Thinking of the Noctua NH-U12S. Opinions?

[Krotonas]

Hello guys.

I have an i5 3570k at stock frequency and I'm planning to get a little bit into overclocking.

The cooler I have, is the Arctic Cooling Freezer i30. As I have planned to change all my system fans (stock Obsidian 550D fans) I'm thinking to change the i30 for something not only quieter, but I'd say better performing as well.

I don't want to get into watercooling yet because my budget is up to H100i and personally I feel that it won't be as quiet as a high-end air cooler and there are some variables that should they go wrong, not only will I have a bigger service cost, but no cooling for some days as well. So I'm saving the watercooling experience for a future build.

One obvious solution is the Noctua NH-D14. I've read the best about this cooler, for its overall performance as well as its very quiet operation. The thing is though, the NH-D14, covers a RAM slot (I hope not more) just like my current cooler does and that disables an easy RAM upgrade.

So,i focused on the U12S solution. What's your opinion? Does the NH-D14 worth the few extra money as well as the RAM slot incapitation?


Thank you in advance, and sorry for any mistakes

 

[Feronix]

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cases_cooling/noctua_nh-u12s_review/1

 

[Krotonas]

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cases_cooling/noctua_nh-u12s_review/1

I 've read through the review, before posting. But even though it was informative and well presented, it didn't answer my question as whether this fan would fit my needs or not. To be honest, it deepened even further the question .I'm not planning to get a huuuge overclock. I think 4.0-4.2 is enough for me at this point.