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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. 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. Reasonable size for better overall compatibility. “Standing 165mm tall, the NH-U14S is short enough to fit most modern high-end cases.”
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. We put the heatsink on the Noctua mount. Note that the crossbar is held to the heatsink with a screw. That saves you from dealing with a loose crossbar. Next we can mount the fan and the assembly is complete.
Throw Your Computer In The Ocean.
The last arrangement is the NH-D15 with two, 2000 RPM NF-A14 fans. The squareness of the fans is clearly delineated here. They do not reach across the full width of the towers. 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.
The biggest change is not on the heat sink either, but is attached to it. With the NH-U12A Noctua delivers two of the high performance fans NF-A12x25. The company has developed these fans for four years and optimized them for maximum performance. The gap between fan blades and frame is only 0.5 mm. The gap between fan and frame is kept to a minimum. (Picture: PCBC/FM) Finally, the NH-U14S sitting on a motherboard. This overhead view shows that the heatsink does not interfere with RAM. Further, it shows the hexagonal distribution of those six heat pipes. Last it shows the screwdriver access hole in the center of the tower.
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New in this test is the measurement of the noise level. We measured the volume in dB(A) of the overall system from a distance of approx. 25 cm using our level meter with the case open. The case fans ran at the set 40 percent, while the PWM fans of the coolers ran at 100 percent. These values are for comparison only. Results compared to other Noctua coolers 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. 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.
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. 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?). 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
Apple cancelled this, now what?
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. NNoctua has established itself more and more in the high performance league in recent years. In addition to many industrial solutions, the company also offers premium products for the end customer market. The Noctua brown stands out especially. Already during the reporting to other coolers we have therefore read again and again as a comment that only the colour prevents many from buying. 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.
On the left is an NH-D14 with its original fans. This heatsink is officially EOL but Noctua continues to make them because people continue to buy them. With all Noctua heatsinks NT-H1 TIM was used.Having received more than 100 awards and recommendations from hardware journalists around the world, Noctua's NT-H1 is a proven professional grade TIM solution that provides minimum thermal resistance, excellent ease of use and outstanding reliability. 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. 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. 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. Fan compatibility: 140x150x25 (with 120mm mounting holes), 140x140x25 (with 120mm mounting holes), 120x120x25
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