Installed on the already sizeable ASUS Rampage III Extreme, the Phanteks PH-TC14PE dominates the upper part of the motherboard towering high and mighty. Those worried about the weight hanging off the motherboard should not worry as the SoliSku mounting kit has been specially designed for this purpose and works well. The red colour scheme also closely matches the ASUS board although there is a slight shade of pink on the Phanteks.


And this is what the PH-TC14PE look like with a third fan. The third fan overhangs the rear motherboard chipset heatsink but there were no height conflicts.


In terms of memory compatibility, the slightly deeper dimensions and symmetrical offset from the centre causes the heatsink to protrude forward slightly more than the Noctua NH-D14 so the front radiator overhangs 1 memory slot and a fraction of the second. It has to be noted that the distance between the CPU socket and the memory modules is shorter on the Rampage III Extreme than on other boards so the heatsink would only overhang a single slot.


The fan covers an additional three slots so tall memory modules will not fit. It is possible to shift the fan upwards. However, this increases the overall height of the cooler to over 170mm at which point the distance to the side case panel has to be taken into account. My advice would be to buy low profile memory modules.


The Phanteks and Noctua NH-D14 side by side represent the ultimate in air cooling. Unfortunately we didn’t have the Thermalright Silver Arrow to add to this comparison since it leads our charts alongside the Noctua. It is immediately apparent that Phanteks’ dual tower radiator is a good performer judging on its design and form factor.


Looking at the front face of the two heatsinks, we see the similarities they share in terms of fin array density and design, the Phanteks boasting an extra two fins in this case. Both heatsinks have laminar fins with serrated edges. There are some subtle differences such as the Phanteks fins being comprised of two parts instead one being just one piece, and the interlocking joints running down the centre and sides. Phanteks have also places an extra fin and top plate at the top to make the most of the heat pipe ends. Both heatsinks end up the same height.


Both heatsinks are 140mm wide and can easily be accommodated into cases without affecting expansion slots.


The gap between the two towers on the Phanteks is 33mm, 5mm more than on the NH-D14 meaning fans can be more easily accommodated but at the detriment of further memory overhang. The thicknesses of the Phanteks and Noctua radiators are the same at 49mm.


One of the major complaints from potential NH-D14 buyers is the beige/brown colour scheme employed by Noctua. Phanteks must have been listening carefully as they have addressed this issue with a range of colour schemes. The red and white colour scheme compliments many current motherboards and even the most remote colour schemes such as that of the Gigabyte X58-OC is nicely complimented by the orange PH-TC14PE variant.