- Review -

24.07.2013 Overclock3D.net

Before we go any further let’s make it clear that the NH-U14S is not another D14, so don't go expecting the same level of cooling that its big brother offers. The U14S does however share the same level of quality and attention to detail in build, accessories and packaging that we've come to expect from all Noctua products. As you can imagine we open a lot of boxes here at OC3D and few manufacturers bring as much joy as Noctua do when you open the lid and start to delve into the contents. With everything out and your chosen fitting method extracted from its individual interlinked box the act of fitting the U14S could scarcely be easier. This is in no small part due to the clarity of the instructions and the intuitive design of the SecuFirm2 fittings. With a good sized syringe of NT-H1, additional fan clips, rubber isolation pads and even a screw driver there's nothing left wanting. With the fin stack only 52mm thick without the fan fitted and 78mm with the fan you're pretty much guaranteed not to have any RAM encroachment issues. Noctua state that certain AMD boards RAM slots encroach on the CPU exclusion zone, so there are a few exceptions to this. In use the U14S is one of the quietest coolers we've heard. This of course is mainly down to the NF-A15 PWM fan it comes bundled with. At 1500 RPM the fan is near silent producing only 24.6dB(A). A second NF-A15 can be added running at a slower 1200 RPM as advised by Noctua, with a set of 5mm thick rubber stand offs acting as a baffle and further reducing vibration. Under test conditions there was no discernible increase in noise when the second fan was added. It should be noted that Noctua do supply a LNA should you want to run both fans at the same speed.

"To summarise, if you've got tall RAM and are looking for a very quiet cooler then the NH-U14S is a good bet." (Gary Wain, Overclock3D.net)