Thermalright Silver Arrow vs Noctua NH-D14
Conclusion
Published: 18th November 2010 | Source: OC3D | Price: |
Conclusion
What a contest this was between two closely matched Heavyweight contenders. The result was very close to the most recent Heavyweight contest we've seen, although this time the Challenger didn't just stand there like an idiot and fall over in the third, rather the Silver Arrow matched the NH-D14 jab for jab, cross for cross, until the third round when the power of the Champion was just enough to put the Challenger down.
Until then we even had the Thermalright Silver Arrow ahead on points and if this was a two-round affair it would be the blue corner having their hand raised. However in the professional world we don't have short contests. So why doesn't the challenger get the belt this time?
The main points are that the Thermalright Silver Arrow just about has the beating of the Noctua NH-D14 at 1.25v and 1.35v, beating it by 0.7°C and 0.8°C respectively. Once the voltage is increased it proves incapable of shifting the heat away effectively with the heatsink becoming overwhelmed.
Away from the temperatures the mounting system isn't the most user-friendly that we've seen. Although if you're the "install once and never again" type and you own a roomy case then this will prove less of an issue as it does to us with our test setup and requirements.
The fan retainers are the same 'straightened paper-clip' style that Thermalright have been using since seemingly the dawn of time. They're fiddly, annoying and worst of all they seem cheap. For a cooler costing above £50 the last thing we want is any part of it seeming cheap and fiddly.
All in all it's a pretty capable cooler. There are clearance issues if you've got anything other than vanilla DIMMs, or a case that isn't the widest, but it does keep the processor cool and quiet under reasonable conditions. It's fairly attractive and reasonably priced.
For all the in depth testing and varification of our results please watch this monster video!
For our purposes though the reality is that the Noctua is easier to use, sturdier designed and doesn't fail when the going gets tough so still retains our top spot as the best CPU Cooler on the planet.
It's not to say the Silver Arrow is a bad cooler. Just not quite good enough to dethrone the Champ.
Thermalright Score:
Noctua Score:
Thanks to Noctua & Thermalright for making this fight possible! Discuss in our forums.
Most Recent Comments
Haha ! p*ss off thermalright !
I took one look at those clips and thought "oh no, oh god no !". And the heat pipes look like dildos
And I think that's why it fails. With the Noctua as you crank and crank the temps just don't seem to change. My 940 didn't refuse to boot due to heat I was just scared of blowing it up.
I might have missed the actual price of this but if it's around £50 why are they charging the same for that stupid shaman GPU cooler? This thing has two fans on and is bigger.
Nothing to worry about there for Noctua then. It'll be a bloody long time before any one can beat the NH and by the time they do it'll be too late.
Was talking to Stepy about this last night. The Noctua was just pure American right from the start. I could just visualise two yanks (Cleetus and Bubba) saying "Holy sheep sh*t, let's make the biggest dog garn cooler we can fit on a motherboard !" and then speccing it out like a V12 Aston. Once you reach that level all others can merely copy you, but with little chance of beating you. I mean, how the hell do you make a bigger cooler than the NH?
I wouldn't mind but TR seem to have simply stolen the NH and made a poorer cooler. I mean look at them
I do like the look of the fans on the TR tho, would look cool on a Gigabyte
Noctua threw the first punch. So it was game over. It really was hard to appreciate just how enormous the NH was until I had one in my PC.
And I now hate Tom more than ever
You did that on purpose didn't you?
|
Originally Posted by AlienALX
Bitfenix survivor. And I now hate Tom more than ever You did that on purpose didn't you? |
Might use it as the static test case for heatsinks now
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/thermalright-silver-arrow_5.html#
al tho its like 30Euro cheaper....
EDIT my bad i thought it was Thermaltake
|
Originally Posted by hmmblah
Xbit labs got different results. I haven't compared them closely, but at 4.4GHz 1.44375v they had the Silver Arrow at under 80C. What the reason for the different findings? I noticed Xbit used an open case, was the survivor opened as well during testing? http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/thermalright-silver-arrow_5.html# |
.
Don’t like the fan Clips either
|
Originally Posted by Taurus
Don’t like the fan Clips either |
|
Originally Posted by hmmblah
Xbit labs got different results. I haven't compared them closely, but at 4.4GHz 1.44375v they had the Silver Arrow at under 80C. What the reason for the different findings? I noticed Xbit used an open case, was the survivor opened as well during testing? http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/thermalright-silver-arrow_5.html# |
You lot are just never happy
The results are bang on though, thats why i videod it all.
Case was sealed though hence the tape, there was only a few mm in it at the fixing points at the back of the case.
When I read that Radeon 5770s idled at 23c I was bloody well pleased. Imagine my annoyance when I got one in there and it actually idled at 35. I thought it was chuffing broken.
Honestly, no disrespect Tom but reviews where the cards/coolers are on a test bed are absolutely useless to the end user. (Edit. Temps obs)
So kudos from me for showing us what actual coolers do in actual use in actual cases in people's actual computers.
I enjoy your articles. Were you testing with H/T on? I cannot believe SA would not be able to pass,
since there are people on several forums, who had no problem with this cooler on given clock and voltages... Just wondering, peace
TBH even if they scored the same Id tell people to buy the Noctua as its a far superior product.
Oh and Tom uses the hottest core as the temperature rather than the coolest.
|
Originally Posted by Diablo
Oh and Tom uses the hottest core as the temperature rather than the coolest. |
|
Originally Posted by Diablo
A case is always going to be warmer than an open air test bed, as with open air, the temperature surrounding the heatsink is ambient, whereas in a case, no matter how well air cooled, the air is going to be slightly warmer. Oh and Tom uses the hottest core as the temperature rather than the coolest. |
Let's leave it at that.
CSS Valid
Continue Reading