Noctua NH-C14 Review

Testing:

To put the latest performance heat sink from Noctua (the NH-C14) to the test, I will be making a comparison of the temperatures at idle and under load. Both will be made while the CPU is at the stock voltages and clock speeds, as well as when the CPU is overclocked and 'over-volted'. This will help to show what kind of cooling performance this monster-of-a-heat sink has to offer when compared to other socket 1366 compatible high-performance heatsinks. These heatsinks will be tested head-to-head as they are delivered from the manufacturer. I could throw in a bunch of testing variables, but it is not what the products are capable of "as delivered". To test the idle temperatures, I will allow the computer to stay idle for 30 minutes and take the idle temperature at this point. For the load testing, I will use Prime95 version 26.5 and choose the blend testing and allow the processor and memory controller to heat up to the maximum temperatures. The time frame is a four-hour run, to allow the temperature to peak - usually in the 14K test. I will use Real temp 3.6 to take the high and low temperatures and average the temperatures generated over the four cores as my reported temperatures.

Testing Setup:

• Processor: Intel Core I7 920 133x20 Stock 166x20 Overclocked
• Cooling: Noctua NH-C14
• Motherboard: Sapphire Pure Black X58
• Memory: Mushkin 996805 Redline PC312800 6-8-6-24 1600MHz
• Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD5870
• Power Supply: Mushkin 1000 watt Joule Modular power supply
• Hard Drive: 1 x Seagate 1TB SATA
• Optical Drive: LG DVD-RW
• OS: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
• Case: Cooler Master HAF 932

Comparison Heat sinks:

Comparison Heat sinks:

• Corsair H50
• CoolIT Vantage ALC
• Coolink Corator DS
• Noctua NH-U12P SE 1366
• Thermalright TRUE Revision C
• Noctua NH-D14
• Noctua NH-U9B SE
• Coolit ECO ALC
• Noctua NH-C12P SE14
• Thermalright TRUE Copper
• Gelid Tranquillo
• Thermalright TRUE Revision A
• Noctua NH-C12P SE14
• Thermaltake FRIO

The NH-C14 delivered great idle temperatures in both stock and overclocked scenarios. The 130+ CFM of air pushed by the NF-P14 FLX fans contributes significantly to this result. Under load at stock settings, the NH-C14 just barely outperforms the highly touted NH-C12P SE14. When you push the thermal envelope a bit higher, the NH-C14 moves ahead and into territory occupied by some elite company.