Nhu14S review: Noctua NH-U14S Review | TechPowerUp

Noctua NH-U14S U-Type Tower CPU Cooler Review

Introduction

Noctua originates from a collaboration between the Austrian Rascom Computer distribution Ges.m.b.H. and the Taiwanese cooling specialist Kolink International Corporation, pooling more than thirty years of experience in the development, manufacturing, and marketing of high-end cooling components. Established in 2005, Noctua took international silent enthusiasts’ hearts by storm and quickly developed into one of the most acclaimed suppliers of premium quality quiet cooling products. Today, Noctua is present in more than 30 countries across the globe and working with several hundred sales partners. Chosen by noise-conscious PC users, system integrators and industry clients alike, Noctua has become synonymous with impeccable quality, excellent customer service, and class-leading quiet cooling performance.

Earlier, I took a look at the Noctua NH-U12S and that cooler met my high expectations. Noctua was kind enough to send us the NH-U14S as well for the testing. Today, I am taking a look at the Noctua NH-U14S. This is their premium 140mm, U-Type Single Tower heatsink design. The Series has the highest compatibility and the clearance from RAM thanks to the slimmer depth of the heatsink. The NH-U14S has the depth of 52mm. It is bundled with the NF-A15 PWM fan to provide the utmost cooling performance at silent levels. Quiet operation and excellent thermal performance is what I am expecting from this cooler with bit better thermals than its sibling the NH-U12S.

 

Item: NH-U14S

Manufacturer: Noctua

Price: UK £56.99 / USD 64.99 [At the time of the review]

 

Specifications

 

Packaging and Unboxing

The Noctua NH-U14S comes in a standard Noctua style and colored cardboard box packing. The top side has the cooler’s model printed on the top of the box. It is a U-Type Tower CPU Cooler. Salient features of the cooler are printed under the model no. A silver stamped sticker is pasted on the right side mentioning that it is based on award-winning NH-U series. The cooler’s model is printed on the left side in vertical layout. Noctua brand name and logo are printed on the bottom right side.

The left side of the packing box highlights the salient features along with the diagrams in the main section. The cooler comes with the Noctua’s premium thermal paste NT-h2 and features the legendary mounting mechanism i.e SecuFirm2. This cooler has outstanding compatibility out of the box. It will be covered later in the Compatibility section. The cooler’s model is printed on the right side in vertical layout. The cooler has Noctua’s 6 years of warranty. The cooler is made in Taiwan.

The right side of the packing box has the specifications of the cooler and the fan printed on it. Tow diagrams are printed on the bottom right side highlighting the dimensions of the cooler. The installation kit for the second NF-A15 fan is included if the user wants to go Push/Pull setup.

The backside of the packing box has the cooler’s highlights printed in the 8 different languages. The EAN and the UPC labels are printed on the bottom left side.

The front cover of the packing box has the cooler’s model printed on the left side in the vertical layout. The salient features are printed in the main section. The Noctua brand name and the logo are printed on the bottom right side.

The contents of the parcel are placed inside two recycled cardboard boxes. When we open the box, there is an accessory and hardware box placed on the top side. Taking it out would reveal the cooler nicely tucked inside the rugged packing which is the Noctua’s standard and I really appreciate Noctua for this level of protection being provided through their packing.

Let’s open the accessory box, it has three sections which is a typical Noctua layout. The left side has the common parts like the screwdriver, thermal paste, a low noise adapter etc. The right side has two sections. Top one contains the Intel mounting hardware and the bottom section has the AMD mounting hardware. There are 3 manuals. One is for the AM2, one is for the Intel LGA 2011(3) and the last one is for the Intel LGA-115(x). Manuals are very well laid out and provide pictorial information on how to install the cooler.

Accessories

Accessories include: –

• 2x NM-AMB3 Mounting Bars
• 4x NM-ALS1 Screws
• 4x NM-APS1 Plastic Spacer
• 2x NM-IMB3 Mounting Bars
• 4x NM-IBT2 Bolts
• 4x NM-ITS1 Thumbscrews
• 1x NM-IBP2 Backplate
• 4x NM-IPS1 Spacers
• 1x NT-h2 Thermal paste
• 1x Screw Driver
• 1x NA-RC7 LN Adapter
• 2x Metal Fan Clips
• 1x Metal Noctua Case Badge

 

NH -U14S Closer Look

The NH-U14S is a 140mm U-Type Tower cooler, based on the award-winning NH-U series. It features the 6 copper based heat pipes with the copper base. An NF-A15 fan is provided with the heatsink for the optimal cooling performance. Let’s take a close look at the design.

Let’s take a look at the heatsink from the front side. The front and the rear sides are identical in layout. It has total 56 aluminum fins which are joined from the left and the right sides. The fins stack is implemented in a stepped manner. The upper stack has 50 fins in it. The bottom stack has 6 fins in it. This is making it look like a U shape heatsink.

The dimensions of the heatsink only from this side (not incorporating the heatpipes) are 150mmx136mm (WxH). The height of 136 is the total height including both stacks. The upper stack has 109mm height. The fins are bit wider for more and better air flow through them. This 140mm heatsink is packed with the 6 heatpipes on any side of the heatsink.

The top side of the heatsink has the Noctua brand name and the logo in the middle. We can see 12 heatpipes are terminating on the top in 2 groups each with 6. There is a bit of curvature layout in the middle of the heatsink which is implemented as an inset in a triangle shape. There is a hole in the center. It is used to remove the screw on the mounting bar to take the mounting bar off the block. Notice that this cooler mounting makes it compatible with NM-IMB3 mounting bars. It won’t work with the NM-IMB2 mounting bars. Maybe the idea of a removable mounting bar on the base block is to provide compatibility with the NM-IMB2 for which separate mounting bar would be needed but I am not confirmed about it. The top side only has the dimensions of 150mmx52mm (WxD). Both groups of the heat pipes follow the same pattern.

The left and the right sides of the heatsink are identical in the layout. The edges are raised and the center has a large fin joint assembly from top to the bottom. The angled edges help in mounting the fan(s) with the clips. The dimensions of these sides only are 111mmX52mm (HxW). The fin joint assembly protrudes from the bottom side not from the top side which is a better implementation.

Let’s take a look at the bottom side of the heatsink. The stepped implementation can be clearly seen from this angle. The dimension of the bottom 6-fin stack is 94mmX52mm (WxD). The dimensions of the upper fins stack are 150mmX52mm (WxD).

We have 6 heat pipes going inside the heatsink from different points to maximize the point of contact with the fins hence covering the large surface area for maximum heat dissipation. Two heat pipes are going through the far sides of the upper fins stack. Two heat pipes are going inside the heatsink through the far sides of the bottom fins stack while the remaining two heat pipes are going inside the heatsink through much wider cutouts on both sides of the fins stack.

Below picture is to show the heatpipes displacement inside the heatsink.

This cooler has six 6mm copper based heatpipes which are nickel plated. The base top has a removable mounting bar labelled NM-IFB4 with two spring loaded screws on each end and a screw on the center to install the bar on the block. The copper base has 38mmX40mm size.

Noctua has supplied their premium NF-A15 fan with this cooler. This fan has the dimensions of the 140x150x25mm. This fan has the Noctua’s legendary SSO2 bearing. The width of the fan has been increased to 150mm to cover a wider area and provide exceptional cooling.

The fan bears SSO2 bearing which is Noctua’s own design. The self-stabilizing oil-pressure bearing (SSO-Bearing) system has always been at the heart of Noctua’s award-winning premium fans. SSO combines the proven concept of oil-based hydrodynamic bearings with an additional magnet that supports the self-stabilization of the rotor axis. Due to the axis being stabilized by the magnetic field, Noctua’s SSO Bearing achieves higher precision and better longevity than conventional ball-, sleeve- or hydrodynamic bearings. SSO2 is the further optimized second generation of SSO. Made possible by the use of metal bearing shells and new injection molding techniques, the magnet is now placed closer to the rotor axis and thus exerts higher magnetic force to it. This results in even better stabilization, precision, and durability.

The fan has a maximum speed of the 1500 ±10% RPM. With LNA, this speed is 1200 ±10% RPM. Minimum rotational speed is 300 ±20% RPM. Maximum static pressure is 1.51 mmH₂O. With LNA the static pressure is 0.89 mmH₂O. The fan takes input power of the 1.56W at 0.13Awith the 12V DC. The maximum airflow is 82.57 CFM. With LNA it is 68.03 CFM. Maximum acoustical noise is 24.6 dBA. With LNA it is 19.2 dBA. The fan has a 4 pin PWM connector. The cable’s length is approximately 210mm. It comes in a typical brown color scheme. There are rubber mounts on the mounting holes to prevent the vibration noise. There is a 4-arm assembly on the backside holding the motor hub and connecting it to the mainframe. Quality is top notch as is the case with the Noctua’s products. There is a sticker on the backside of the fan. It has Noctua brand name and the logo printed on it. The fan is connected using two metal clips. Noctua has supplied two metal fan clips and 4 anti-vibration rubber pads for the second fan which needs to be purchased separately in case one wants to go for a Push/Pull setup.

Installation

The cooler was tested on the LGA-1151 using Intel i7 7700k and Asus Z170-P. Place the Intel backplate on the backside of the motherboard by matching the holes on the backplate with three screws coming out of the socket mounting.

Put the black color spacers on each of the screws of the backplate from the front side of the motherboard.

Decide the orientation of the cooler then place the mounting bars accordingly. Do it so that the raised part of the central edge faces outwards.

Use the thumbscrews to secure the mounting bars with the backplate.

Apply the thermal paste. Place the cooler on the top of the IHS by aligning the spring-loaded screws with the standoffs on the mounting bars. Start screwing in the spring-loaded screws with few torques on each one at a time to ensure the even pressure and correct installation. Install the fan using the two metal clips. Connect the 4-pin connector on the CPU fan header or any other header of your choice. This would complete the installation.

Compatibility and the Clearance

Being a Tower cooler we need to check for the clearance with respect to the PC Chassis, first PCIe slot and the RAMs.

The cooler has a height of the 165mm. So, any chassis with the height of more than 165mm has support for this cooler. The cooler has the depth of 52mm adding the fan’s depth to it we get 78mm of the total depth. I saw no issue what so ever in terms of the clearance for the RAM. This cooler has zero RAM incompatibility on the LGA-115(x). This cooler also has clearance for the first PCIe lane. Please check the specifications above to get the idea of socket clearance on LGA-2011(3), LGA-115(x) and the AMD sockets.

 

 Test Bench

The following test bench was used to test the cooler:

• Intel i7 7700k [Thanks to the PCFanatics]
• Asus Z170-P [Thanks to the PCFanatics]
• Corsair 2x8GB Vengeance Red LED @ 2666MHz
• HyperX 120GB SSD
• Thermaltake TP DPS RGB 750W PSU [Thanks to the Thermaltake]

Asus Realbench 2. 44 and the RealTemp 3.70 are used for the stress test and the temperature monitoring. The Noctua NT-h2 thermal paste is used to test all the coolers on my test benches. This helps ensure the standardization and to reduce the effect of any bundled thermal paste that could benefit the performance.

Methodology

First, the cooler is tested on the stock clocks i.e 4.2GHz at manual 1.16V Vcore. The average of the core temps is calculated to provide the temps at idle and under the load. The ambient temps are subtracted from these temperature readings to give the delta temps. My graphs report the delta temps. This helps in an uncontrolled environment to mitigate the temperature variation.

Next, the CPU is overclocked to 4.7GHz using manual 1.22V VCore. Three runs of the stress test program are carried out. The average of each run is separately taken and the highest reading of the three tests is used. Ambient temperatures are subtracted from the selected average temperature reading and delta temperature is reported on the graph.  Each run was of 60 minutes.

Without a further due, let’s take a look at the results.

Results

On stock testing, the Noctua NH-U14S has topped with the delta temperature of 34.25°C.

With overclocking, the NH-LU14S again came out as the winner with the temperature of 44°C.

Maximum noise level on the NF-A15 at the full speed was 26 dBA which is still good though a tad higher than the rated one.

 

Conclusion

The Noctua has provided an ultimate cooling solution in the form of their premium NH-U14S cooler under their award-winning NH-U series. This cooler is a U-Type Tower cooler which is 140mm in size. It has 6 copper based heat pipes each of 6mm thickness making a linear contact with the fin stacks. The base of the cooler is copper made with the nickel coating. The heatsink has 56 aluminum fins and it is implemented in stepped stacking with 50 fins on the top fins stack and 6 fins in the lower stack. The heatsink has the dimensions of the 165x150x78mm with the fan. This cooler has a depth of 52mm making it compatible with any height RAM.

The fan has a maximum speed of the 1500 ±10% RPM. With LNA, this speed is 1200 ±10% RPM. Minimum rotational speed is 300 ±20% RPM. Maximum static pressure is 1.51 mmH₂O. With LNA the static pressure is 0.89 mmH₂O. The fan takes input power of the 1.56W at 0.13Awith the 12V DC. The maximum airflow is 82.57 CFM. With LNA it is 68.03 CFM. Maximum acoustical noise is 24.6 dBA. With LNA it is 19.2 dBA. The fan has a 4 pin PWM connector. The cable’s length is approximately 210mm. It comes in a typical brown color scheme. The fan compatibility with this cooler is 140x150x25 (with 120mm mounting holes), 140x140x25 (with 120mm mounting holes), and 120x120x25.

This fan has Noctua’s SSO2 bearings. SSO2 is the further optimised second generation of SSO. Made possible by the use of metal bearing shells and new injection molding techniques, the magnet is now placed closer to the rotor axis and thus exerts higher magnetic force to it. This results in even better stabilization, precision, and durability. The Noctua has bundled a plethora of accessories with the cooler. They have provided a Low Noise Adapter, their legendary NT-h2 thermal compound, three user guides (AMD, Intel 2011, Intel 115x/755) and even a screwdriver. And did I forget to mention that this cooler has 6 years warranty!

Value

The price of the Noctua NH-NH-U12S at the time of this review is $64.99 which is approx. $7 above the NH-U12S making this cooler better value for your cooling needs.

Performance

The cooler was put to cool the Intel i7 7700k. The thermals on the Kabylake chips are on high side resultantly many users are forced to delid their chips to achieve better thermals. My chip is not delidded but still, this cooler has performed exceptionally well to keep the temps low and done that with good acoustic level.

The Noctua NH-U14S has won our Performance Award based on the best balance between the thermal and the acoustic performance.

I am thankful to Noctua for giving me the opportunity to review their NH-U14S.

 

Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3 Review: Silent Threadripper Overclocking — Tom’s Hardware

Tom’s Hardware Verdict

For those looking for a high-quality, high-performing, low-noise air cooling solution for AMD Threadripper, the Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3 makes the decision easy.

Pros

• +

  Excellent performance

• +

  Very low noise levels

• +

  Simple, secure installation

Why you can trust Tom’s Hardware

Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

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Features & Specifications

Like its smaller sibling, the NH-U12S TR4-SP3, the Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3 provides whisper-quiet cooling with big league thermal performance – the kind of overclocked Threadripper performance that sneaks into quality 360 all-in-one cooling performance. Armed with six nickel-plated copper heatpipes and a NF-A15 140mm PWM fan, the AMD-friendly NH-U14S TR4-SP3 is a silent thermal assassin. For Threadripper air cooling, this cooler checks all the boxes for enthusiasts and overclockers alike.

Specifications

Height	6.75 inches / 171.45mm
Width	5. 96 inches / 151.4mm
Depth	2.1 inches / 52.3mm(3.14 inches / 79.8mm w/fan)
Base Height	1 inch / 25.1mm
Assy. Offset	0.0 inches (centered)1.1 inches / 27.94mm (w/fans)Adjustable -3mm, -6mm
Cooling Fans	(1) 140 x 25mm
Connectors	(1) 4-pin PWM
Weight	36.5 oz / 1035g
Intel Sockets	✗
AMD Sockets	TR4, SP3
Warranty	6 years

Like all Threadripper-specific coolers, Noctua ships the NH-U14S TR4-SP3 with minimal hardware and accessories. Additional fan clips and anti-vibration mounts allow for a second cooling fan to be added for push+pull configuration, while the included tube of NT-h2 thermal compound means you won’t need to make a run for paste to complete installation.  

A speed-reducing cable allows for even quieter operation, and the included long, L-shaped, hex-key wrench allows for torquing down those installation bolts. Noctua even has the bling department covered with an enamel painted, metal, adhesive case badge. How’s that for attention to detail?

• Noctua NH-U9 TR4-SP3 at Amazon for $79.95

The six copper heatpipes of the NH-U14S TR4-SP3 are nickel-plated for an aesthetically pleasing, chrome-like finish, while the mounting base and hardware receive the same nickel treatment. The large, 140mm NF-A15 PWM (pulse width modulation, for controlling fans) cooling fan provides the required cooling airflow while sporting the signature Noctua cream and reddish-brown color scheme. Wire spring clips loop through the fan mounting holes and snap over the cooling fin side cutouts to secure the fan to the cooling tower.

The contact base of the NH-U14S TR4-SP3 consists of a precision milled copper block and is plated with nickel. The surface is nearly mirror smooth and provides a full contact surface for Threadripper CPUs. The nickel-plated copper heatpipes nestle into the cooling base and extend through the cooling tower fins. Due to Threadripper and Epyc socket exclusivity, spring tension mounting bolts are integrated into the mounting base hardware.

The NH-U14S TR4-SP3 uses the same adjustable mounting base for GPU configuration offset in the same manner as its NH-U12S TR4-SP3 sibling does. The included hex-key is used for adjustment from 0mm to 3mm and 6mm offsets. Check your specific cooler fitment and perform these offset adjustments prior to the final mounting of the cooler itself – you’ll be happy you did.

With a slim cooler design, the installation and final torque down of the mounting bolts was quite simple. Fan interference with normal height memory DIMMs was relatively minimal, although the fan can be installed slightly higher on the cooling tower with the wire snap clips, if needed. Due to the greater overall height of the NH-U14S TR4-SP3, carefully consider the available clearance inside your case.

MORE: Best CPU Cooling

MORE: How To Choose A CPU Cooler

MORE: All Cooling Content

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Features & Specifications

Next Page Testing Results & Conclusion

Garrett Carver is a contributor for Tom’s Hardware, primarily covering thermal compound comparisons and CPU cooling reviews; both air and liquid, including multiple variations of each.

Review and testing of processor cooling system Noctua NH-U14S GECID.com.

::>Cooling systems
>2013
> Noctua NH-U14S

01-07-2013

How do you imagine the perfect CPU cooler? Most likely as a powerful, quiet and cheap product. And, since life makes its own adjustments, at best we get two out of three points. So, you can hardly expect great efficiency from a cheap cooler, or it will be achieved to the detriment of the silence of the system unit. As practice shows, it is the word “cheap” that should be excluded from the list if there is a desire to get a truly solid cooling system.

Today we’re talking about a far from cheap cooler, but in return the manufacturer promises us silence and efficiency achieved thanks to a 140mm fan and a 770g radiator. So, meet the next creation of the famous Austrian manufacturer of cooling systems — Noctua NH-U14S .

Specification

Manufacturer and model		Noctua NH-U14S
Support for processor sockets		AMD Socket AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / AM3+ / FM1 / FM2 Intel Socket LGA1156 / LGA1155 / LGA2011 / LGA1150
Heat pipes	Material	Copper
	Quantity	6
	Diameter, mm	6
Radiator material		Aluminum
Radiator size, mm		165 x 150 x 52
Cooler size, mm		165 x 150 x 78
Weight (without fan), g		935 (770)
Thermal interface		Noctua NT-h2 thermal compound in syringe
Fan		Noctua NF-A15 PWM
Fan supply voltage, V		to 12
Current consumption, A		0. 13
Power consumption, W		to 1.56
		Without L.N.A.	C L.N.A.
Fan speed, rpm		to 1500	to 1200
Air flow, m 3 /h (CFM)		to 140.2 (82.5)	to 115.5 (67.9)
Noise level, dB(A)		24.6	19.2
Static pressure, mm w.c. Art.		2.08	1.51
Connector		4-pin
Fan dimensions, mm		140 x 150 x 25
Resource, hours		>150,000
Bearing type		oil hydrodynamic second generation (SSO2-Bearing)
Warranty, years		6
Manufacturer website		Noctua product page

As you can see, Noctua has decided to stop supporting Intel Socket LGA775 / LGA1366 processor sockets in the basic configuration, so the tested cooler cannot be installed on these platforms. Owners of these systems are advised to use the optional Noctua NM-I3 mounting system. It is likely that such a fate will befall other upcoming products of the Austrian manufacturer.

Traditionally, Noctua coolers are provided with an impressive 6-year warranty, which only emphasizes the manufacturer’s confidence in the quality of its products.

Packing and contents

Even if you remove all the inscriptions from a fairly large cardboard package, its usual design will allow you to easily identify the manufacturer. Like the color scheme of the box itself, the list of the main features of the cooling system, which is displayed on the front side, is also traditional.

Among them, the manufacturer identified:

• belonging to the Noctua NH-U series, whose representatives have received more than 400 awards from various print and online publications since 2005;
• full memory compatibility with the Intel Socket LGA2011 – thanks to a thoughtful and rather thin design, the cooler will not block access to memory slots;
• use of optimal dimensions for increased compatibility with various systems;
• the presence of a quiet 140 mm fan with a PWM method for regulating the speed of rotation of the blades, as well as the presence of an adapter L. N.A. to further reduce the noise level;
• the presence of anti-vibration pads;
• SecuFirm2 mounting system compatible with almost all current processor sockets from Intel and AMD.

The sides contain a detailed description of the advantages, as well as a complete specification of the cooler. It is interesting to note that its direct production takes place in Taiwan, which is also indicated on the box.

On the bottom of the package there is a summary of the main benefits in eight languages, including Russian.

In the package we found three boxes with additional accessories and mounting systems. Unfortunately, due to the peculiarities of mounting the cooler for different platforms, one of the boxes with the mount will remain unclaimed.

The Noctua NH-U14S package includes everything you need to install the cooler and even more:

• the cooling system itself, consisting of a radiator, a fan and two brackets for its fastening;
• reinforcement plate, metal fasteners, set of screws and washers for platforms based on Intel processors;
• metal fasteners, screws and washers set for AMD processor-based platforms;
• screwdriver;
• Noctua NT-h2 high quality thermal compound in a syringe;
• eight corner anti-vibration pads;
• two anti-vibration pads in the form of strips glued to the fan;
• L. N.A-adapter to reduce the speed of rotation of the blades;
• Noctua metal logo;
• three installation guides for different platforms (AMD, Intel LGA115x and LGA2011).

The package bundle of the cooler can be safely called exemplary, which corresponds to the price of the final product.

Appearance and construction

The manufacturer of the cooler is unmistakably recognizable by the color of the fan — brown blades in a beige case — Noctua family traits.

As indicated on the packaging, the overall dimensions of the cooler are relatively small (165 x 150 x 78 mm), which cannot be said about its weight of 935 grams.

Externally, Noctua NH-U14S has a neat appearance, devoid of any bold design decisions. Obviously, the manufacturer has relied on the efficiency of the cooler, excluding any excesses that do not directly relate to the performance or noise level of the cooler.

The heat pipes are arranged in an interesting way, which, when viewed from above, visually form two hexagons. This solution allows you to more evenly distribute heat across the plates, in contrast to the traditional arrangement of all tubes in one row.

The aluminum radiator acting as a passive element of the cooler cannot be called large due to the thickness of 52 mm. At the same time, it is quite heavy — 770 grams. The six 6mm copper tubes at its base are nickel plated to prevent gradual oxidation, which would lead to poor thermal conductivity.

Aluminum plates are not just strung on tubes — traces of solder are clearly visible at their joints. This approach should have a positive impact on the efficiency of the radiator. There are 57 plates in total, six of them are slightly smaller, as they do not reach the two outermost tubes. All of them are bent on the sides to ensure structural rigidity.

The tubes are also soldered to the copper base. The base itself is plated with nickel to avoid the negative effects caused by copper oxidation. Grinding is done with high quality, but not to a mirror finish, although there are different opinions about the effectiveness of the latter option.

The fixing on the radiator side is in the form of a curved metal plate with two spring-loaded screws.

The supplied Noctua NF-A15 PWM fan uses a PWM method to control the speed of the blades, as its name suggests. Dimensions are not quite standard for a 140 mm fan — 140 x 150 x 25, due to the peculiarities of its shape and fastening. Small aerodynamic bulges are clearly visible on the blades. They are designed to increase the airflow velocity at the edges of the structure, resulting in a higher and more uniform pressure across the entire flow range.

Interestingly, the separately sold Noctua NF-A15 PWM fans have slightly different specifications. So, their rotation speed is 1200 rpm, and ours is 1500 rpm. Accordingly, all other indicators directly related to the speed of rotation of the blades differ.

Obviously, in this way the manufacturer decided to increase the efficiency of the cooler. And installing a complete LNA-adapter to reduce the noise level allows you to reduce the speed to the promised 1200 rpm, actually getting the «original» Noctua NF-A15 PWM.

One of the hallmarks of Noctua is attention to detail. So, as an example, we can note the presence of special inserts on both sides of the fan, which absorb part of the generated vibrations.

Installation process

The SecuFirm2 mount makes it easy to install the cooler.

In the case of an AMD-based platform, use the standard reinforcing plate supplied with the motherboard. But the mount on the front side of the board should be removed and replaced with the one that comes with the cooler.

The heatsink is secured with two spring loaded screws. As you can see, access to the first RAM slot is still a little difficult, which should be taken into account by owners of modules with high heatsinks.

The cooler is quite high (165 mm), but in modern cases there will be no difficulty in closing.

To mount on the Intel Socket LGA1155 connector, use the included reinforcing plate, as well as other components from the corresponding box.

All elements are mounted simply, especially since the kit includes a suitable screwdriver, so no additional tools are required from you. In the case of the Intel platform, the RAM slots are located a little further from the fan, so they do not overlap at all.

Recall that according to the manufacturer, in motherboards with an Intel Socket LGA2011 slots for RAM will also not overlap.

Testing

The following equipment was used to test the processor cooling system:

Processors	AMD Phenom II X6 1100T @4.0GHz, 1.4V (AM3+, 3.3GHz, L3 6MB) Intel Core i5-2500K @4.5GHz, 1.44V (LGA1155, 3.3GHz, L3 6MB)
Motherboards	ASUS SABERTOOTH 990FX (AMD 990FX, sAM3+, DDR3, ATX) ASUS P8P67 (Intel P67, LGA1155, DDR3, ATX)
RAM	2x DDR3-1333 1024MB TwinMOS 9DRTBKZ8-TATP
Video card	AMD Radeon HD 6950 2 GB GDDR5
Hard disk	Samsung HD080HJ 80GB 7200rpm 8MB SATA-300
Power supply	Seasonic X-760 (SS-760KM), 120mm fan
Housing	Enermax Hoplite ECA 3220, 2x 120mm fan
Thermal Grease	akasa AK-460 pro-grade (3. 3 W/mK, -45 — 200 °C)

The Noctua NH-U14S cooler showed excellent cooling results for both configurations. It is noteworthy that one 140 mm fan with a maximum rotation speed of 1500 rpm is enough for such efficient operation, which also provides the proper acoustic properties of the cooler. When the speed was reduced to 1150 rpm (voltage 9 V), the temperature, in the case of the Intel platform, rose by only one degree, which is an excellent indicator. In the case of AMD, the difference turned out to be more significant — about 5 degrees. But, as you can see, even such a low speed is enough for efficient operation of the cooler we are testing.

Cooling the 300W heating element was no problem either. Even at a voltage of 6 V (corresponding to 800 rpm), the temperature stabilized at around 67.3°C. The subsequent increase in voltage is accompanied by a temperature drop of up to 60.5°C at maximum fan speed.

Fan supply voltage, V	Blade rotation speed, rpm	Noise level
5	700	Quiet
6	800	Virtually silent
7	900	Virtually silent
8	1050	Very quiet
9	1150	Very quiet
10	1250	Very quiet
11	1350	Quiet
12	1500	Quiet, comfortable noise level

One of the most important features of the Noctua NH-U14S cooler is the low fan speed. And the use of the PWM method of its regulation and the L.N.A. adapter for initially lowering the maximum rotation speed to 1200 rpm make the tested cooler an incredibly quiet solution. At the same time, it has the ability to cool processors overclocked to 4 GHz and higher.

In general, the noise level of Noctua NH-U14S can be safely called a role model.

Conclusions

Having a lot of experience in testing Noctua’s products, we already initially expected to see another worthy solution. Well, Noctua NH-U14S fully met our expectations, once again confirming the high quality of workmanship and efficiency of the products of the Austrian company.

First of all, we should note the impressive bundle of the cooler. Part of it will turn out to be superfluous, since there are different mounts for Intel and AMD, which means that one of the kits will not be used. But the presence of high-quality thermal paste, an adapter to reduce noise, a lot of anti-vibration pads and a screwdriver will not be found with every cooling system.

Secondly, the efficiency figures are more than worthy, which ensures sufficient cooling even when using the L.N.A. adapter. And, of course, the low noise level, even at maximum fan speeds, makes the Noctua NH-U14S an excellent choice for those who want a quiet and high-performance cooler.

Finally, I would like to say about the price of the Noctua NH-U14S cooling system, which at the time of writing is about 75 dollars. This is how much a high-quality, quiet and efficient cooler costs, but the question remains — are you willing to pay this amount for a cooling system? Most likely, only in the case of a commensurate cost of the central processor, which means that the most likely buyers are the owners of eight-core AMD FX, as well as Intel Core i5 and Core i7 with unlocked multipliers.

Advantages:

• very low noise level;
• high efficiency, especially at maximum fan speed;
• compatibility with all current platforms, including Intel Socket LGA1150;
• use of long life oil hydrodynamic bearings;
• ease of installation;
• excellent package;
• 6 years warranty .

Features:

• access to one of the RAM slots in systems from AMD is difficult, so owners of modules with a high heatsink should study the specification in more detail;
• lack of support for Socket LGA775 and LGA1366 in the basic package;

Disadvantages:

• relatively high cost.

Author: Oles Paholok

We express our gratitude to Noctua for providing the fans for testing.

We express our gratitude to AMD, ASUS, Enermax, Intel, Sea Sonic and TwinMOS for providing equipment for the test bench.

We also suggest reading:
Review and testing of the processor cooling system Gelid The Black Edition
Review and testing of the processor cooling system SAPPHIRE VAPOR-X UNIVERSAL CPU COOLER

Noctua NH-U14S cooler review

This time we got a very efficient cooler from Noctua with a compact heatsink and a 140mm fan. It is called NH-U14S. Here, as in other products from the Austrian company, everything is done at the highest level: fasteners, performance, build quality and equipment.

The Noctua NH-U14S may seem like a large device solely because of the height of the heatsink and the 140mm NF-A15 PWM fan.

Without further ado, let’s move on to the analysis of the technical features of the Noctua NH-U14S.

It should be said right away that the efficiency of this solution is actually in the middle between the capabilities of the top cooler Noctua NH-D15 and the miniature Noctua NH-D9S. This fact is quite natural, considering the dimensions and design features of the Noctua NH-U14S.

Mounting features

In the box with Noctua NH-U14S, all parts are packaged in the appropriate boxes (AMD has its own bolts and frames, Intel has its own). Installing a cooler on Socket LGA 1151 is perhaps the easiest of all options. It is only necessary to tighten the four bolts at the base, and also remove the fan to mount the heatsink to the processor.

	Noctua NH-U9S	Noctua NH-U12S	Noctua NH-U14S
Compatible with processor sockets	Intel LGA2011-0, LGA2011-3 (Square ILM), LGA1156, LGA1155, LGA1151, LGA1150; AMD AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, FM1, FM2, FM2+	Intel LGA2011-0, LGA2011-3 (Square ILM), LGA1156, LGA1155, LGA1151, LGA1150; AMD AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, FM1, FM2, FM2+	Intel LGA2011-0, LGA2011-3 (Square ILM), LGA1156, LGA1155, LGA1151, LGA1150; AMD AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, FM1, FM2, FM2+
Height	125 mm	158 mm	165 mm
Width	95 mm	125 mm	150 mm
Depth	95 mm	71 mm	78 mm
Weight (with fan)	618 g	755 g	935 g
Material	copper base and heatpipes, aluminum heatsink fins	copper base and heat pipes, aluminum heat sink fins	copper base and heat pipes, aluminum heat sink fins
TDP	140W	140+W	220W
Compatible fan size	92x92x25mm	120x120x25mm	140x140x25mm (with 120mm mounts), 120x120x25mm
Warranty	6 years	6 years	6 years old

The Noctua NH-U14S may seem like a large device solely because of the height of the heatsink and the 140mm NF-A15 PWM fan. In other respects, this is perhaps the smallest cooler in the line. The radiator is hardly thicker than three fingers on the right hand (52 mm).

The performance of the Noctua NH-U14S is amazing.

Noctua NH-U14S does not interfere with processor elements, including RAM. Even after installing a second fan, which is of little use. By the way, the cooler can be turned to 90 Degrees for cooling additional case elements, however, this is not possible on every motherboard due to the 140 mm width of the device.

Noctua NF-A15 PWM fan

The second propeller is not included, but there are clips for its installation. The device comes in a large box that contains many adapters and rpm reducers, as well as rubber bushings to reduce vibrations.

Feature Noctua NF-A15 PWM ( spiritual successor of NF-P14) is dual form factor. With a nominal size of 140 mm, this fan can be mounted as a 120 mm fan, the case has holes of exactly this format (the included clips with the Noctua NH-U14S cooler fit just 120 mm).

The Noctua NF-A15 PWM works very quietly, in fact, silently, up to 1000 rpm the rumble from the propeller is not audible even on an open stand. Some pressure is felt only from 1100 rpm, in any case, in a closed case, you will not hear this fan, whether it is alone or paired with the same.

We do not recommend installing two Noctua NF-A15 PWMs on a Noctua NH-U14S heatsink, only if you plan to overclock an Intel Core i7-5960X Extreme Edition processor. To remove heat from four cores, one propeller is enough.

Test stand:

Processor — Intel Core i5-6600K
Motherboard — ASUS Sabertooth Z170 S
RAM — PNY Anarchy 8GB DDR4 Blue Desktop DIMM

and processor we used Cryorig CP7 thermal paste. By the way, with the same cooler, we tested the efficiency of other 140 mm fans from Noctua, designed for installation in chassis slots.

Test results

The performance of Noctua NH-U14S is amazing. The cooler is not afraid of either high clock frequencies or crazy voltage even for a CBO. Five gigahertz on four cores for this CO is a simple task. Once again, we note that the process of heat removal occurs without external noise, the speed of rotation of the blades during overclocking of the Intel Core i5-6600K did not rise above 1100 rpm (up to 4800 MHz, the fan even worked in the range of 600-750 rpm, and this virtually silent).

In automatic mode, two Noctua NF-A15 PWM fans cannot be called quiet, both operate at different speeds, one or the other speeds up. You can customize this process, but the efficiency will not increase from this.

Please be reminded of the correct location of the additional Noctua NF-A15 PWM propeller if you still want to install it on the Noctua NH-U14S. There are two options — for blowing in or blowing out (in relation to the radiator). We tried both positions, and this, oddly enough, affected the final temperatures (difference of 4 degrees, 63 versus 67 degrees in correct position).

Logic dictates that it is more expedient to install the fan on the through-flow format of the radiator, otherwise hot air will stagnate in the core of the cooler, which is inefficient.