Home / Component / Cooling / Noctua NH D14 Cooler review – The ‘Austrian Sandwich’

Noctua NH D14 Cooler review – The ‘Austrian Sandwich’

The NH D14 cooler arrives in a very understated box – a design I find particularly attractive for its muted colours and relaxed composition.

First impressions are obviously going to be based around the massive size – the box is huge and the cooler weighs in at 1,240g (1,070g without fans) with a diameter of  160mm x 172mm x 140mm.

It is well secured, being placed inside an internal box for heavy duty protection.

Opening the larger inner box reveals the NH D14 in all its glory – a monster heatsink by any definition of the term.

Opening the smaller internal box revealed a very neatly arranged set of components, split into plastic pouches for both shared components as well as Intel and AMD fittings.

The Intel set comprises a rear mounting backplate as well as various screws and brackets. For the purposes of this review we will be mounting onto an Intel based motherboard, more information on this later.

The AMD packet contains the relevant components for mounting onto a motherboard. When using an AMD processor there is no Noctua backplate needed, the reference system is used … you don't need to remove the motherboard from the chassis which is a bonus.

Lastly we have a pouch which contains shared components, for both Intel and AMD configurations. Noctua include high quality thermal paste (Noctua NH T1 Premiere) which is always good to see. They also supply a low noise voltage resistor if you have particularly sensitive ears (called U.L.N.A.) – This lowers the RPM of the fans to 900 rpm while also reducing CFM from 92.3 to 63.4. Noctua rate the cooler at 19.8db in full speed mode or 12.6 db with the U.L.N.A. attached.

While we don't often focus on the documentation supplied with a product, Noctua really do deserve special credit for their attention to detail. They supply a beautiful little fold out pamphlet which when opened …

… reveals a neatly arranged two piece design with Intel manual on one side and AMD on the other. The text is also a cut above many which originate from the far east – in that, all the instructions make perfect sense! Me no likely engrish.

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20 comments

  1. Damn, wicked review, thank you. that is one mega cooler. hugeeeeeeeeee

  2. Holy shit, how did I miss this before? its been out a while. that is crazy performance.

  3. Surely that puts a lot of strain on a motherboard – its well over 1kg?! I remember when 700g+ was considered heavy.

  4. Lovely colours ! yum

  5. I wouldnt be too concerned with the weight – some of the dual cpu socket motherboard have handled 1kg colours on each socket. its still well within safety. I just would make sure the boards are well attached to the chassis and that you dont lean on them !

  6. Noctua are a quality company and I have loved everything they have produced. for such a small outfit they produce constantly great products.

  7. Noctua are a quality company and I have loved everything they have produced. for such a small outfit they produce constantly great products.

  8. It is an interesting concept to be able to rotate the cooler on Intel for different fitting positions. Shame you cant do it with AMD.

  9. Nice nice heatsink. shame its so big as I dont think ti would work in my case.

  10. Nightmare after christmas

    It is very expensive, you can get the Corsair H50 for the same price, almost. I think. right?

  11. Matthew Harding

    This is actually better than the true? thats amazing, I shall order one when im paid, I like the look of it and the fitting is neat.

  12. This is called NH-C14 not NH-D14, that aside, good review

  13. This is the d14. We have reviewed the c14, it’s smaller.

    There is even a picture of the box on page 2 with the product name on it

  14. I hope this is compatible with Asrock Fatal1ty Professional (MoBo), CM 690 II Advanced (Case), and G.Skills Ripjaws (Memory). Anyone can confirm this? Thanks.

    I love the review. 5ghz? Really! Wow..