Noctua NH-C14S, Premium CPU Cooler with NF-A14 PWM 140mm Fan (Brown)

Went through 2 other coolers before landing on this one, returned because they were too large. This was exactly what I was looking for in a mid tower build. Great product!

Im pretty consistently happy with Noctua coolers in general. Im not sure its worth posting a review on this because I dont really have anything to add beyond whats been said before.

Im so impressed with this fan. I decided to build a gaming PC but wanted it small, so went with the Thermaltake Core V1 case and a mini ITX Z97 board with i5-4690K so I could overclock. I was going to do a self contained water cooler but all the ones around $100 had so so reviews, with most people replacing the fan on the radiator with a Noctua one anyway. So thought Id take a chance and just go air cooling. The fan in the photo looks small but its still huge. Fits fine in my case with the fan under the radiator vs on top like in the photos (it supports both methods as well as adding a second fan). I overclocked my system from 3.5Ghz to 4.2Ghz and on idle Im running around 26-29 degrees C and when using 100% under Prime95 for stress testing I never go over 59. Highest Ive ever seen it hit was 61. Even when on full at 59 degrees the fan is insanely quiet, to the point that I had to turn the TV right off to try and hear it. With the system on the floor you cant hear it at all. Very impressed and highly recommended. Photo shows my rig with it installed to show the size.

On par with my corsair h150i pro for performance at 1000 rpm, and the corsair had 3 fans + a pump, and the pump is a very whiney frequency. At less than half the price of the h150i pro, the c14s is a great buy. If your case doesnt have side panel vents, make sure to put the fan on the bottom so you dont choke the airflow by having the fan right up against the glass.

awesome cooler, keep my Xeon E5 2680 at ~58C without any problem and making almost no noise (that having it fully loaded all day long at ~28C ambient temp)

After much research and vacillation between water vs air cooling, I went with the noctua. My Skylake 4ghz clocks to 4.7ghz with this--with water maybe I could get a little more but it doesnt matter to me; I mostly run it at under 4.5 anyway. The fan is dead silent and mounting the fan on top, as shown here, allows my low profile memory not only to fit under it but to be inserted or removed (ATX case). I also like the orientation of the radiator. Why? Physics--the farther out the mass from the point of attachment, the more leverage on the motherboard; this orientation with the radiator parallel to the motherboard keeps the mass close minimizing the leverage--the fan also blows right down onto the memory.

Easy to install IF you have a mid tower and bigger PC case.

Works well in a 4U case (fan under). Looks nice, does a decent job cooling, not as good as my bigger DH, but is more then adequate for cpus pushing around 115W TDP.

Returned for a stronger product.

Caught it on sale and replaced a Noctua NH-L9x65 (which moves less air), so the mounting bracket system was the same. Had to remove the fan to access the two hold-down screws then mounted the fan in the upper position (and blowing down). Not sure what the most efficient cooling position is and Noctua instructions did no say but they did note the upper position is the more quiet position besides including two extra fan wire holders if you want to run two fans in both mounting positions (and noted to use the throttle cable on the upper fan in that configuration).