NH-D14 Vs H100i

jwilliamson47 · 16 Mar 2014 at 13:13

Hi, I recently got the NH-D14 alongside my 290x. Unfortunately my 290x was DOA, and I noticed one of the fan clips had bent on the noctua, but i tried to feed it back in and it works ok. Initially, I was like oh do i return it, I don't want to bother Overclockers since I've returned the GPU and don't want to feel like a right pain. Temps are fairly bad with the case, but I've been told that's due to the case and not the heatsink. As a result, I'm going to order a Corsair Air 540.

What would you recommend I do? Keep the Noctua with the dodgy spring? RMA it? or sent it back and get a h100i now that a new case will fit it?

Thanks.

LtMatt · 16 Mar 2014 at 14:43

Noctua will cool slightly better and be quieter than the H100i, but the Noctua is an eye sore and the H100i looks sleek and sexy. As you'll have a window with the 540, id go with the h100i. Ideally you'd want to have the h100i in the top of the case, with the fans inside pushing air up and out the case as an exhaust. I recommend using 2x120mm 1850 RPM Gentle Typhoons on the h100i and a fan controller. They perform very well and are fairly quiet compared to most fans. With the fan controller you can then have the fans as loud or quiet as you desire.

Helios1234 · 16 Mar 2014 at 16:01

Don't bother with the H100i. It's expensive and if you change the fans, you're only adding to that cost. In return, you might have something that's quieter than the stock H100i but the Noctua will still be quieter and perform just as well. The looks are also subjective. For instance, I prefer the look of my heatsink in my system to an ALC unit because the heatsink makes it easier to hide cables whereas with the H100i, you end up with some ugly looking cables sprawled around the CPU block.

If you need new fan clips or any other accessory, sent Noctua an email and they'll be more than happy to help you! They have among the best support in the industry.

LtMatt · 16 Mar 2014 at 16:24

Helios1234 said:
Don't bother with the H100i. It's expensive and if you change the fans, you're only adding to that cost. In return, you might have something that's quieter than the stock H100i but the Noctua will still be quieter and perform just as well. The looks are also subjective. For instance, I prefer the look of my heatsink in my system to an ALC unit because the heatsink makes it easier to hide cables whereas with the H100i, you end up with some ugly looking cables sprawled around the CPU block.

If you need new fan clips or any other accessory, sent Noctua an email and they'll be more than happy to help you! They have among the best support in the industry.

Each to their own and all. I had the Phanteks cooler and whilst it performed better than the h100i it was an eye sore and from looking at the noctua cooler that looks even worse imo. Just my opinion though so it depends if the op thinks that way. No need to worry about wires around the H100i either. If you use a fan controller the only wire will be the cable that goes into the cpu fan header and every cooler uses one of those.

wazza300 · 16 Mar 2014 at 16:28

id keep the noctua,i have mine in a cheapo £20 case it it works wonders

the fan clips can easily be bent back into shape

setter · 16 Mar 2014 at 16:41

Far less to go wrong on an air heatsink too.

jwilliamson47 · 16 Mar 2014 at 16:52

Thanks for the advice. I was a bit worried about temps but it's obvious that the cause is my case, it must have no air flow at all! Noticed this because the gpu temps were even high, tri-x 290 reaching 82c load temps at stock.

I've heard lots of people going on about how the h100i is this and that, and just wanted some sound knowledge. Looks like the Noctua performs pretty close at lower noise, which is fairly important to me!

Going to stick with the Noctua!

Avenged7Fold · 16 Mar 2014 at 18:54

Good choice if you decide to get a 540, as it does offer insane cooling as cases go and takes up very little room.

Really, the next step up cooling wise from the Noctua is custom water cooling, which can cost you as much as your GPU!

No need for it though. If sound is important to you, then you are making a good decision by keeping the Noctua.

jwilliamson47 · 16 Mar 2014 at 20:15

yeah, just ordered a new office table, so hopefully i can fit it on there, instead of the floor.

smilertoo · 17 Mar 2014 at 00:12

haha, the phantek is a huge eyesore; but it does the job well.

cypto · 17 Mar 2014 at 01:57

setter said:
Far less to go wrong on an air heatsink too.

Very good point there, although corsair is incredibly good when it comes to warranty and replacing your gear if a leak happens due to a manufacturing fault.

LtMatt · 17 Mar 2014 at 09:26

smilertoo said:
haha, the phantek is a huge eyesore; but it does the job well.

Aye it was a beast cooler and i did like it. When you have a case window though these tower coolers don't look so nice. A H100i with its coloured led (of your choice) looks very suave and takes up such little space in the case.