Question Noctua NH-D14 vs Dark Rock 4

[Corgoi]

Which one is better for overclocking?
Also is it true that the nh-d14 comes with the NT-H1? (Which I heard is one of the best maybe even the best thermal paste out there)

 

[Darkbreeze]

Actually, the D14 should come with the NT-H1, and it's very good, but it's definitely not the BEST paste out there. The differences between the top ten or fifteen thermal pastes is pretty minimal though, so I wouldn't base any purchasing decisions on that. If you buy paste, and are not looking for a specialty paste like the liquid metal varieties, then I'd highly recommend the Thermal grizzly Kryonaut. The Noctua NT-H1 and now superceded by the improved NT-H2, are both perfectly fine for any system though.

As to the coolers, are you talking about the Dark Rock 4 or the Dark Rock Pro 4, because they are definitely not the same when it comes to performance. Even so, the Dark Rock Pro 4 has slightly worse numbers than the D14, especially if you want to go all in and do something like this, which will pretty much give you as much performance as is currently available from an air cooler, but is a little costly after you factor in the cost of fans.

Noctua NH-D14 Redux: Modern Fans On An Old Heatsink - Overclockers

Various combinations of fans were tried on the NH-D14, especially the NF-A15 and the NF-A14. We found a winner.

www.overclockers.com

 

[Corgoi]

Actually, the D14 should come with the NT-H1, and it's very good, but it's definitely not the BEST paste out there. The differences between the top ten or fifteen thermal pastes is pretty minimal though, so I wouldn't base any purchasing decisions on that. If you buy paste, and are not looking for a specialty paste like the liquid metal varieties, then I'd highly recommend the Thermal grizzly Kryonaut. The Noctua NT-H1 and now superceded by the improved NT-H2, are both perfectly fine for any system though.

As to the coolers, are you talking about the Dark Rock 4 or the Dark Rock Pro 4, because they are definitely not the same when it comes to performance. Even so, the Dark Rock Pro 4 has slightly worse numbers than the D14, especially if you want to go all in and do something like this, which will pretty much give you as much performance as is currently available from an air cooler, but is a little costly after you factor in the cost of fans.

Noctua NH-D14 Redux: Modern Fans On An Old Heatsink - Overclockers

Various combinations of fans were tried on the NH-D14, especially the NF-A15 and the NF-A14. We found a winner.

www.overclockers.com

I'm talking about the non-pro dr4.
So basically I'm trying to get as much performamce as possible out of a cooler, I don't really care about noise at all, and I don't really know which one to get between the nh-d14, dr4 and maybe a Noctua u12s (they should also fit in my case -kendomen ti max cpu cooler height 160mm)
I don't really like the idea of using new fans on the n-d14, since it's kinda more expensive

 

[Darkbreeze]

None of the big air coolers are going to fit if you're limited to 160mm. They are all taller than that. The Dark rock 4 would fit though, as it's not in the "big air" category like the D14, D15, R1 Ultimate, etc.

What CPU, motherboard and case are you using? Are you planning to overclock?

 

[Corgoi]

None of the big air coolers are going to fit if you're limited to 160mm. They are all taller than that. The Dark rock 4 would fit though, as it's not in the "big air" category like the D14, D15, R1 Ultimate, etc.

What CPU, motherboard and case are you using? Are you planning to overclock?

I5 9600k, z370-p ii, Deepcool kendomen ti case
Yes I want to oc both cpu and gpu and the ram to 3ghz with xmp

 

[Darkbreeze]

I'd recommend that you look at the Thermalright Le Grand Macho RT, as discussed in this post.

https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/i9-9900k-now-or-wait.3474998/post-21006132