Noctua NH-U14S, Premium CPU Cooler with NF-A15 140mm Fan (Brown)

Product Information

A comment one might expect is that there is not much separation between the heatsinks. That was the purpose of doing three runs with each heatsink: the results are consistent. The NH-D14 with an all-new suite of three A15 PWM fans was trailing right behind the NH-U14S at 62 °C. Then we see the Prolimatech heatsinks. The one disappointment comes when the NF-A14 2000 RPM fans are put on heatsinks. For some reason, they do not do as well as you might expect (partly because they were square, partly because they could not use spacers?). The contestant heatsinks are making their first appearance in this system, so we are calibrating them for future reference.

The NF-A15 140mm fan supplied with the NH-U14S supports PWM for convenient automatic speed control through the mainboard. In addition, the maximum fan speed can be reduced from 1500 to 1200rpm using the supplied Low-Noise Adaptor for even quieter operation.Underneath the accessories box sits the heatsink itself. It sets with the attached fan and is immobilized/protected by its own cardboard box with the heatsink resting on a tray. Basically, the entire assembly is shielded by cardboard corners. The ambient temperature during the tests was 23 degrees Celsius and has hardly changed during all cooler tests. The Dark Base 700 was fully closed at each test. The case fans were constantly running at a moderate 40 percent. The fans of the respective coolers were set via the PWM control of the motherboard and ran at 20 percent speed from 30 degrees Celsius. The speed increased continuously up to 70 degrees Celsius, from then on the fans of the cooler ran at 100 percent. Test program and measurement method On the right is the same heatsink with three NF-A15 1200 RPM fans. Here you can see the utility of a low profile RAM. Given that DDR4 RAM runs 1.2-1.35 volts there is no reason to get tall RAM.

However, the color is one of Noctua’s success factors, as the company let us know upon request. 15 years ago, Noctua opted for brown. The focus was on calm as the core virtue of the brand. Earth tones are therefore better suited than bright, eye-catching colors. In addition, most people often associate the shades brown and beige with noble and high-quality products made of wood, leather and other natural materials. But it is precisely this restrained color combination that is also the secret of conspicuousness. No other manufacturer uses brown tones for its fans, which is why Noctua fans always stand out and are immediately associated with the company.With six heatpipes, a fin surface area of more than 6000cm² and the large NF-A15 140mm fan, the NH-U14S TR4-SP3 provides a superior level of cooling performance that makes it ideal for the most high-end, enthusiast-grade TR4/SP3 systems. For users who want to achieve even better performance by adding a second optional NF-F12 and NF-A15, fans are available to create a push/pull setup. The coolers include fan clips and an extra set of custom-designed anti-vibration pads that allow to off-set the rear fan by 5mm to improve acoustics in dual-fan mode. Genesis: Also from Prolimatech, this heatsink is unique in that one of its towers is parallel to the motherboard. In the picture, it is sporting the same Blue Vortex fans. With both Prolimatech heatsinks the procedure is to use Gelid GC-Extreme TIM. Noctua is famous for its tandem twin-tower heatsinks, starting with its NH-D14 and proceeding to the larger NH-D15. The NH-U14S has been out for a few years now (in fact we reviewed it once in 2013). The single tower heatsink is designed to keep the fans clear of DRAM slots and should be able to accept taller ram without running into compatibility issues. We saw its capabilities in the past, but we have decided to tee it up along with several other coolers with a new base test system. Read on to see how the other coolers and the U14S fared with our new test system. Introduction

In our test, the Noctua NH-U12A competes against three of its brothers from the same family. On the one hand, we tested the direct predecessor NH-U12S, on the other hand the NH-U14S as a 140 mm version and the NH-D15 as a flagship with two fans. Out of curiosity as to how the two NF-A12x25 fans perform, we also performed the tests with the NH-D15 in combination with the NF-A12x25 fans that were actually too small. Cooler We were somewhat disappointed by the volume of the fans in comparison. With a value of 49.7 dB(A), the two fans of the NH-U12A perform significantly worse than all other test subjects. The predecessor NH-U12S achieves the lowest value with 45.8 dB(A). The NH-U14S, which cools almost identically or slightly better than the NH-U12A, is significantly quieter at 46.2 dB(A). Even the NH-D15 with two 140 mm fans is not as loud as the NH-U12A. It should also be noted, however, that the noise is very well dampened by the insulation of the Dark Base 700, which is why the values are definitely ok. The difference is only noticeable when the case is open. Conclusion: expensive, but very goodWe finally measured the temperature with AIDA64 Extreme. The statistic function in the system stability test also shows the average values over time of the individual cores. We have added the respective average value of the individual cores and thus calculated the average value of all cores. Noctua’s NH-D14 was a fine heatsink in its day. If you still use one, you can replace its fans with three retail NF-A15 PWM fans. Or you can leave it alone, spend no money and know you have an adequate heatsink. But if you have one of the early non-PWM NF-D14’s you may wish to change out your fans to get PWM technology and the quietness that comes with PWM control. Reasonable size for better overall compatibility. “Standing 165mm tall, the NH-U14S is short enough to fit most modern high-end cases.” Recommended by more than 150 hardware publications and thousands of enthusiasts world-wide, the Noctua’s premium quality fans are renowned to combine superb static pressure, excellent heatsink performance and surprising quietness of operation. The NH-U12S is supplied with the NF-F12 Focused Flow fan while the NH-U14S has the NF-A15 fan.

Both fans supplied with the coolers support PWM for convenient automatic speed control through the mainboard. In addition, the maximum fan speed can be reduced using the supplied Low-Noise Adaptor for even quieter operation. Fan compatibility: 140x150x25 (with 120mm mounting holes), 140x140x25 (with 120mm mounting holes), 120x120x25 We realize that questions might be surfacing around the cost and performance of the Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3 and the NH-U12S TR4-SP3 and even the Cooler Master MasterAir MA621P, and rightfully so. The slower fan on the NH-U14S is larger than that found on the NH-U12S (120mm) and the dual 120mm RBG fans adorning the MasterAir MA621P.Standing 158mm tall (U12S) and 165mm tall (U14S) the coolers are short enough to fit most modern mid-end or high-end tower cases. Measuring 125mm wide (including fan and fan clips), the coolers stay clear of the top PCIe slot on standard ATX or Micro-ATX motherboards, ensuring best compatibility with SLI and CrossFire setups. In the first photo, we see the NF-A15 PWM fan. There is no doubt it’s a Noctua given its unique coloring. It’s equipped with anti-vibration padding and two clips for securing the fan to the tower of the cooler. I hear you about the cost. But all 6-8 heatpipe designs cost this and more, sometimes much more. As a reviewer and because I own two NH-D14's that I bought, I was interested in seeing if the HN-U14S was any better. It was. Mind-blowing. After each heatsink was mounted the temps were not measured for a day to give the TIM time to spread and thin out. PLEASE NOTE: Some AMD mainboards violate the 96x114mm keep-out zone specified by AMD, so the NH-U12S can only be used with RAM modules of up to 40mm height on these boards. Please consult the compatibility list for details.