Cooling - Noctua vs. Corsair H100i

Hi Folks,
I was wondering what the general consensus is on cooling systems.  I really have it down to the Noctua or the Corsair closed loop H100i.  My preference really is for air cooled but DS is still only carrying the older NH-14 and not the NH-15.  I was hoping by now that the NH-15 would be available as to special order this is another $45 which makes it like 1.5 times the cost of it normally. I'm thinking of the 5960X processor with a Stage 1 overclock perhaps (could either of these coolers do a Stage 2)?  Any input is greatly appreciated!!  Thanks.

Yeah - everything I'm seeing is that it would be a stretch to get that overclock without true water cooling. I really rather do air cooling.  I'm inclined to go in that direction.  My issue is the NH-14 covers the first PCI-E slot and isn't as effective as the NH-15.  From what I can tell, the Corsair cooler is a little better than the NH-14 but not better than the NH-15.  If you could let me know what you find, I'd appreciate it! 

Full Disclosure: I am a Noctua Fanboy (though I stretch the definition of "boy" to its limit )

The NH-15 does have a 6 year warranty, compared to the Corsair's 5 year warranty, I know you're looking into other details, but its something to consider.

Also, yes, the NH-15 outperforms the H100i and is more quiet. Last I looked into it the NH-15 was about 1C better than the H100i when it was on Maximum mode and about 7C cooler when the H100i was on quiet mode. But again, these are just general temperatures, not specific to your O/C situation.




Edited by Tidgxor - 23 Oct 2014 at 2:07pm

I decided it was easier to put the Bolt inside of the Noctua 

I thought about selecting the h100i for my next system but kinda concerned about the pump failing or leakage and the updates for the software

There's a lot of good information in here in regards to the two. But what we need to look at is a couple of things such as air flow and performance.

The NH-14/15 is a great air cooler. It's one of the best there is. But as bprat said it kind of starts to lose to water cooling once you get into the mid 4ghz's. On top of that it's very big and blocky. While it won't hinder you from being able to install ram in any slots or effect your gpu's in any way, it is quite large.

Reason's why I'd pick a H100i over a Noctua is quite simple. It's not because it's quieter (and it is, don't let anyone fool you. You can run more fans on an H100i in a push pull config at much lower rpm's making it much quieter than the NH-14/15. Though don't take much quieter too far, as both can be quiet as long as you're using PWM fans on your NH-14/15). On top of sound output, the H100i does better with you're higher cored cpu's. Now before anyone says "Not true, I have an NH-14/15 on an AMD 8-core and it does just as well if not better than an intel". First off, it's amd you're using so you're already "special". I say it's better for your higher cored cpu's such as intel because most of the time you're able to overclock all of your 6-8 cores to higher frequencies considered to based frequency, hence higher voltages, hence higher heat output... and yet better heat dissipation.

One of the last reasons I'd pick the H100i over the NH-14/15 is the same reason I mentioned to someone else. Air flow. Let's say you're going with the Corsair 760T or 900D case. You're going to want a lot more air coming in than going out to maintain your positive pressure. If you have an NH-14/15, it'll block any fans you put in the top, thus given mess your air flow route. You can aim it up, but then it messes up your back exhaust. You can aim it back, but then it messes up your airflow at the top.

Air flow is important here, because you're mostly likely wanting to buy some ram that is higher than 1866mhz. Thus, it will generate some heat. So you want that air coming in and blowing over it. I mentioned this to someone else in another post. You're overclocking your cpu, you have higher frequency memory. That higher frequency = more heat coming from your cpu because of the ICM. All of this puts more of a strain on your chipset, so it's generating more heat. All of these things mean you want colder, positive air pressure in your system. At the end of the day the NH-14/15 can't do this for you.

So it really comes down to you. If you really do want a quieter system, longer life, better air flow (which btw, better air flow = better positive pressure. Better positive pressure = much less dust inside your case.)

Fan boy or not, and yes I'm quite a corsair fan boy and love their closed loop systems. While I don't use one in my main system, I do have one in my guest PC and it's so worth the slightly extra cost over the NH-14/15 for the exact reasons I just said.

My next computer i buy from here will be the Air 540, its just a awesome looking case and i like the fact that all the cords and psu go on the other side.