NH-U9S vs NH-C14S

[Nick_50]

I am thinking of building a new PC in a Thermaltake Suppressor F1 case (very similar to the Core V1) which has a 200mm fan on the front of the case.

I am looking at the Noctua NH-U9S CPU cooler which is a tower style cooler with a 92mm fan. I realise there are bigger Noctua tower coolers but the height limit for coolers in this case is 140mm.

I am also looking at the Noctua C14S which is a top down style cooler with a 140mm fan.

I am planning on getting either an i5 6600K or i7 6700k, mainly for the base core speed than to overclock.

I am drawn towards the C14S cooler just because it seems to cool better and quieter but my concern is whether a top down CPU cooler combined with a 200mm intake fan is a good combination i.e. airflows at 90 degrees to one another?

I could swap the side panels around on the case and have a vent at the top to help heat escape but without any fans on the top of the case, is a tower cooler preferred to a top down cooler?

 

[Lutfij]

IMHO, you're overthinking what has already been conceived proved and shown to be effective at cooling regardless of which orientation and direction of air the cooler is blowing towards. The only difference between tower style and top down blower type coolers is the fact that top down coolers have an ace up their sleeves whereby the cooler forces air over the CPU and in that respect air over the power delivery area around the CPU socket.

Depending on which motherboard you have you will benefit most going for the NH-C14S cooler. Regarding airflow, within your chassis, try and maintain a front to back + bottom to top direction in airflow to get the most of your components. Hot air rises while cooler air always resides at the bottom thus a case's intake are almost always located at the bottom front of chassis.