Keeping Intel Core X-Series CPUs Cool With Noctua Air Cooling

The NH-U9S is a single-tower cooler with five heatpipes and 92mm fan. This too can fit within a 4U enclosure while having "100% compatibility" with RAM and PCI-E slots on the more crowded motherboards. This heatsink too has a copper base and heatpipes with aluminum fins.

The Austria-based Noctua backs their air coolers and fans with a six-year warranty. These heatsinks are compatible with all the major Intel and AMD sockets while Noctua is also known to do a good job for introducing new mounting kits for supporting their high-end heatsinks for future CPU sockets.

Pricing on the NH-D9L is about $55 USD, the beefy Noctua NH-C14S about $75, and the NH-U9S for about $60. Thanks to Noctua for sending out the NF-A14 / NF-A9 / NH-U9S / NH-C14S heatsinks for review and testing at Phoronix.

The NF-A9 PWM fan is designed for high performance while being very quiet with its anti-vibration pads, SSO2 bearings, and other innovations. This fan is rated for a noise level between 16.3 dBA and 22.8 dBA while pushing 62.6~78.9 m3/h.

The NF-A14 meanwhile is the NF-A9's bigger brother at 140mm. The NF-A14 can be used for larger heatsinks like the NH-C14S or for water cooling radiators. The NF-A14 features all of Noctua's latest fan innovations and is rated for a noise level between 19.2~24.6dBA while pushing an airflow of 115.5~140.2 m3/h.