Noctua or Be Quiet CPU cooler?

xy16644

xy16644

xy16644

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I am going to be buying and building a new desktop next week. It'll be Ivy Bridge based with an i7 CPU (3770). It'll all be housed in a Fractal Design Define R4.

I can't decide which CPU cooler I should get. I have narrowed it down to:

Noctua NH-D14

OR

BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 2

Can anyone help me make a decision? I was going to get the Noctua but find the colour quiet ugly! The BeQuiet cooler looks amazing. I think both coolers fit in the R4 case.

Pros and cons between the two?
 
I have a Noctua but I got a Fractal Design Define Full Tower case as the standard one was only just wide enough to take the cooler and I wasnt sure it would fit
 
Look at the Zalman CNPS12X that look's awesome :) look's so quiet! I have the Noctua D-14 would recommend it to anyone. If you aren't overclock to extremes it doesnt' matter which you choose. The Dark Rock does look good though. The Megahalems bundles, the Alpenfohn K2, the Phanteks are all good choices!
 
All of the coolers above will fit in R2/3 cases. I have Phanteks in my R2. Only clearance issue is 140mm fan over RAM as case is 167mm. So 27mm RAM with 140mm fan. D14 and K2 use 120mm fans so you have 47mm RAM clearance. ;)
 
I like the look of that Dark Rock, BeQuiet fans are very quiet, and it's PWM so will control itself. :) CNPS12X is a beast, really intrigued by that, look's a bit hard to clean though.
 
if the be quiet would have fitted in my case then id of got it purely down to its looks, big black and beautiful! the noctua is one of the top, if not the best air cooler surpassing even some self contained water coolers. i have a megahalems and i love it paired with 2 akasa apache blacks.

any of the high end coolers will be great so it comes down to which you like the look of most and what your priorities are
 
Thanks for all the replies!

The main requirement is that it fits in the R4 case *and* it must be quiet.

Will either fan be ok in the R4 case? I won't be using a fan on the side of the case.
 
Both coolers will fit in R4, but (as I said above) their fans fitting depends of RAM/fan clearance.

How tall is your RAM?
What is measurement from centerline of CPU to RAM? BeQuiet! fan may fit between RAM and CPU.
 
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I'm not sure how tall the RAM is but this is the RAM I will be using:

16GB (2x8GB) Corsair DDR3 XMS3, PC3-12800 (1600MHz), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 11-11-11-30, 1.5V

Will both of these CPU coolers work with the R4 case and this type of memory?
 
xy16644 said:
I'm not sure how tall the RAM is but this is the RAM I will be using:

16GB (2x8GB) Corsair DDR3 XMS3, PC3-12800 (1600MHz), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 11-11-11-30, 1.5V

Will both of these CPU coolers work with the R4 case and this type of memory?
Click to expand...
HOW TALL IS YOUR MEMORY??

Google to find out or ask your supplier.

I'm willing to help you but not do everything for you. ;)

And you obviously know how to use a keyboard and internet. :D

IIRC Corsair say how TALL it is. ;)
 
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xy16644 said:
Can anyone help me make a decision? I was going to get the Noctua but find the colour quiet ugly! The BeQuiet cooler looks amazing. I think both coolers fit in the R4 case.
Click to expand...

As a better looking alternative to the D14, I'd humbly suggest a K2.
We're talking about a 0.25-1C difference here and either one will clear that ram :)

At this level, the differences in absolute cooling ability are marginal and irrelevant unless you're going nuts with an SB-E Extreme.

Make a shortlist of models that clear your ram & fit in your case.
Look into noise levels and then pick the one that looks the prettiest.
 
Uncle Petey said:
As a better looking alternative to the D14, I'd humbly suggest a K2.
We're talking about a 0.25-1C difference here and either one will clear that ram :)

At this level, the differences in absolute cooling ability are marginal and irrelevant unless you're going nuts with an SB-E Extreme.

Make a shortlist of models that clear your ram & fit in your case.
Look into noise levels and then pick the one that looks the prettiest.
Click to expand...

1/ Agree. But you are predigest as you have a K2 :p
2/ Also agree, but you were nuts not to go with SA SB-E Extreme. :rolleyes:
3/ Do as unclue :p ups.. Uncle Petey suggests. :D

Noise and looks at this point are the only real difference... and at 700-900rpm normal load/temp they will all be pretty quiet... or is that pretty and quiet. :confused:

I think K2 has PWM fans. Uncle Petey will verify for us. Don't believe D14 does.

Edit: your RAM should be 32-33mm. Define R4 spec for cooler clearance is 170mm, but Define XL spec is 180mm as is Arc Midi. All are 232/230mm wide. My R2 spec for cooler is 165mm and I my TC14PE with fans is 170mm... It just fits... maybe 2mm clearance.. no more! and case is 207.4mm wide. As a guess I would say you can fit 175mm in with no problem. 32mm RAM + 140mm fan = 172... and I believe RAM slot is flush with mobo. Cooler clearance is from top of CPU to side cover.. 7-8mm above mobo, some more room there.
 
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Lol, not being biased. They perform about the same and the K2 looks nicer in most people's opinion :D
And you're just mad that I didn't get the Extreme and give you the fans :rolleyes: ;)

Yep, it has PWM fans which also have a built in daisy chain system, saving you from buying a splitter or using up more precious fan headers.

As I've mentioned eleswhere, in a couple of days I will be posting a little K2 / Peter test results thread with a variety of fan configurations for those that find this stuff interesting.

Edit: Either way, any of these cooler will do a good job :)
 
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Uncle Petey said:
As a better looking alternative to the D14, I'd humbly suggest a K2.
Click to expand...

I prefer the D-14 look. :D

D14 doesn't need PWM fans...it's that quiet already at even 1300RPM it's pleasant. Comes with low noise adapters anyway for people who don't have fan controller and don't buy it for overclocking. I run it at 900RPM. Turning the fans up/down doesn't really help temps much on the D14, at least not in my case with AF140 behind it and Bitfenix 200 above it.
 
It's good to have variety eh? :D

Btw, I don't use PWM for auto fan adjustment. I use it to set fixed rpm's for given situations. Useful if you don't use a separate fan controller.
 
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