Noctua NH-C14 test – Config Council : Specs | CPU | Hashrate | Review | Config

Hi all !

And another Noctua one! I continue the owner’s tour with a special cooler, the NH-C14! It is of the “top flow” type (like its little brother the NH-L12 but this time with two 140mm fans, which means that there should be ventilation for better or for worse!
Like its little brother, the NH-C14 is supposed to be designed to take place in an HTPC type PC thanks to its modularity while remaining competitive with “Tower” type coolers (such as the be quiet! Dark Rock 3 or the Noctua NH -U14S to name a few) which hold the top of the basket in terms of performance, let’s see what this gives in practice.

The carton is huge (22cm (H) x 22cm (W) x 21cm (D))! As usual, the presentation is sober, classy and takes up the main characteristics of the cooler.

When opening, we find a first box containing the bundle, then (photo above) a protection placed on the box of the cooler itself.

We are almost there ! The precious is inside.

Here it is finally! One thing is certain, it is that it is well packaged and the protections are in order, if the Noctua NH-C14 arrives at your home damaged it is that someone has used the box instead of a bag of hit !

The cooler itself is sandwiched between the 2 huge 14cm fans, the whole thing is rather huge and there is no doubt that it will not go unnoticed in your pc config.

The NH-C14 seen from above, we will notice the 2 holes allowing access to the fixing screws as well as the 4 anti-vibration pads for the top fan (there are also 4 below for the other fan) .

The 2 fans are NF-P14 models, 140mm fans given for 1200 RPM with a 3-pin connection, the fan is fixed to a 120mm location but can be adapted to a 140mm location using the adapters provided.

The bundle consists of:

• 1 fixing kit for AMD processor
• 1 fixing kit for Intel processor
• 4 anti-vibration mountings for fan
• 4 fixing screws for fan
• 1 Phillips screwdriver
• 2 adaptateurs Low Noise (900 RPM)
• 2 adaptateurs Ultra Low Noise (750RPM)
• 4 adapters for 140mm mounting
• 1 x 2 x 3-pin to 1 x 3-pin Y adapter
• 1 reinforcement tab for the bottom fan
• 1 tube of thermal paste NT-H1
• 1 Noctua metal sticker

This is what we call the bundle! Adapters to reduce noise pollution, an adapter to connect the 2 fans to the same outlet, a reinforcement tab for the fan below if you have to move your PC quite often (optional) and the icing on the cake you even have enough to install one of the 2 fans in your box if it were not to be used on the cooler. I’m sure repeating myself, but there are a lot of other players in the market who should take Noctua’s lead when it comes to bundles.

The radiator

The main advantage of this cooler is undoubtedly its height, indeed with its 13cm when using the 2 fans it will fit in boxes with very little height, if it is still too high you can always remove the fan from the top and there we fall to 105mm, the modularity does not hurt!

Fans

The fans of the NH-C14 are old generation and are no longer sold separately, they are nonetheless safe values ​​even if they are not PWM and they do not have integrated anti-vibration pads. directly on the frame. With 1200RPM and a maximum sound level of 19.6dB (on paper) they should be true to the brand, ie silence and performance.

First of all, if you install it on a socket 1150/1155/1156/1366 you have to remove the black overlay on the back plate:

Put it under the motherboard and put the screws there:

On the other hand, you have to pay attention to the location where you put the screws, each socket having different dimensions so you must not be mistaken, for example there are 3 ABC locations which correspond to 3 dimensions:

A : Socket 1366

B : Socket 1150 / 1155 / 1156

C: Socket 775

We place the black plastic spacers on the 4 screws.

You must then put the 2 metal plates, be careful to respect the same location for the screws as the black plate under the card (A, B or C).

Secure the plates using the 4 thumbscrews.

(Optional) The reinforcement bar

Before continuing, a quick note about the reinforcement bar delivered with the cooler. If you have to move your PC quite often or you think the cooler is too heavy for the heat pipes, Noctua provides you with everything you need to strengthen it! Here’s how to install it:

Remove these 2 screws.

Place the reinforcement bar like this and secure the screws that came with the bar (they are longer than the ones you just removed).

And here is the work, your bar is up! Let’s continue our assembly of the cooler 🙂

Then we put a little thermal paste, be careful not to put too much on pain of lower temperatures.

Then all you have to do is screw the cooler to the motherboard through the 2 holes made available!

Now all you have to do is put the fan back in place and you’re done! The beast is enormous, however, do not be fooled by the prospect, in reality it will arrive at the first PCI-e port, too close to use this port in complete safety, too bad!

Memory compatibility

Once installed, and with Low-profile memory modules you have less than a centimeter of headroom, you of course have the possibility of removing the fan from below to gain about 2.7cm.

The test platform

The NH-C14 has been tested on the configuration below:

• Processor: Intel Core i7 875K @ 3,2 Ghz
• Motherboard: Asus P7P55D
• Memory: Kingston HyperX 4 x 2 Go 1600Mhz
• Hard disk: WD Raptor 150 Go
• Graphic card: Sapphire Toxic 5850
• Food: Seasonic X650

The test protocol

The core i7 875K has been slightly overclocked to 3.2Ghz. The temperatures under load are an average of all the cores for 3 tests of 30 minutes on OCCT, the temperatures at rest were taken after 15mins on the desk (still an average of the 4 cores).

The cooler has been tested against Noctua NH-U12s, NH-U14S, NH-L12, be quiet! Dark Rock 3 and Thermalright HR01 (equipped with a Nexus real silent 120 fan)

The temperatures

The temperatures of the processor equipped with the NH-C14 are very good, teasing the NH-U14S and the Dark Rock 3 in 12v it however struggles to hold when the airflow is less, the dissipation surface being smaller on NH-C14 these results are quite logical. In the case of use in an HTPC box, however, it should be noted that all the other coolers in the comparison will not fit (apart from the NH-L12, which is far behind in terms of performance) so it will be the best solution!

Noise pollution

Attention : Part to be taken with a grain of salt, unfortunately not having access to the appropriate equipment and using an android application to take the readings the measurements below are only indicative! The readings were taken 15cm from the cooler.

The fans of the NH-C14 behave very well, a happiness for the ears in 5v they will however be heard in 12V, the generated sound level does not however suffer from parasitic noises (engine, vibrations) and they will therefore not be disturbing . For a silent PC enthusiast, the cooler will perfectly fulfill its contract as long as you do not exceed 8 or 9V.

Well here we are, the end of this Noctua NH-C14 test! What more can we say? The bundle is more than complete, 2 very good fans including 1 that you can adapt elsewhere in your pc config if you feel like it, high-end manufacturing quality and very good performance while sporting a Top-flow design which will delight owners of HTPC box.
The only small black spots come from the price (and again, given the price of the fans per unit), the possibility of having the PCI-e port closest to the doomed processor if you have a graphics card there and the impossibility of using the fans in PWM.

The +

• Excellent performance for Top-Flow
• Build quality
• Noise pollution at low speed
• Bundle garni
• 6-year warranty and Noctua after-sales service

The –

• Price
• Can block the first PCI-e port
• No PWM

A big thank you to Jakob from Noctua who allowed me to do this test.

Where to find the Noctua NH-C14?

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