- Review -

09.07.2013 [blank]\'s Universe

The Noctua NH-U14S is $89 at our local retailer, NCIX, so the heatsink does come at a high price. The NH-U14S is also a high performance cooler so the parts and build quality are held to high standards. The heatsink offers great cooling without sacrificing silence. This is one of the quietest heatsinks we have tested so far and offers great performance. The NH-U14S is also compatible with all RAM modules even on socket LGA 2011 so it is a great choice for first time system builders who are afraid of running into compatibility issues and reduces headaches. Noctua has put a lot of thought into designing the NH-U14S and it shows in the final product. They have thought of ways to make life easier for the end user by using metal clips to secure the fans. A simple convenience such as using a single wire instead of fiddling with plastic inserts makes installation simple and the inclusion of a screwdriver means the end-user doesn't have to find one, or buy one if they don't own one. Noctua has also tried to make installation of the cooler and backplate easier by reducing the amount of things you need to hold in place. They split the installation into small easy steps so there are no headaches or broken parts due to installation. Since they dropped support for LGA 775 and 1366, they can simplify the backplate, removing the need to reposition the screws to line up with the holes.

"Noctua shows that they do care a lot about customers while designing their CPU coolers. With such a large heat sink like the NH-U14S, you would think there would be a lot of compatibility issues, especially with LGA 2011 having RAM on the both sides of the socket. Noctua knows this is an issue and has eliminated that problem with the NH-U14S. If you are in the market for a high performance CPU cooler, make sure you take a look at the Noctua NH-U14S." (Martin Tam, [blank]\'s Universe)