Thoughts on the NH-C14?

[nothingspecial]

I'm planning on getting a Gigabyte UD7 series board for my next rig (Z68 or 990FX, depending on how good the BDs are). However, I've come across this interesting feature of the board - the "Extreme Cooling Solution"

Essentially, a downforce cooler pushes air across the chipset/mosfet heatsinks. So should I go for the C14 over the D14, or is it another case of it'll only make a small amount of difference, like the PSU orientation?

 

[windowlicker]

Honestly, as an owner of both a 990FX (ASUS)and a D14 (just made a post with memory clearance issues) I don't think it matters. With the D14 there is so much air (volume) moving at least across the memory I have had no need for extra cooling, even at 4ghz on the 1100T.

Based on numerous reviews, the C14 and D14 are close in performance no matter what. I was thinking of the C14 back when I started my build as I am having issues on the stick side with tall memory. Be curious to see what happens if you use the C14 and if it makes a difference on the Gigabyte board.

I think it also comes down to your case fans. Do you have a panel fan as an intake blowing on the board?

 

[nothingspecial]

Haven't built it yet, but wasn't planning on having a side panel fan. Got the space for one (690-II with windowed panel) but will probably replace the perspex with a flat piece.

 

[GuyIncognito]

I'm planning on getting a Gigabyte UD7 series board for my next rig (Z68 or 990FX, depending on how good the BDs are). However, I've come across this interesting feature of the board - the "Extreme Cooling Solution"

Essentially, a downforce cooler pushes air across the chipset/mosfet heatsinks. So should I go for the C14 over the D14, or is it another case of it'll only make a small amount of difference, like the PSU orientation?

I don't quite get the benefit of pushing down air warmed by the cpu cooler onto those heatsinks. Just get the D14 and make sure your case is cooled properly. All "modern" motherboards have heatsinks similar to those.