Testing
The following tests were run in a Fractal Design Node 304 with the cover removed so that we could better distinguish and isolate the noise made by the NH-U14S. The NF-A15 fans were configured to run as per the ASUS standard PWM profile on the P8Z77-i Deluxe motherboard. We did not end up testing with the supplied voltage adaptor due to the fan profile’s effectiveness in keeping the unit extremely quiet. We recorded the delta temperatures for the results – the difference between the reported CPU temperature and the ambient room temperature. In order to record a valid result, the ambient room temperature has to remain the same from the start of the test to the end of the test and must be between 18 and 24 degrees when starting.
Test Rig
- Intel i5-3570K Ivy Bridge CPU
- ASUS P8Z77-i Deluxe Mini-ITX Motherboard
- 8 GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR3 Blue Low Profile RAM
- Fractal Design Node 304 Case
- SanDisk Extreme SSD – 120GB
- Samsung F4 1TB Mechanical Hard Drive
- Corsair CX-600M Power Supply
We elected to use the onboard graphics and not the GTX580 as the stock cooler on the video card is easily the loudest part of the test bench and we wanted to really listen for the NF-A15 fan that the NH-U14S uses.
As you can see, the NH-U14S just fits in the small form factor Node 304. Although it’s a tight fit in our small test bench, we didn’t have any difficulty attaching either of the fans. Clearance around the cooler was fine in our mini-ITX test bench but only because we used low profile RAM. The NH-U14S is 7mm wider than the U12S and this made the difference – the heat sink cleared the RAM but the A15 fan encroached on the first RAM slot due to the ‘compressed’ nature of a mini-ITX layout. On an ATX or mATX board (and even on LGA2011 with 2×4 banks of RAM), this won’t be an issue. The uniquely shaped NF-A15 fan is easy to fit , the wire fan clips tuck in neatly on the sides of the cooler and the fan power cables are long enough to route neatly but short enough that you don’t need to worry about stashing excess cables.
Fractal Design Node 304 review can be found: HERE
Temperature Results
Please note that these are all Delta temperatures where the recorded temperature is the difference between the CPU and the recorded ambient room temperature which was a typically about 20 degrees. So a delta temperature of 35 degrees translates to a real world temperature of about 55 degrees.
Scenario |
CPU Settings (i5-3570K) |
Fan
|
NH-L12 |
NH-U12S(Single Fan) |
NH-U12S
(Dual Fan) |
NH-U14S(Single Fan) |
NH-U14S(Dual Fans) |
| Idle | Stock (no OC) | PWM | 8.65 | 7.5 | 7.3 | 7.2 | 7 |
| Idle | OC @ 4.6 / 1.15v | PWM | 8.6 | 8.2 | 7.9 | 7.5 | 7.5 |
| Idle | Stock (no OC) | 12v | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5.5 | |
| Idle | OC @ 4.6 / 1.15v | 12v | 9.5 | 8.75 | 7.5 | 7.5 | |
| Load | Stock (no OC) | PWM | 33.65 | 32.25 | 29.3 | 32.25 | 26.8 |
| Load | OC @ 4.6 / 1.15v | PWM | 43.9 | 40.25 | 35.5 | 35.75 | 33.75 |
| Load | Stock (no OC) | 12v | 25.25 | 24.8 | 25.25 | 23.75 | |
| Load | OC @ 4.6 / 1.15v | 12v | 33.8 | 32.5 | 30.5 | 29.25 |
Idle Delta Temperatures
The idle temperatures are all within a typical margin of error. Measuring idle temps can be finicky due to minor fluctuation among the ‘idle’ processes – anything around the 8 degrees mark is standard. These temperatures have been included in the interests of being thorough and simply highlight that there was nothing obviously wrong with the mounting or the unit at idle. For a real comparison,we need to look at how the coolers preform under load.
Load Delta Temperatures.
We expected to see lower temperatures than the NH-U12S due to the additional heatpipe, larger surface area and the superior A-15 fan specifications. There was a consistent improvement over the U12S noted at 12v and when overclocking our 3570K. When using the same PWM profile and at stock CPU settings with a single fan (i.e out of the box configuration for both of the new U series coolers from Noctua), the difference was within margin of error.
Performance wise, we didn’t really see the benefit of the additional 20mm in size with our CPU at stock settings. Once we tarted testing with an overclock and the second optional A15 fan, the difference became apparent and consistent. Our overclocked temperatures when using the NH-U14S were about 5 degrees lower than the NH-U12S and around 8 degrees lower than the NH-L12 cooler.
As with our NH-U12S review, running the fan at 12 volts yielded a better result as expected but with an acoustic penalty.
The addition of a second NF-A15 at 12 volts was of only minimal benefit during our testing, providing only ~2 degrees of improvement. What this highlights to us is how good a combination Noctua has delivered with the default platform including one fan.
