Thanks Hilbert it is nice to see low profile heat pipe coolers can still do well

Low profile at 115mm? To tall for my MCPC case (LIAN LI PC-C37B).

Low profile at 115mm? To tall for my MCPC case (LIAN LI PC-C37B).

I was fighting the wording there when writing the article, let's settle at a lower profile CPU cooler 🙂

I count 7 heat pipes on that thing but only 6 pop out of the top and only 6 pipes seem to be squashed together for the base contact plate. Where on earth does that 7th pipe come from and where does it go?

I count 7 heat pipes on that thing but only 6 pop out of the top and only 6 pipes seem to be squashed together for the base contact plate. Where on earth does that 7th pipe come from and where does it go?

http://i58.tinypic.com/2aiggue.jpg It comes from there, I guess it ends somewhere in the middle of the cooler.

gah I dont want to know this I still have my D-14 sitting in box waiting for rest my mobo and cpu i might get at some point None the less noctua has some best air coolers.

These temperatures are interesting. I've always wondered how these temperatures are achieved in reviews. I have a 4790K and I'm using a Noctua NH-D15. All my specs are under my name to the left actually. I can run 4.6Ghz @ 1.188v (BIOS), reaching 1.200v max while benchmarking or stress-testing (Monitored via multiple programs). Stress tests would make it hit 80 to 82 degrees celcius. In the review you're not even reaching those temperatures with much higher voltage @ 1.300v and with an inferior cooler. I run the system @ 4.7Ghz @ 1.280v and it's very stable, it never throttles, but it would hit 90 to 95 degrees celcius if I stress test it. Gaming wise it would rarely go over 82 degrees celcius. That's still not using 1.300v I'm assuming based on reviews I should be getting much better temperatures. There's no way the orientation of the cooler could do this right? Because I do have my cooler setup to pull air from behind the GPU area and exhaust out to the top of the case. That way I don't face the RAM clearance issue. But it does cover the first PCI-Express slot on my motherboard. Not a problem I have the GPU setup in my 3rd PCI-Express slot which is also PCI-Express 3.0 @ 16X But could the orientation really be giving me this significant difference? Up to even 10 to 15 degrees celcius difference? I highly doubt it.

^ I dont see how It could but guess it could valid question or maybe it not mount correct? cause that reviews shows D-15 at 74c

These temperatures are interesting. I've always wondered how these temperatures are achieved in reviews. I have a 4790K and I'm using a Noctua NH-D15. All my specs are under my name to the left actually. I can run 4.6Ghz @ 1.188v (BIOS), reaching 1.200v max while benchmarking or stress-testing (Monitored via multiple programs). Stress tests would make it hit 80 to 82 degrees celcius. In the review you're not even reaching those temperatures with much higher voltage @ 1.300v and with an inferior cooler. I run the system @ 4.7Ghz @ 1.280v and it's very stable, it never throttles, but it would hit 90 to 95 degrees celcius if I stress test it. Gaming wise it would rarely go over 82 degrees celcius. That's still not using 1.300v I'm assuming based on reviews I should be getting much better temperatures. There's no way the orientation of the cooler could do this right? Because I do have my cooler setup to pull air from behind the GPU area and exhaust out to the top of the case. That way I don't face the RAM clearance issue. But it does cover the first PCI-Express slot on my motherboard. Not a problem I have the GPU setup in my 3rd PCI-Express slot which is also PCI-Express 3.0 @ 16X But could the orientation really be giving me this significant difference? Up to even 10 to 15 degrees celcius difference? I highly doubt it.

Every chip ever made be it a CPU or GPU is made on a big thin silicon wafer and they spin it while dropping material on it. As the wafer spins gravity forces the material outwards from the center. This causes the wafer to become more densely packed in some areas more than others. This is then used to rate the chips and they may even be split into different products. So a 4790K may be cut from the edge or maybe from closer to the center. Unless you buy a cherry picked chip then you can never tell where on the wafer the chips come from. Although they may have the same stats and the same stepping and amount of transistors even they can be very different once installed into a system.

I forgot to mention Core #4 (or Core #3 if the program monitoring starts with Core #0 as #1) is always running 10 degrees celcius cooler under full load than all other cores. It has been like that for over a year with different BIOS and different operating systems (Windows 7, 8.1, and 10 now). I don't have an issue with my CHIP, it has never crashed on me or throttled. But every time I see a "review" they can't all magically be getting "golden chips" like stated above. Also from what I've read around 4.6Ghz @ 1.880v in BIOS & 4.7Ghz @ 1.260v in BIOS are both on the "great" side of the 4790K chips. Majority of people with the 4790K require higher voltages to achieve stability at those clocks. It's okay though, thanks for the input.