My PC, it's noisy. Frankly, it's too noisy. I mean, by most enthusiasts' standards, it's probably fairly quiet. But to me, any time I hear a whine or turbulence I get irritated. I've lived with this system for three years and was hesitant to do anything simply because my next upgrade would be a whole new CPU, motherboard, etc.
I was contemplating an upgrade and was fixated on Noctua's compatibility page for motherboards given that this thing is so huge. Then it hit me -- this thing fits both newer (AM3) and older (775) motherboards, and my EVGA board was on the compatibility list! Who needs to upgrade everything? I'm happy with my system and its performance.
This thing is huge. It's colossal in every way. And you know what? It's so very quiet! Good heavens!
Some numbers:
Running at lowest RPM, with my aged Q6600 overclocked to 3.4Ghz @ 1.5v, my CPU idles at 29-31C. Under load, it goes up maybe 10 degrees. This thing positively sucks the heat away. It's absurd! Who needs water cooling!? Oh, and it's so quiet. It really is bliss.
This is the state of the art in air cooling. Noctua 6 Dual Heatpipe with 140mm/120mm Dual SSO Bearing Fans CPU Cooler NH-D14 - Retail
This Noctua heatsink is unfortunately often overlooked, yet it deserves all the praise I can give it and then some.
Many PC builders these days are rushing to the enclosed, single piece liquid cooling setups like the H50 thinking that liquid cooling MUST be better than air cooling, but this is not the case. If you look at good standardized testbeds that take ambient air temperature into account and minimize all variables, this Noctua actually beats them by several degrees, and at a lower noise level.
The only way you can beat the temps of the Noctua is a multi-hundred dollar custom watercooling setup.
With mounting hardware for every current CPU socket, 2 top-of-the-line fans, and high quality thermal paste included, this is truly an all-in-one kit.
Pros:
-Best aircooler available
-Beats enclosed single piece liquid cooling systems like the H50 by a large margin in standardized review setups.
-Absolutely quiet, high quality ball-bearing fans
-Includes thermal paste that beats out AS5 in most tests I've seen
-Fits every modern CPU socket
-Outstanding packaging, instructions, 3pin splitter cable, "ultra quiet" adapters
Cons:
-Some motherboards/cases cannot use this due to size. Check their website for compatibility.
-Cost
-Kind of ugly colors on the fans
If you can fit it in your case and your budget, get this heatsink. You won't be disappointed.
Main system components:
Azza Solano 1000 Full Tower Case
ASUS P6X58D-E LGA 1366
Intel i7 950
Noctua NH-D14
Corsair XMS3 6gb 3 x 2gb
GTX 470
Installation was extremely easy, even a new system builder could manage with no problems.
I was concerned about ram compatibility so I ordered the XMS3 over the Dominator set, however this seems to depend on the placement of the cooler. I installed the cooler to exhaust out of the top of the case, and my Ram slots were completely free from obstruction.
Easily the biggest cooler I've ever used and for good reason. Idle the CPU stays under 30C, and under normal load and gaming rarely goes past 40-45C with an overclock of 4.03Ghz. I also used the thermal paste included with the cooler for the 950.
The fans are extremely quiet without using the included Low Noise adaptors.
Well worth the price. I can't see how it can get better than this.
This is the best cooler on the market thus far. This cooler is so amazing at its job it cant even be in the same category of "air cooling." there is not an air cooler on the planet that compares other than thermaltakes new Silver Arrow, and even that cant beat this monster. Previously I had a Corsair H50 which did alright with my AMD 965 4.0ghz keeping my temps idle 46c and load 50c to 60c depending on the game, this on the other hand idles at 32c and load is around 50c on the most stressed tasks. It is a tad pricey but worth it considering the only thing that can compete would be a $200 self looped system.
This product oozes with quality. The instructions are good (not great) making the product easy to install. They could have done a tad better job at showing what the thermal grease should look like on the heat sink. Instead they mention the typical warning that too much of a good thing is bad. But how much is too much? It is nice that the grease tube comes w/enough grease for dozens of CPU mount/remounts. I used this cooler with the ASUS Rampage III Extreme mobo and a Coolermaster Sniper case. This cooler sits a bit too low for the optional ASUS active thermal module. But not that low that I couldn't trim the aluminum module so I could still use everything. The extra thermal grease came in handy as I needed to remove/re-apply grease to the ASUS thermal module that never had much to begin with. The fans are nicely labeled so you know the direction of airflow. I don't recall the instructions mentioning anything about getting the airflow moving the right way. At first I didn't notice the direction of airflow, but once I did, I had to remove the cooler and rotate it 180. I wanted warm/hot case air to be pushed outside the chassis. The fans are super quiet and the cooling is excellent. Overall, I am very happy w/this product!!
I purchased this unit to replace an Artic Cooling Freezer Pro and the difference this unit made was absolutely staggering! This unit is extremely well made, very silent and is by far the best performing air cooler on the market. High Quality is what you get when you purchase this unit, the packaging and supplied items reflects the pride taken in the production of this item. You truly feel as though you have gotten your moneys worth as soon as you open the box. My temp drop from the artic cooling unit was close to 20c!!! I am now idling at ambient temp, and with a fairly extreme overclock running prime95 on a 4 core system 49c is my load temp! This is a very quiet unit, my velociraptors make more noise then this cooler does.
I have gone through many coolers and have to give this one a must buy if your going with the air cooling route, this thing even beats several single radiator water cooling setups and blows the corsair h50 away as well. You truly get what you pay for with this piece. Amazon was very fast with the shipping and this is one purchase you will be pleased that you have made, as I know I am! - Cpu Coolers - Cpu Fan - Heatsink - I7'
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