The Noctua NH-D14 in the HAF 912??

[rekjl]

Hi everyone ,

I've read in some websites that the Noctua cooler will fit into the HAF 912. Has anyone really tried it yet? Is it a really tight fit?

Which brings me to the most important question. Is it too tight a fit that it becomes less effective? I am worried that the front fans might be too close to the optical drives that it has a much harder time sucking in cool air.

Hopefully anyone who has any experience of knowledge in this matter is willing to share their experience with me.

Thanks!

 

[Emperus]

No first hand experience but the dimensions suggest that it will fit without much issues.. A little google search also gives some positive answers -

www.overclock.net/air-cooling/890791-will-noctua-d14-fit-haf-912-a.html

 

[davcon]

I don't see it being a problem at all.
The 912 has plenty of room for a 160mm tall cooler.
Granted it's big,but your case has front intake fans and proper case airflow.
Better question is what cpu are you cooling?

 

[rekjl]

Thanks for that link Emperus. Yup I saw that one too, but have yet to see anyone who has tried it. Haha maybe if I am the first, I will post some pictures of it to help others!

Thanks Davcon! It will be cooling a i7 2600k. I am planning to overclock it roughly high, somewhere around 4.6 to 4.8 for 24/7. Haha 5.0 if it is stable. I'll be using it for my 3D work, so I know that renderings will take as much as the cpu can give me.

Another choice for me would be the Zalman cnps 10X Extreme, or the Venomous X. My earlier choice was the Zalman, but after reading about its mounting problem, I was worried and has decided to change.

What do you think?

 

[davcon]

Well i'm a biased Thermalright user.
Personally i would buy a Silver Arrow over a D-14.
Honestly though i wouldn't buy either for your set-up.
I think an Archon is a better choice.
Much better dimensions,cools as well,way better ram compatibility.
Comes with a TY-140 fan which is the best fan currently on the market.

 

[flong]

The one advantage of the Silver Arrow is that it allows PWM fan control (it allows the motherboard to control the fans automatically if your motherboard has that option - not all motherboards do) while the DH-14 does not. Both are neck and neck in cooling and are the best of the best in the reviews that I have read. You may not need PWM with the Noctua because it is quiet, but at the highest fan setting for the Noctua it is something like 46 DB. While this is quiet, it is not silent. The PWM control on the Silver Arrow allows the mobo to bring the fan speed down when there is not heavy demand on the system. The Noctua DH-14 runs at a set speed unless you have a separate fan controller. I don't own either but I am going to buy the Silver Arrow most likely or maybe the DH-14 if it is cheaper.

 

[rekjl]

Thanks for your feedback guys.

The only problem is that where I live, they don't have the Archon and Silver Arrow available here.

There are more options than the three I listed above, but judging from the reviews I've seen, those three are among the best that is available to me here.

Would would you guys go for if you were after the same performance level that I am after?

....ehem......after looking after some more reviews.......suddenly I am leaning towards the Venomous X.....

And to be perfectly honest, I don't really need it to be silent. I won't want it to be too loud, but a little bit of hummin won't really bother me too much, since I always work with music on, and watching movies or playing games will usually drown out that noise........hopefully.

 

[Emperus]

Give the Corsair H70 a look.. Awesome performance but not silent.. Its low profile is very advantageous though.. As for PWM, I don't feel it being much of an issue as you plan on running your CPU overclocked all the time with features such as ESS etc. disabled IMO..

 

[davcon]

The Venomous X is an excellent choice.
TR fans are high quality, quiet, FDB design.

 

[rekjl]

Thanks Emperus. The problem is, the H70 over here is quite some ways more expensive than all the other coolers mentioned here. The H50 is about the same price, but from the benchmarks, the above mentioned coolers looked to have performed better. Do you think the H50 would be the wise choice, or even forking those extra for the H70 compared with the other choices available to me?

Yup Davcon, every website I go to says the same thing about the Venomous X. The thing that makes me lean to this cooler now is, almost every websites say this is a super cooler. But the Noctua model gets mixed results. Sometimes it scores higher than the Venomous X, some times less.

Hehe I've checked again, and I can't find ThermalRight fans here. So I am planning to have it partner a pair of CoolerMaster XtraFlo. It looks slightly on the noisy side, but the CFM is pretty impressive (to me that is ). Do you think it is a good choice? Or are there others you would prefer.

Thanks again guys!

 

[Emperus]

Well the thing with the H50 and the H70 is that you won't run into any space constraints ever.. Nor there would be any hardware compatibility issues (tall memory heatsinks, unable to fill in all memory banks etc.).. The only downside as far as I see is the noise and (for few) the price.. But they do offer performance equivalent to high end air coolers without putting that much weight on the motherboard and (once again) without taking that much amount of space.. All in all, IMO they are worth the price they ask..

 

[rekjl]

Thanks Emperus, although I don't think space constraints will be a problem. I;ve already ordered my ram which will the Mushkin Silverline. And since it has no heatspreaders, there shouldn't be any issues.

The price difference is quite big here. I can get a Venomous X with 2 good fans, or the Noctua at the same price as the H50 without the additional fan. The H70 cost a lot more. Considering that space constraints is no longer an issue, in terms of cooling performance, would the H50 be the more efficient choice between them?

Many of the reviews and benchmarks that I've seen indicates that the H50, even with the additional fan for pull action, loses out to these two coolers in terms of cooling performance. Would you agree with them?

 

[davcon]

A Venomous X will provide better cooling performance then a H50.
If you can buy a D-14 for the the same price as a V-X go for it.
The D-14 is a better cooler if that's the case.
What country are you sourcing parts in?

 

[RetiredChief]

After reading this, I opted for getting the zalman 9900Max-B (newegg had it on sale for $65, after I bought and before recieving they added anoter $10 MIR). PS the -B (Blue LED on sale, Not -r (red LED) probably to many complaints on low intensity of Blue LED- Biggy)
http://www.guru3d.com/article/zalman-cnps-9900-max-review/7
Pg 10 has final words.

NH-C14->9900Max->CPNS-10X Extreme_>NH-D14 ....-> Venomous X

 

[rekjl]

Hi Davcon, I live in Malaysia, so I can only get the parts here. I'll give you the link to the local website that I am going to be buying from below.
http://www.lelong.com.my/thermalright-venomous-x-cpu-cooler-ultimate-cooling-solutions-K847699B-2007-01-Sale-I.htm
That is the page of one of the sellers I am buying from. Yeah, for the price of the V-X and two good fans, plus a couple of dollars only, I can get the Noctua. Haha unless you roam around that website and find something you think is better.

Thanks RetiredChief. Guru3d is one of my favourite websites where I go for reviews as well. I can't get the 9900max here though. Of those five, only the later three is available. I really wanted to buy the Zalman 10x extreme at first, but found out that it had a big problem, the mount. It appears to be very susceptible to bumps and such, which is why it tends to get unconstant results. Since I have no experience at opening and putting coolers back together, I think I would stay clear of it.

 

[RetiredChief]

What about the 9900-NT
http://www.lelong.com.my/zalman-cnps9900-nt-pure-cooper-intel-amd-cpu-cooler-I825648-2007-01-Sale-I.htm
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zalman/CNPS_9900_NT/5.html

While not as good as the 9900-Max, it should be suffient for the i5-2500K/i7-2600 K upto the 4.8 GHz range, I know where you live, summars are a little warm LOL Also remember that the Ix-2xxx run cooler than the I7-9xx CPUs.

I also noted that the have the 10x extreeme avail.

Just a question, do you really need the I7-2600K vs the I5-2500K. Unless you have some very demanding cpu intense programs the I5-2500K may be more cost effect. See if you can find benchmark for your 3D program using these two CPUs.

 

[rekjl]

Haha yeah, the summers here are quite warm, in fact it almost feels like summer most of the time here!

Wow, I never actually thought to review the 9900nt! I just saw a couple of reviews and the results do look good! But one thing does surprise me, I looked at a few forums, and many people were not recommending it, saying that for the price, there are much better options. Wonder what the members of this forum think of it? The price isn't that far off to the Venomous X (without fans that is )

Yup, I've checked and the 2600k with its hyper threading will help a lot when it comes to renderings for 3D, so that would be the best choice for me.

 

[RetiredChief]

Check newegg reviews, just take with a grain of salt, look for someone with simular CPU, or one with a cpu that has a higher heat envolope.
66 respondance and one 3 give it a 1/2 star rating. None of them were based on performance. 60 five stare ratings, But probably half do not know what a good HSF is, But still looks good.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=35-118-054&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=100&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Keywords=%28keywords%29

one POINT, verify that it has the prober bracket/backplate for your socket!! There are pre-Ix-2XXXK units that may not have that bracket included in kit.

The NT version is close to the 9900LED version. The -Max is a redesign of the the LED/NT versions.

 

[rekjl]

Thanks RetiredChief! Yeah, you are right, most people in the other forums recommend other coolers since they've tried it and not the zalman, so it would be unfair to rate the zalman as not up to standard.

Haha I actually never noticed the reviews section at newegg! Since I know they can't ship here, I never paid any attention! But now, hehe it is a different story!

Again, thanks!

 

[davcon]

Hi rekjl! not a huge selection on that site but some high quality gear nonetheless.
There's really nothing fan wise to mount on the V-X and to be honest it's a little overpriced.
The D-14 comes with 2 fans and is a really good price.
The only other serious contender is the CMV6GT which is also priced quite well.
It's alot louder then the Noctua though.

 

[rekjl]

Thanks for taking the time to look through them for me Davcon!! Really appreciate it! Yeah, the V6GT definitely looks the most attractive (to me that is ) with good performance but everyone is saying that it is super loud. I don't mind paying extra to get a better cooler though, so since there are better coolers to the V6GT, I honestly never considered it.

I actually found another option that looks very promising! In one of our local forums (where you can also find all the sellers from the website I had earlier gave you), I found someone selling the Prolimatech Super Mega for less than the price of the Venomous X and around the price of the Zalman!

Haha and considering the guy COD is near me, I don't have to pay for any delivery charges

The link is below if you were curious and wanted a look. (I am not sure if you will be able to see it if you are not a member though)
http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=1129414&hl=

I have just contacted the seller to see if he still has this cooler in stock, and is awaiting his reply. So now adding this cooler into the mix, which one would you guys go for? The Zalman, Noctua or this Prolimatech?