Cooler for LGA2011-3; NH-U14S vs. Megahalems Rev. B

[sagetone]

Hi,

I have a custom built Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) with i7 870 (Lynnfield), LGA1156, Gigabyte P55A motherboard. I'm having board issues and need to upgrade, so moving to a 5820K CPU, LGA2011-3, MSI X99S SLI PLUS motherboard.

My current case is a Coolermaster Sileo 500 that works very well and is nice and quiet, so I will be keeping the case (and SSDs and HDDs, DVD, PS, etc.) and only replacing the CPU, mobo, cooler, and RAM.

Current cooler is a Prolimatech Megahalems Rev B with a 120mm Sharkoon fan. It's been difficult getting accurate data from Coolermaster re. the available head room for a near cooler. The Megahalems is 159mm height and fits well.

I am considering two options for the cooler: (1) Keep the Megahalems and the Sharkoon and get a 2011-3 adapter kit from Prolimatech (I've emailed them, waiting for confirmation on availability), or (2) install a new NH-U14S from Noctua.

I have some sizing concerns with the Noctua; it is taller (165mm vs. 159mm) and wider (150mm vs. 130mm) and could possibly interfere with the PS on the top side and/or the first PCIe slot on the bottom side.

Here's my question for this forum. What is your opinion of these two coolers for 2011-3? Tom's Hardware reviews (as well as others) seem to like Noctua. I just don't know how Megahalems stacks up, being an older cooler.

I will be overclocking for audio work in my hyperthread sequencer programs. But no gaming on this machine.

Thank you for your help,

Todd

 

[sammy sung]

I wasn't entirely sure if you were asking for a suggestion on all the required parts, or just the cooler as that seemed to be the main focus. Either way, here's what I'd suggest based upon a value standpoint, with reasoning for the cooler.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($378.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG R1 Ultimate 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock X99 Extreme4 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($190.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($148.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $808.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-20 19:07 EDT-0400

I'd go with the Cryorig over the D14/D15. Same performance, easier installation, slightly lower noise level and overall it's more aesthetically please, at least to me.

 

[sagetone]

Thank you Sammy. Yes, my post/question was specific to the cooler. I already have the MSI board and the CPU, and plan to use GSkill for the memory. The Cryorig R1 is even taller than the NH-U14S, so I am concerned about that option. My question is really NH-U14S (new) vs. Megahalems (re-use).