Noctua NH-C14S Review: An Engineering Marvel

Introduction

The original NH-C14 was released back in 2011 and it received a lot of positive feedback from the community but now Noctua has released the updated version called NH-C14S. The NH-C14S is the successor to the NH-C14 which is a top-flow design cooler that is designed to be compatible with mini-ITX and micro-ATX motherboards. The improved top-flow design of the NH-C14S allows for a much lower profile than today's 140mm tower-style coolers and it also ensures good airflow over RAM modules and near-socket motherboard components.

With one fan installed underneath the fin stack, the NH-C14S stands 115mm tall and allows it to fit many desktop style or HTPC cases. If you decide to install the NF-A14 fan on top, the NH-C14S provides extended clearance underneath the fin stack for RAM modules with heat-spreaders of up to 70mm height. The layout of the NH-C14S has been offset in two axis which will clear the top PCIe slot. Noctua offers a six year warranty on their products and has an excellent customer service. If your fans every stop working or if you need a new mounting kit, they will send you a new one free of charge.

Noctua ships the NH-C14S with SecuFirm 2 mounting kit that makes the installation process a breeze. The NH-C14S comes with one 140mm NF-A14 PWM fan but Noctua has sent us an extra NF-A14 PWM fan to test with both one and two fan configuration. The original NH-C14 had six 6mm heatpipes while the NH-C14S has seven 6mm heatpipes. The NH-C14S is constructed with a copper base, heatpipes, aluminum fins, soldered joints and nickel plating and weighs 820 g without the fan and 1015 g with one fan installed. The nickel plated copper base plate measures 40 x 38 mm in size and the copper base plate measures 4.5mm thick and has a nickel-plated finish.

The NH-C14S has 68 aluminum fins and each fin measures 0.38 mm thick and are approximately spaced 1.5 mm from the next. The dimensions come in at 115 mm x 140 mm x 163 mm (H x W x L). The biggest change with the NH-C14S, design-wise, is the additional heatpipe in the middle of the heatsink. The original NH-C14 had a steel support column in the center that was used to help protect the heatpipes from bending but the NH-C14S has replaced that with one 6mm heatpipe.

Another change that will make a big difference in cooling performance is the NF-A14 PWM fan. Noctua's NF-A14 PWM fan is much better and more efficient than the NF-P14 fan that shipped with the NH-C14 so you can expect better cooling performance while being much quieter.

Technical Specifications

Heatsink Specifications
Manufacture:	Noctua
Model:	NH-C14S
Socket Support:	Intel LGA2011-0 & LGA2011-3 (Square ILM) LGA1156, LGA1155, LGA1151, LGA1150 AMD AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, FM1, FM2, FM2+ (backplate required)
Material:	Copper (base and heat-pipes) Aluminium (cooling fins) Soldered joints & nickel plating
Fan Compatibility:	140x140x25mm (with square frame)
Heatsink:	Dimensions: 115 mm x 140 mm x 163 mm (w/o Fan) Heatpipes: 6pcs Weight: 820 g (w/o Fan) 1015 g (w/ Fan)
Scope of Delivery:	1x NF-A14 PWM premium fan Low-Noise Adaptor (L.N.A.) Fan clips for second fan NT-H1 high-grade thermal compound SecuFirm2™ Mounting Kit Noctua Metal Case-Badge
Warranty:	6 Years

Fan Specifications
Model:	1x Noctua NF-A14 PWM
Bearing:	SSO2
Max. Rotational Speed (+/- 10%):	1500 RPM
Max. Rotational Speed with L.N.A. (+/- 10%):	1200 RPM
Max. Airflow:	140,2 m³/h
Max. Airflow with L.N.A:	115,5 m³/h
Max. Acoustical Noise:	24,6 dB(A)
Max. Acoustical Noise with L.N.A:	19,2 dB(A)
Input Power:	1,56 W
Voltage Range:	12 V
MTBF:	> 150.000 h

Packaging & Accessories

Here's the NH-C14S along with the NF-A14 PWM 140mm fan that Noctua sent me. Both products are packaged very well inside and you can definitely tell that these are premium products just from the packaging alone. Noctua utilizes their traditional color scheme on their packaging which we all have become used to.

The front of the box lists some of the features such as C-Type Top-Flow Design, Low Profile Mode, High Clearance Mode, Offset design for PCIe clearance, NF-A14 140mm Premium Fan, PWM support and low-noise adapter, SecuFirm 2 Mounting System, compatibility with past and future sockets. On the left side you will find a short paragraph with details of the cooler and some of its features in multiple languages. Each of the features are detailed on the back of the box and the right side shows the specifications of the cooler and fan.

Noctua's packaging has always been top-notch and this time it's no exception. The accessories and mounting hardware are in separate boxes while the heatsink and fan are in another. You will notice that Noctua uses internal cardboard boxes to protect the heatsink, fan and all the included accessories.

Inside you will find Noctua's NT-H1 thermal compound, one Low-Noise-Adapters (L.N.A) which can be used to reduce the fan speed, one 140mm NF-A14 PWM fan, brackets that hold the fans onto the cooler, fan clips for second fan, a Phillips screw driver that you can use during the installation, AMD and Intel SecuFirm2 mounting hardware, Noctua metal case badge and a manual.

Test Setup & Methodology

Test Setup
Processor:	Intel i7 3770K @ 4.6GHz 1.30v
Motherboard:	Asus Sabertooth Z77
RAM:	Kingston HyperX 8GB @ 1866 MHz
Graphics Card:	EVGA GTX 680
Storage:	Samsung 840 Pro 256GB
Power Supply:	Antec Earth Watts 650W
Case:	Antec Nine Hundred
OS:	Windows 7 64Bit
Thermal Compound:	Noctua NT-H1
Heatsinks:	Noctua NH-C14S Noctua NH-D15S Noctua NH-D15 Noctua NH-D14 Noctua NH-U14S Noctua NH-U12S Noctua NH-C14 Noctua NH-C12P SE14 Noctua NH-U9B SE2 Corsair H100i Corsair H80i Corsair H60 Corsair H55 Cooler Master Hyper 212+ Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO Scythe Mugen 3B Phanteks PH-TC14PE Phanteks PH-TC12DX NZXT Respire T20 NZXT Respire T40 BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E Extreme

We will be testing the NH-C14S with our regular system setup and that is with the 3770K overclocked to 4.6Ghz with using around 1.30 volts. This will be a good way to test this cooler because we all know that Ivy Bridge runs super hot once overclocked and it really puts a lot of stress into any modern CPU cooler that's out there. The image below has the exact measurements and clearance for RAM and motherboard heatsinks.

All of the testing is done with an ambient temperature of ~19C. All of the coolers are run with their fan speeds at default. RealTemp will be used to monitor the temperature of the CPU and Prime95 (Large FFTs) will be used to deliver the full load to the CPU for 20 minutes. After each testing, we let the temperature inside the case to stabilize for 10 minutes to ensure that the temperature inside the case is back to normal. This is something that many reviewers take for granted when testing CPU coolers and believe it or not, it makes a world of difference.

Idle temperatures will be measured after leaving the computer idle for 20 minutes. CPU-Z will be used to verify the CPU speed and the voltage being used in Windows 7. Also, the coolers are tested with the default settings (Turbo, C1E etc) enabled in the BIOS.

We will measure the noise levels for both in idle and load using a dBA meter and point it at the computer at a distance of ~50 CM. It's always difficult to measure noise levels because there are always noises in the background which can affect it so the results may not be 100% precise but it should give you a clear indication of the noise levels for the cooler.

We will rank each CPU cooler that we have in our lab from highest to lowest by the amount of fin count they have, number of heatpipes and their fin thickness. Fin count is very important because it determines thermal conductivity, fin thickness determines thermal capacitance and the number of heatpipes determines efficiency of heat transfer. We will also rank them by fan speed, fan size and Airflow. Fan speed and fan size help determine the thermal transfer and noise level of the fan. The Airflow of the fan is measured in CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute) and the higher the CFM value, the more air the fan is moving but also the higher the dB.

One thing that I have to say before the test is that I'm using 1.30 volts for the overclock but you clearly don't need 1.30 volts to get the 3770K stable at 4.6Ghz but I'm doing this to stress test the cooler to its limits. You can easily get it stable with using ~1.25 volts and you will probably get much better temperatures than I did so keep that in mind.

Physical Attributes

In the chart above we have sorted all the CPU coolers from highest to lowest by their fan speed. The AMD Wraith Cooler sits at the top with the highest fan speed at 3200RPM. Noctua has equipped the NH-C14S with one NF-A14 PWM fan that spin at a maximum of 1500 RPM. This chart should give you an idea of the different fan speeds that come with each cpu cooler.

In the chart below we have sorted each CPU cooler from highest to lowest by the fan size in millimeters.

This chart is pretty self-explanatory but it should give you an idea of the different fan sizes that come with each cooler. The NH-C14S comes with one 140mm fan while the old NH-C14 had two 140mm fans with a maximum RPM of 1200.

In the chart below we have sorted each CPU cooler from highest to lowest by the maximum amount of airflow they move in CFM.

Noctua's NF-A14 iPPC-3000RPM fan move 159 CFM airflow which is more than any fan that we have in our lab. The fan on the NH-C14S moves approximately 83 CFM airflow.

The above chart shows all the CPU coolers that we have in our lab sorted from highest to lowest by the amount of fin count each cooler has. As you can see from the chart, the fin stack remains the same. The NH-C14S still retains the same 68 aluminum fins as the NH-C14.

In the chart below we have sorted each CPU cooler from highest to lowest by the fin thickness in millimeters.

The fins on NH-C14S are approximately 0.38 mm thick which is the same thickness as the original NH-C14.

In our next chart we have sorted each CPU cooler from highest to lowest by the number of heatpipes they have.

As you can see from the chart above, Noctua has added an additional heatpipe in the center of the heatsink. The original NH-C14 had six 6mm heatpipes while the improved NH-C14S comes with seven 6mm heatpipes. In theory, this should provide for better cooling performance which we will see in the next page.

Thermal & Noise Level Results

Looking at the chart above, we can see that the NH-C14S with one fan is about one Celsius cooler than the old NH-C14 in idle mode. Adding a second fan to the NH-C14S doesn't affect idle temperates. There's a 2-3 Celsius margin of error when measuring the temperature so most likely there is zero difference between the NH-C14S and NH-C14 in idle.

Let's now move on to the load temperature to see how the NH-C14S does against the NH-C14.

Looking at the full load temperature, the NH-C14S with one fan was about 1 degree Celsius cooler than the NH-C14. Once I put the second fan on the NH-C14S, it lowered the temperature by two Celsius.

Now let's look at the noise levels for both idle and load.

The NH-C14S is silent in idle mode. There's always a 1-2 dBA margin of error in acoustic performance and with that being said, according to my measurements, the NH-C14S is about 2 dBA quieter compared to the NH-C14 in idle mode. With two fans on, the noise level doesn't change at all.

Moving on to the noise level under load, the NH-C14S with one fan is 2 dBA quieter than the NH-C14S with two fans. The NH-C14S with two fans performs the same as the old NH-C14 with two fans.

With all those being said, let's now go to the next page where we will wrap this review up.

Conclusion

Noctua's NH-C14S is better in every way compared to the original NH-C14. Not only is it more efficient but it also performs much better while being much quieter. The additional heatpipe in the center of the heatsink and the improved NF-A14 fan make a noticeable difference in both cooling and noise performance. You can find the NH-C14S for $75 on Amazon which is too high. If you decide to buy a second fan, you can expect a nice drop of temperature from 2-3 Celsius but you have to keep in mind that NF-A14 PWM is an expensive fan that retails for $22 so if you aren't going to overclock then it won't be worth it.

The NH-C14S performs great with just one fan and it is whisper quiet just what you would expect from a Noctua product. It offers great compatibility with RAM with tall heatsinks and video cards. The NH-C14S is an excellent cooler that does exactly what is supposed to do. Noctua has an outstanding customer service so if the fan ever stops working, they will send you a new one for free. The only negative that some people might have with Noctua's products in general is the color scheme which might not be a problem for some of you but for modders it could be a deal breaker. The color scheme is what sets Noctua apart from all the other brands and what makes their products easily recognizable.

The NH-C14S with two fans has no problems handling high overclocks. As we saw on the previous page, it cooled the i7-3770K at 4.6Ghz relatively well and offered very good noise levels. The NH-C14S also outperformed many AIO coolers such as Corsair's H80i and H60 with little effort. Some people choose to go with an AIO water cooler because they take up less space but most of the time, they perform worse than a high end air cooler.

Pros:
+ Outstanding Performance
+ High Build Quality
+ Whisper Quiet Fan
+ Easy Installation
+ Fantastic Packaging and Accessories
+ 6 Year Warranty/MTBF 150,000 Hours
+ High PCIe and RAM Compatibility
+ Amazing thermal compound (NT-H1)

Cons:
- Extra Fan Is Expensive
- Pricey

Overall, the price of the NH-C14S might be a little bit steep for some people but it's worth every penny considering that this is a very well engineered cooler. It comes packed with a whisper quiet fan and Noctua's SecuFirm2 mounting kit makes the installation process very easy and straightforward. Noctua has also included in the package their NT-H1 thermal compound that is top notch. We strongly recommend the NH-C14S to anyone who's looking for a high quality top-flow design cooler that will give you fantastic cooling performance while providing high RAM and video card clearance. The NH-C14S is another high quality product from Noctua that performs just as you would expect.

With all that being said, we are proud to give the Noctua NH-C14S our Recommended Award.

Final Score    9.7