Noctua NH-C14 Heatsink Review
Author: Dennis Garcia
Published: Thursday, May 19, 2011
Introduction
System cooling can be a real challenge when you are looking for good performance with a minimum of noise. While you usually sacrifice something along the way it doesn't always have to be the case.
In this review we will be looking at a new heatsink from Noctua that takes the traditional tower style heatsink and lays it down flat which is a nice feature for system where size is a limiting factor. The new heatsink is called the NH-C14 and shares many of the same features found on the NH-D14 that we reviewed last year.
Noctua is a premier cooling company from Austria that has focused on creating the best, and quietest, cooling solutions on the market. They do this by looking at the source of noise and finding ways to reduce it to a minimum.
In this review we will be looking at a new heatsink from Noctua that takes the traditional tower style heatsink and lays it down flat which is a nice feature for system where size is a limiting factor. The new heatsink is called the NH-C14 and shares many of the same features found on the NH-D14 that we reviewed last year.
Noctua is a premier cooling company from Austria that has focused on creating the best, and quietest, cooling solutions on the market. They do this by looking at the source of noise and finding ways to reduce it to a minimum.
The Noctua NH-C14 is a traditional tower heatsink built on a 6 heatpipe design. As we all know heatsink performance is largely based on how fast you can move heat from one place to another. In the case of air cooling a fan is tasked with moving air across the heatsink to start the thermal transfer. The fan is also the primary source of noise in a system and is one reason why Noctua opted for 14cm fans on this product.
Two fans come standard with the NH-C14. A 140mm NF-P14 fan is located on each side of the heatsink which can be removed depending on your installation requirements. This is a great feature if you need more clearance under the heatsink for memory modules or more room at the top for narrow chassis designs. Both fans feature SSO Bearings and Vortex Control Notches to reduce fan noise.
Two fans come standard with the NH-C14. A 140mm NF-P14 fan is located on each side of the heatsink which can be removed depending on your installation requirements. This is a great feature if you need more clearance under the heatsink for memory modules or more room at the top for narrow chassis designs. Both fans feature SSO Bearings and Vortex Control Notches to reduce fan noise.
Both fans are mounted to the heatsink using the traditional wire clip method but feature noise isolators to reduce any vibration that may transfer to the heatsink tower. Removing the fans is extremely easy, unlike some of the other wire clip designs we have seen.
The 6 heatpipes grouped across the radiator array in a pattern that promotes cooling the center most pipes and using those for the majority of the heat transfer.
The 6 heatpipes grouped across the radiator array in a pattern that promotes cooling the center most pipes and using those for the majority of the heat transfer.
A feature we really like is the micro texture that has been machined into the base of the heatsink. We have found this does extremely well at removing excess air from the thermal paste and promotes good adhesion to the heatspreader. If your heatsinks don't require a little force to remove then you didn't make good contact.
