# Noctua NH-C14



## btarunr (Feb 14, 2011)

Currently tower-type coolers are known offer the best cooling performance, so it surprised us a bit to see a new top-flow CPU cooler from Noctua. We were even more surprised by the performance delivered which is better than any other cooler we tested before, including tower-type models.

*Show full review*


----------



## virtue (Apr 22, 2011)

intel stock cooler pulling 72 @ 1.38V ~ 4GHZ? no way


----------



## garyinhere (Apr 22, 2011)

Great Review!

The fans are rated at 19.6 dB (a) at full rpm so with real world that still seems high what do you use to measure dB's ?


----------



## damric (Apr 22, 2011)

I see that the noisy fans are the only weakness. Is there standard mounts for other 140mm fans, or even 120mm fans? I'd love to get this and put some CM Sickle Flow R4's or Scythe Slip Stream Kaze Maru2's on there.


----------



## sneekypeet (Apr 22, 2011)

the sound testing has an error, there is no way the Noctua is the loudest fan in any testing done on earth at idle and no way the Aegir is more silent under load.

60-70 dB(A) is equivalent to a vacuum cleaner within a meter of your ears. I call shenanigans.


----------



## mlee49 (Apr 22, 2011)

Made that for you peety


----------



## blibba (Apr 23, 2011)

sneekypeet said:


> the sound testing has an error, there is no way the Noctua is the loudest fan in any testing done on earth at idle and no way the Aegir is more silent under load.
> 
> 60-70 dB(A) is equivalent to a vacuum cleaner within a meter of your ears. I call shenanigans.



Normally Noctua fans come with a resistor to lower speed. If they're running flat out all the time on this cooler, I can well believe that they're loud.


----------



## a_ump (Apr 23, 2011)

it really doesn't look like it cost anymore to manufactur than the other top end coolers that are 40-70. They def have the price jacked up.

Also wouldn't it perform even better if the copper wasn't nickel plated?


----------



## micropage7 (Apr 23, 2011)

i like noctua. its one of my fav, but its kinda pricey and heavy weight. the good thing is it performs pretty well and it has nice build quality


----------



## Fourstaff (Apr 23, 2011)

a_ump said:


> it really doesn't look like it cost anymore to manufactur than the other top end coolers that are 40-70. They def have the price jacked up.



Them jacking up the price is given, but you must remember that this is an Austrian company, and taxes there are quite a bit higher. Also, their customer service is top notch, and the kit you get is outrageously complete. I certainly don't mind paying extra for their coolers if I have the money


----------



## garyinhere (Apr 23, 2011)

blibba said:


> Normally Noctua fans come with a resistor to lower speed. If they're running flat out all the time on this cooler, I can well believe that they're loud.



I run these exact same fans and 65-70 dB is how loud a vaccum cleaner is at 1 meter and these don't even get close to that... 



> The most widely used sound level filter is the A scale, which roughly corresponds to the inverse of the 40 dB (at 1 kHz) equal-loudness curve. Using this filter, the sound level meter is thus less sensitive to very high and very low frequencies. Measurements made on this scale are expressed as dBA


It just doesn't make sense to me is why I asked what meter was used


----------



## BababooeyHTJ (Apr 23, 2011)

No cpu cooler review is complete without a True as the benchmark.


----------



## Fourstaff (Apr 23, 2011)

BababooeyHTJ said:


> No cpu cooler review is complete without a True as the benchmark.



TRUE is a bit old by now, and since that TPU is not that big with heatsink reviews, I think we will have to do with another benchmark, probably Venomous X or 212+ (which I am a fan of). Noctua D14 makes another good bench I think.


----------



## erixx (Apr 23, 2011)

Namastae!

Hey, I have this one.

Great review, just a few notes:

1) installation is bloody EASY...
2) noise is INEXISTENT
3) I use it with 2x HIGH ram coolers and 2x low ram coolers, 4x HIGH ram coolers look not possible, unless you take 1 fan out

Thanks and enjoy


----------



## BababooeyHTJ (Apr 24, 2011)

Fourstaff said:


> TRUE is a bit old by now, and since that TPU is not that big with heatsink reviews, I think we will have to do with another benchmark, probably Venomous X or 212+ (which I am a fan of). Noctua D14 makes another good bench I think.



It's still the benchmark. It was the king of the hill for a long time. There still isn't a tower cooler that is that much better at around it's size. A lot of people still use a true. It would have been nice to see one of the more popular heatsinks in the lineup, a venomous x, a rev-c, something.


----------



## sneekypeet (Apr 24, 2011)

BababooeyHTJ said:


> It's still the benchmark. It was the king of the hill for a long time. There still isn't a tower cooler that is that much better at around it's size. A lot of people still use a true. It would have been nice to see one of the more popular heatsinks in the lineup, a venomous x, a rev-c, something.



You sort of have to go with what you are given
In essence I fully get your point, but the cooler you refer to is also extremely old as far as tech is concerned. They aren't likely to still be sampling the older designs. This would mean that bta would have to dig in his own wallet to add that cooler to the charts


----------



## mlee49 (Apr 24, 2011)

I'll send BTA a Hyper 212 just to get it on the performance charts.


----------



## MAXLD (Apr 24, 2011)

Strange about the noise part... "loud" and (Noctua)"fans" are two things that don't usually combine at all. I have the D14 and, although isn't the same cooler, it uses a similar setup/fans, and the only thing I can say about the noise is: "noticeable", and basically that's it. 
But that's my view... if we look at the D14 review:

How does it goes from here...


> "Noctua is well known for their high quality silent fans. The NH-D14 comes with two fans, NF-P14 and NF-P12, the first being 140 mm and the latter being 120 mm. *Both fans are extremely quiet at normal 12V operation, and both measure at 19 dB*
> [...]
> I found that *at 12V the fans are both plenty quiet* for my ears"



... to here?


> "This is where the NH-C14 limps.
> [...]
> *Not only are the fans loud, but also have a high-ish pitched noise*, which tends to get unpleasant."




Plus, other reviews out there seem to indicate similar noise levels between the D14 and the C14...

If the standard C14 is _that_ loud, put two SilenX together and your ears will certainly bleed for weeks.


----------



## Vancha (Apr 24, 2011)

I was surprised to see the noise that high. I've lost track of the amount of C14 reviews I've seen, and most of them put it at a pretty low noise level. There's _something_ screwy going on there.


----------



## erixx (Apr 24, 2011)

I just did a test: mine are 12V but Bios regulated and are always idling and therefor silent  But if I de-activate the regulations and let them blow at full speed, they sound like a motorcycle -2
But when do we have our fans at 100% power? Rarely!


----------



## Zubasa (May 18, 2011)

erixx said:


> I just did a test: mine are 12V but Bios regulated and are always idling and therefor silent  But if I de-activate the regulations and let them blow at full speed, they sound like a motorcycle -2
> But when do we have our fans at 100% power? Rarely!


Really?
Do the C14 have different fans? 
The 140mm fan on my D14 is very quiet


----------



## alecela (May 23, 2011)

MAXLD said:


> Strange about the noise part... "loud" and (Noctua)"fans" are two things that don't usually combine at all. I have the D14 and, although isn't the same cooler, it uses a similar setup/fans, and the only thing I can say about the noise is: "noticeable", and basically that's it.
> But that's my view... if we look at the D14 review:
> 
> How does it goes from here...
> ...



Do we have any conclusion on the noise levels?   Are the two reviews done w/ different standard/setup?   The NH-D14 & NH-C14 uses almost the identical fan so I found the sound level measurement to be a bit shocking from 19db to 65db.


----------



## HTC (May 25, 2011)

Apparently, this cooler works best in a certain position:


> Noctua recommend that the cooler be orientated with either the heat pipes being horizontal or the C bend facing downwards.



The temps achieved can be very different depending on which orientation the cooler has and, i'm assuming, there can also be differences with the sound.

Looking @ this pic from the review:






It appears it was tested sideways: any chance this can be tested with another cooler orientation such as the one in the quoted text above?


----------



## erixx (May 25, 2011)

Zubasa said:


> Really?
> Do the C14 have different fans?
> The 140mm fan on my D14 is very quiet



dont know! here i have nearly silence and i can hear 'anything', And yes, at 100% the C14 Noctua fans do make noise.

The Arctic Cooling 2.0 Freezer (cant remember its name, the biggest they offer) was REALLY silent at 100%.

But of course, that means nothing related to performance, power, efficieny etc.


----------

