Since moving our CPU cooling test bench over to LGA2011 Noctua’s D14 was an obvious choice to include within our table of benchmark results. The D14 has been an overwhelming success for Noctua over the last few years and we were keen to investigate whether the SE2011 variant demonstrated the same prowess as it did in our previous review of the original cooler.

NH-D14 SE2011 doesn’t disappoint. Noctua continue to give a strong bundle within the packaging; dual cooling fans, thermal paste, low noise adapters, secuFirm 2 and a helpful installation guide tout this as a packaging scheme for others to follow. We’ve been a fan of SecuFirm since the early days as it offers a simple, no-fuss method of installing the cooler to the motherboard. Further to this Noctua pre-attach the mounting screws to the cooler and fan clips to the cooling fans which results in a completely hassle-free installation.



The results on the preceding pages demonstrate that the D14 SE2011 can handle Sandy Bridge-E with no questions asked. The thermal design of the heatsink on its own tackles the problem of heat clearly from the passive results. Let’s not forget Noctua were the first to bring to market the dual-radiator design and these guys know what they are doing.

Priced at £65 the Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 is a quite a pricey product but it’s important to analysis the included items and consider what you get from the whole package; dual fans - 120 + 140mm (at least £10 each), thermal paste (£8) and not to mention a heatsink which offers some of the best heat efficiency available it’s no wonder the NH-D14 SE2011 is an attractive buy.