Low Profile Mode
Run with a single NF-P14 fan underneath the fin stack and with the top fan removed, the NH-C14 measures only 105mm in height, which makes it ideal for use in smaller enclosures and HTPC applications.

clearance High Clearance Mode
The lower NF-P14 fan can be removed in order to provide additional clearance for chipset coolers or RAM modules with tall heat-spreaders. Run with a single fan on top, the NH-C14 provides a full 65mm of clearance.

So thats:

38mm clearance from the motherboard in low profile mode (bottom fan only)
105mm height

65mm clearance from the motherboard in High Clearance mode
130mm height

38mm clearance from the motherboard with both stock fans
130mm height

stock fans are ~25mm thick if for some reason you had a clearance/case size issue you could use Slip Stream Slim 120mm fan(s) in one or both positions in place of a 140mm fan allowing you to shave 12 or 13mm off the stock fans. It also lets you choose other RPMs on a fan that has a lower starting voltage.

50mm clearance from the motherboard with Slipstream Slim
117mm height with Slipstream Slim

May not ever have to do that but it's nice to know that the option is there.

Thanks for the review. Looks like a proper low-profile performance part. The towers were getting a bit boring.

How do you think would it stack up against the Thermalright AXP 140?

By the way, the link leads to "page not found".

Thanks for the review. Page 5 has a typo:

"The results with the fan on top were omitted for brevity; on average CPU cooling was 77°C worse while the NB/VRM took a 15°C hit."

I'm guessing that 77C worse might be a lower number

Did you happen to measure idle and load power consumed for the various configurations? With these really low VRM temps, I'd love to know the impact on power.

Thanks for your hard work on this excellent down-blower cooler!
Btw, how does the Noctua 140mm fan stack up against Thermalright TY140 in terms of noise? Which one do you prefer?

Nice

But how much does the heatsink overhang the top of the motherboard, roughly? Needs another photo from a different angle.

I imagine this heatsink is the ultimate for those of us that have tried unbending a top down cooler so that the fins are right by the exhaust 120mm case fan. Just like in SPCRs single moving part PC. Can SPCR do what they like with review samples or do they have to be sent back?

Plus in the chart a single 120mm Nexus seems to have outperformed a single stock fan. So what would it be like with 2 Nexus fans, even better surely?

I don't think the Noctua fans are quiet at all. Also I have a feeling this review is just a press release from Noctua.. Too many kind words?

Weak troll is weak.

I noticed the notches are in 3 different positions on the trailing edges of the 9 blades; and the notches are slightly differently spaced and shaped.

"The only surprise was how well our 120 mm reference fan performed."

I am actually not that surprised. I do not recall ever seeing an SPCR HS review where the reference fans did not do better than the stock fans. Only exception may be the Prolimatech Armageddon review where the review commented that the Scythe 140 may deserve to be SPCR's 140mm reference fan
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... VSU-UPDATE

I wonder why the HS manufacturers do not take note and cut a deal with Nexus to use their fans for their HS (except for Scythe HS maybe)

I re-read the article, and while my observation on the use of reference fans instead of stock fans is still valid IMO, the fact that the reference fan beats a 140mm fan at the same sound level at higher fan voltages is a little surprising. But looking at the other temps, it would appear thant the air flow for the 120mm fan is more conentrated in the HS and less of the flow cools the VRM and NB.

Re-read the review again.

It would have also been very interesting to test the HS with the Scythe 140mm fans. In the Prolimatech Armageddon & Coolermaster V8 CPU Coolers review ( http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1039-page9.html ) it was found: "The Scythe 140 mm fan fared much better than the Noctua."

The Scythe fan peformed so well that "The Scythe's convincing victory over the Noctua makes a compelling argument for its use as our 140 mm reference fan."

Can SPCR consider using this fan in future 140mm fan HS reviews?

Would you say the C14 is a better fit for the Fortress FT02 than the D14, or the other way around?

I would also like so see how the scythe 140mm fan fares vs the nexus 120mm on this cooler. I'm currently running the stock fan at 7v on this, have any of you upgraded the fan?
If so, what did you upgrade to? I'm mostly concerned with the acoustics, thanks.