Noctua NH-D14 and NH-C14 Test Setup
Intel Core i3 540 Overclocked to 4.6Ghz – Dual Core
Intel Core i5 750 Overclocked to 4.0Ghz – Quad Core
Noctua NH-C14 CPU Cooler
Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler
Asus Maximus III Gene
Asus Radeon EAH6870 1GB
2x2GB Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR3 1600mhz
Corsair Force F60 SSD Drive
1TB Western Digital Caviar Black
Silverstone DA750 power supply
Lian Li PC-A03 Case
Noctua NF-S12B-FLX
Method for Testing:
Prime95 – for stress testing on 100% CPU usage
Lavalys Everest Ultimate Edition – monitoring for average load temperatures
Test Results
Stock Idle
on idle, NH-D14 and NH-C14 are close to each other both dual and quad core.
Stock Load
Same goes on load performance, the stock cooler has a very high load temps even on stock frequency.
Gaming Performance
Game title: Need for Speed The Run Limited Edition
On gaming performance, note that the processors are not at 100% load, so I indicate the average and high loads (75 ~ 85% CPU usage). Both NH-D14 and NH-C14 are performing very well in this test.
Overclocking Performance
Idle
In this test shows 3 degrees margin gap on NH-D14 and NH-C14 idle temps.
Load
Test results shows that on OC 100% CPU load NH-D14 has the advantage to NH-C14 largely because of its dual 6-heatpipe design. The NH-C14 is not left behind even single 6-heatpipe design because of the C-type airflow is pushed also to cool off motherboard components like processor surroundings and MOSFET.
Conclusion
Rating:
Noctua NH-D14: 10/10 Rating
Pros:
Very Premium, High Grade finish product
Very quiet fans at high performance
High levels of Overclocking headroom
6 years warranty
Complete kit
Cons:
Expensive
Height issue with some PC cases
Verdict:
Noctua once again succeed with their NH-D14. Armed with dual 6-heatpipe and 2-fan configuration. It can compete with other coolers that are larger and noisier cooling solutions. This product is jam packed with complete package that you don’t need to spend extra. Comprehensive instructional manual and the SecuFirm2 bracket that is so easy to install and uninstall the cooler. Noctua NH-D14 is the only choice if you are into serious Air-cooled Overclocking performance on Dual or Quad Core processors.
Rating:
Noctua NH-C14: 9.5/10 Rating
Pros:
Very Premium, High Grade finish product
Very quiet fans at high performance
Better cooling efficiency against other C-Type coolers on the market
6 years warranty
Near cooling performance to D14
Cons:
Expensive
Issues on conflict with GPU clearance
Verdict:
Noctua NH-C14 is a very good performing cooler, although its C-Type cooler is somewhat disadvantage on cooling performance but it has better cooling properties on the motherboard components making dual purpose cooling. The overall package of the product is impressive, just like the package of NH-D14. You never go wrong with this cooler. Noctua NH-C14 is designed for small-form factor setups that has limited space but still has high level of Overclocking headroom.
Conclusion for Air Cooling Giants: Noctua NH-D14 vs NH-C14
Two different air coolers offered by Noctua has its different purpose, the NH-D14 is designed for large PC case that has lots of room to work out and provide high performance cooling with silent operations, while the NH-C14 is designed for small form factor setups that has limited height clearance, but still offering Overclocking headroom and still have the silent operations like the NH-D14 . It’s a matter of personal preference because the two coolers are performed at a high level on different design.
For those who are planning to install either of these coolers to the upcoming LGA2011 platform, you can request to Noctua for their NM-I2011 Mounting Kit for Free. Email them at support@noctua.at
I would like to thank Jakob Dellinger at Noctua for the Noctua NH-D14 and NM-I2011 Mounting kit.
About the author/reviewer:
Peter Lo is a PC enthusiast and a Car enthusiast at the same time. He’s a member of DCWired, a group of PC enthusiast in Davao City and Davao’s premier overclocking community.