Thermal Paste
We use Arctic MX-2 for all heatsink cooler tests and in fact we use it for all builds, test or otherwise. We run the AIDA64 Engineer stability test as our burn in programme for thermal paste, which allows the paste to spread out and share the love across the mating surfaces. It is worth doing, we noted a drop in throttling after 30 minutes of burn in.
Below we have the CPUID showing 3.3Ghz stock and 3.6Ghz Turbo clocks.
We have compared the results to the Noctua NH-D15 and the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3. The aforementioned coolers are set up in dual fan modes, so the results below are truly impressive for the Noctua NH-C14S.
Stock sound performance is also excellent, with the NH-C14S unwittingly taking on the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3, all in a low profile manner.
We haven’t tested this in dual fan mode, the results may just be class leading. The differences between the Dark Rock Pro 3 and the NH-C14S for stock level sound performance is in reality imperceptible, you need to remember there is only one 140mm fan doing this work, that’s why we are impressed.
For Hardwareslave, the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 is the natural competitor for the Noctua NH-D15, a couple of superb flagship coolers, so to have the NH-C14S in the mix with one fan, makes this cooler one to watch.
All of these results are with the BIOS fan control set to Auto, with a little configuration work, for all the coolers in the graphs, better results can be achieved, so there may be a little headroom to spare on all coolers.
Noctua NH-C14S CPU Cooler Review
Package - 9
Performance - 9.2
Price - 9.2
Consumer Experience - 9.5
9.2
The Noctua NH-C14S is another excellent cooler with a history. The improvements and up to date socket compatibility make it a class leading cooler in certain circumstances, mainly small chassis set ups or at least cooling areas with certain spacial dimensions with high performance.
