. Any fluctuation during the last sixty seconds will reset the timer for an additional five minutes.
Please note the following scores are normalized to the ambient temperature. This will show you the rise above ambient temperature as well as the overall temperature. Since we are dealing with air cooling it is physically impossible for the temps to be less than ambient. This is why we start our charts at 25º C.
Stock Settings
The Noctua NH-D14 performs very well, near the top in fact, of our performance results chart. Though this point may be moot since given its size and weight most people will refrain from sticking it into a HTPC or spare PC. The real test will be how this cooler handles our overclocking test.
Overclock Settings
While the NH-D14 doesn’t earn the top spot in our test, it does perform extremely well. It was able to keep the CPU totally stable throughout the testing and missed earning the top spot by less than two degrees Celsius. It is a very solid effort on the part of the Noctua NH-D14.
Sound
No real surprise here. Noctua continues to develop some of the quietest fans on the planet while still offering excellent air flow.
Let’s wrap it all up.