Four Closed-Loop CPU Coolers Take On Noctua's NH-D14

[kartu]

Unfortunately, if we accidentally knock our PC over, the NH-D14 might very well break our motherboard. Never mind trying to figure out the best way to ship it, installed, across the country. Even if we could guarantee that the folks at UPS and FedEx would handle our machine gently, the idea of having all of that weight rocking back and forth sounds like horrible torture for the delicate contacts of Intel’s LGA interface. From a portability perspective, big air is a bad idea

Very dissapointing conclusion. Had you been honest, it would have been "why on earth mess with water cooling if there is a cheaper, quieter and more robust solution".

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]kartu[/nom]Very dissapointing conclusion. Had you been honest, it would have been "why on earth mess with water cooling if there is a cheaper, quieter and more robust solution".[/citation]The conclusion was honest. If you're not willing to believe that Tom's Hardware editors have experienced more than their fair share of broken-loose CPU coolers and broken boards, that incredulity is your problem.

 

[youssef 2010]

[citation][nom]Article[/nom]Corsair is the first company we’ve seen to use an SATA power connector for a device that has nothing to do with storage.[/citation]

Not true, I've seen some cases do this with their integrated fan controller. I'm not sure why this is worth mentioning as it has nothing to do with the cooler's performance

 

[youssef 2010]

I was seriously considering buying a closed-loop solution when my V6GT gets old. After reading this article, I am sticking with air cooling. I don't tend to move my system around very much. My case was even smashed against the wall because I tripped while carrying it and nothing happened to the motherboard or the cooler.

Re-boxing a system before shipping it is a must. Even if one of the components arrived damaged, the rest of them are still safe.

 

[TheBigTroll]

[citation][nom]Crashman[/nom]These are liquid coolers, not water coolers. The coolant has a lower freezing point than water.[/citation]

trust me. its water. had a friend on another forum h80 pump blew up. corsair told him to let it dry as it is water

 

[eodeo]

Very clever title. Interesting story.

 

[husker]

Am I the only person who purchased noctua fans for my case and radiator? If so, I'm glad my hundred bucks kept them in business. If not, then I bet a lot of people would want to know how these coolers compare using the exact same high quality fans that were on the air cooler. I know, this is a review of hardware as shipped, but as a scientific method of determining the best water cooler then you need to remove as many variables as possible. The whole acoustic issue boils down to the fans, perhaps other cooling issues do as well. Personally I wish the coolers didn't ship with fans at all, forcing reviewers to treat the fans the same as any other testbed hardware. Good review, though.

 

[kartu]

[citation][nom]Crashman[/nom]The conclusion was honest. If you're not willing to believe that Tom's Hardware editors have experienced more than their fair share of broken-loose CPU coolers and broken boards, that incredulity is your problem.[/citation]
Since when are tom's editors a typical users?
How many of your readers ship their PCs anywhere, let alone with mounted coolers, please?

 

[clonazepam]

an nhd14 system, shipping...hmm... i guess fill the inside of the case with peanuts and pack em good n tight lol

 

[Luay]

I agree with Husker's comment. That's why reviews of any products that use fans (coolers and cases) can't be informative to someone using HQ fans such as Noctua's nf12 or nfa14.

I also wonder why noctua hasn't updated their nhd14 with those newer fans? If I buy one today I don't want it to have the old fans while the new ones are available.

 

[bigcyco1]

NH-D14 FTW!If your going to watercool do it right get a custom loop.

 

[amuffin]

Am I the only person who purchased noctua fans for my case and radiator? If so, I'm glad my hundred bucks kept them in business. If not, then I bet a lot of people would want to know how these coolers compare using the exact same high quality fans that were on the air cooler. I know, this is a review of hardware as shipped, but as a scientific method of determining the best water cooler then you need to remove as many variables as possible. The whole acoustic issue boils down to the fans, perhaps other cooling issues do as well. Personally I wish the coolers didn't ship with fans at all, forcing reviewers to treat the fans the same as any other testbed hardware. Good review, though.

Price of a CLC and good fans=watercooling kit right there.

 

[BestJinjo]

I still think Thermalright TRUE Spirit 140 for $40 with free shipping is the best value in coolers right now:
http://www.nansgaminggear.net/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=TS-140

It will pretty much beat any air cooler in its price range and give units like Corsair H80 a run for the $ for half the price:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/thermalright-archon-sb-e_5.html#sect1

With low profile RAM like Samsung DDR3-1600 eco green that overclocks to DDR3-2400, most PC enthusiasts keep buying into the myth that a sub-$100 AIO water-cooling kit is superior. It's not, not from a price/performance or a performance/noise levels point of view.

I can see how AIO watercooling kits are suitable for smaller cases or for those that need to move the case around / travel with it.

Still the popularity of everything worse performing than Corsair H80/H80i for high-end systems is odd to say the least as a $40 TRUE Spirit 140 would blow all these Corsair H50/55/60/70 units out of the water in noise levels, price and performance, as well as the fan quality.

 

[davemaster84]

I think that actually there's a bigger change of getting a damaged system trough a coolant leak rather than our air cooler breaking our stuff, there's always a risk rather you've air or water, we just have to ve extremely careful.

 

[g---man]

Air vs. water debate is not new, it had been fought before, and air (or, to be exact, air as primary heat moving entity) lost.

Simply look at your car.

Don't say this is apples vs. oranges: motorcycles are mostly air-cooled, but ask yourself why and extrapolate to your specific case/CPU/heat envelop.

 

[brogz42]

It's amazing to see the Noctua keep up with the liquid cooling. Crazy now I have something to tell my friends when they say liquid coolers are the best.

 

[JamesSneed]

It's amazing to see the Noctua keep up with the liquid cooling. Crazy now I have something to tell my friends when they say liquid coolers are the best.

Closed loop coolers not a true liquid cooling setup. Your friends will pound you for this if they know anything about water cooling.

 

[jurassic1024]

*pets his H100i and 600T controlled Sickleflow fans*

 

[DaHaKa5589]

Hey so I found out the NH-D14 is best of all those liquid coolers but is NH-D14 better than NH-U14s?
Thank you

 

[TheBigTroll]

of course its better. more surface area + more heatpipes = better cooling

 

[DaHaKa5589]

of course its better. more surface area + more heatpipes = better cooling

Going to get me self one!
Thank you

 

[Novuake]

of course its better. more surface area + more heatpipes = better cooling

Not that simple, BUT because they both are pretty much the same thing with ONLY those differences, that is true... Careful. You may confused the nooblets.

 

[TheBigTroll]

well yeah, the more surface area and more heatpipes generally only apply to the same brand of coolers. different coolers have different quality heatpipes

 

[Brad Carlton]

I place a piece of foam over the Noctua to keep it from rocking or moving in any way during shipping or carting around. It doesn't press it to the board, but does hold it securely in place during shipping. Never got my 3820 over 124 degrees with this heat sink. The Noctua is very light for its size. But it does look like a bobble head, without the bobble.

 

[Novuake]

I place a piece of foam over the Noctua to keep it from rocking or moving in any way during shipping or carting around. It doesn't press it to the board, but does hold it securely in place during shipping. Never got my 3820 over 124 degrees with this heat sink. The Noctua is very light for its size. But it does look like a bobble head, without the bobble.

Assuming that is Fahrenheit?
Imperial measurements really should be forgotten.