Testing Configuration and Benchmarks Used
System mounted NH-D9L CPU Cooler
System mounted NH-U9S CPU Cooler
To verify that the cooler kit operates up to specs, both the Noctua NH-D9L CPU cooler and the NH-U9S CPU cooler were tested with the CPU running in both stock and at a known stable overclocking speed using both Z87-based and X99-based motherboards, so that comparative results could be provided for both Haswell and Hawell-E based systems. The results are presented for the cooling kits under review as well as the Noctua NH-D15 CPU air cooler, the XSPC Raystorm D5 Photon RX480 water cooling kit, and the Corsair H100i AIO CPU cooler for performance comparison purposes. The benchmark tests used should give you a good understanding of the Noctua CPU coolers capabilities so that you, the reader, can make a more informed purchasing decision. The comparison coolers were selected based on their superior performance capabilities.
| Test System Setup | |
| CPU | Intel Z87-based system Intel Core i7-4770K Stock – 3.5GHz, 35 x 100MHz Base Clock Overclocked – 4.68GHz, 28 x 167MHz Base Clock Intel X99-based system Intel Core i7-5960X Stock – 3.0GHz, 30 x 100MHz Base Clock Max Air Overclock – 4.25GHz, 34 x 125MHz Base Clock |
| Motherboard | MSI Z87 MPOWER ASUS X99-A |
| Memory | Intel Z87-based system Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 modules Stock – 1600MHz, 9-10-9-27-1T Overclocked – 1780MHz, 9-10-9-27-1T Intel X99-based system Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 modules Stock – 2133MHz, 15-17-17-35-2T Overclocked – 2666MHz, 15-17-17-35-2T |
| Hard Drive | Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD Intel 730 240GB SSD Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA III HD |
| Sound Card | On-board sound |
| Video Card | Intel Z87-based system NVIDIA GTX 570 1.25GB Intel X99-based system ASUS Poseidon GTX 780 3GB |
| CPU Cooling | Noctua NH-D9L CPU Air Cooler Noctua NH-U9S CPU Air Cooler Noctua NH-D15 CPU Air Cooler Corsair Hydro Series™ H100i Extreme Performance CPU Cooler XSPC Raystorm D5 Photon RX480 V3 WaterCooling Kit |
| Video Drivers | NVIDIA 335.23 |
| Power Supply | Corsair 650 Corsair HX750 |
| Operating System | Windows 7 Ultimate x64 |
| Thermal Paste | MG Chemicals 860-60G Silicone Heat Transfer Compound |
| Coolant | XSPC Raystorm D5 Photon RX480 V3 kit Koolance LIQ-702 High Performance Liquid Coolant |
The 64-bit Windows 7 based test bench used for Intel Z87 LGA1150 board testing includes an Intel Core i7-4770K CPU, 16GB of DDR3-1866 memory, an NVIDIA GTX 570 1.25GB video card, and a Samsung 840 EVO 250GB or Intel 730 240GB SSD drive. Using the selected components gives us the ability to demonstrate the cooling system's capabilities rather than that of the system components.
The 64-bit Windows 7 based test bench used for Intel X99 LGA2011-v3 board testing includes an Intel Core i7-5960X CPU, 32GB of DDR4-2666 memory, an ASUS Poseidon GTX 780 3GB graphics card, and an Intel 730 240GB SSD drive. Using the selected components gives us the ability to demonstrate the cooling system's capabilities rather than that of the system components.
Benchmark Tests used for evaluation:
- AIDA64 Extreme Edition v4.30.2900 (Intel Z87-based testing)
- AIDA64 Extreme Edition v5.00.3300 (Intel X99-based testing)
- EVGA OC Scanner X v3.4.0.1
For sure i’m going to buy
For sure i’m going to buy this for my new $1000 pc im going to build
“The NH-U9S also retails at
“The NH-U9S also retails at an MSRP of $59.90, giving potential users another affordable choice for cooling their processor.”
I feel I should point out that the phanteks PH-TC14PE is on sale for 60 dollars after rebate till the end of the month on newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835709001
It always freaks me out how
It always freaks me out how heavy those big heatsinks are. I’d rather go with an AiO or smaller air cooler just to avoid that weight on my motherboard.
I found this review really
I found this review really useful. I feel like too much of a noobie to go with water cooling so I like fan reviews.
Considering moving to one of
Considering moving to one of these from a 1200mm AIO. Not many tower coolers will fit in my case (Ncase M1), and top-down would need a new motherboard with the socket further from the PCI-E slot, which I’m not willing to do until Broadwell/Skylake arrive with new chipsets. Staying inside the keepout area avoids the compatibility problems, and can get below the pump noise-floor of the AIO even with the smaller fan.
Noctua… the completely
Noctua… the completely unrealistic cooler for any use in the real world, unless you don’t plan to install any PCI cards or RAM whatsoever.