Noctua Air Cooler Dissipates 700W of Power from 56-Core Intel Chip

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Noctua NH-U14S DX-4677 cools Intel Xeon W9-3495X

Noctua
(Image credit: Noctua)

Noctua, a leading supplier in air cooling, is one of a few makers of CPU cooling systems with no closed-loop cooling systems in its lineup. And perhaps the company doesn't need them, as its latest air cooler, the NH-U14S DX-4677, is capable of cooling Intel's 56-core Xeon W9-3495X — which consumes 700W of power. 

These days, most enthusiast-grade desktops and workstations use all-in-one (AIO) liquid cooling systems, which are more efficient than air coolers and better able to handle modern CPUs (which can consume well above their rated thermal design power when working in turbo boost mode, albeit for short periods of time). But while liquid coolers are efficient, a large air cooler can also do the job pretty well, as Noctua's demonstration shows. The company's new NH-U14S DX-4677 is able to cool down Intel's 56-core Xeon W9-3495X under load when it consumes over 700W and does not throttle. 

"Would you say 700W on air cooling is impossible," the Noctua tweet reads. "Here's our NH-U14S DX-4677 cooling the Intel Xeon w9-3495X at a continuous load of more than 700W!" 

The company did not disclose whether the CPU was overclocked (or at what clock speed it was running), but in the video the temperatures remain below 100°C. We suspect its power limits were increased in UEFI BIOS to demonstrate the capabilities of the cooler. 

The Noctua NH-U14S DX-4677 is a large, aluminum tower cooler featuring a nickel-plated copper base along with six thick, U-shaped, nickel-plated heat pipes. The cooler measures 6.5 x 5.9 x 4.4 inches (165 x 150 x 111mm) and weighs 2.5lbs (1.14kg), including two Noctua NF-A15 HS-PWM fans, so it may not fit into compact PC cases. The heatsink fins are slightly curved to maximize surface area and optimize airflow. 

The cooler features a total fin surface area of more than 6000cm², which makes it one of the largest air coolers available. Noctua says that the two 140mm fans generate airflow of around 140,2 m³/h and produce up to 24.6 dbA noise. 

The Noctua NH-U14S DX-4677 was specifically designed for Intel's Xeon processors, and it offers both impressive cooling performance and reliability with a six-year warranty (and an MTTF of 150,000 hours on the fans).

Anton Shilov
Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

20 Comments Comment from the forums
  • bigdragon
    Very impressive. Large air cooler for a large -- in terms of power consumption and heat -- CPU. I think a lot of people underestimate what air cooling is capable of. Sure, air cooling doesn't look as slick as an AIO, but it can get the job done for less. I've been happy with my Noctua and Deepcool air coolers.
    Reply
  • King_V
    I had to re-read that title at least twice.

    And then:
    Noctua says that the two 140mm fans generate airflow of around 140,2 m³/h and produce up to 24.6 dbA noise.
    That's insanely quiet for that kind of cooling capacity!
    Reply
  • MJS WARLORD
    i have the Noctua NH-D15S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler , and my gtx has 2 fans , plus i have side front and rear fans , if i did not have lights on the front of my coolermaster haf x tower you would not know it was switched on.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    "Here's our NH-U14S DX-4677 cooling the Intel Xeon w9-3495X at a continuous load of more than 700W!"
    The company did not disclose whether the CPU was overclocked
    At "continuous load of more than 700 W", it definitely wasn't running at stock settings. That's a 350 W (TDP) CPU:

    https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-xeon-w-3400-w-2400-cpu-launch-hedt-overclock
    That article goes on to state:

    "These chips will consume more power under full load at their Maximum Turbo Power (MTP) rating, which is 1.2X the PBP. (For instance, the 350W model will peak at 420W"
    So, yeah, I think we can say the processor in Noctua's demo was overclocked.

    I'm mostly just surprised that it cools so well without a proper vapor chamber. There's a lot of die area under the heatspreader, but I'd still expect to find some hot spots above it. I guess congrats to Noctua are in order. They continue to impress.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    MJS WARLORD said:
    i have the Noctua NH-D15S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler , and my gtx has 2 fans , plus i have side front and rear fans , if i did not have lights on the front of my coolermaster haf x tower you would not know it was switched on.
    I have 3 Noctua fans in my workstation: 140 mm intake fan, a 150 mm fan on the CPU cooler, and a 120 mm exhaust fan. It's surprisingly loud, even at idle. The PSU fan doesn't run at all, when load is below 50%, nor are there hard drives. My EVGA GPU is whisper quiet, at idle. That tells me the noise is pretty much all from my Noctua fans.

    I didn't use any of the low-noise adapters, which would obviously help. However, I care about cooling performance a little more than I care about noise.

    And I'm not saying it's loud in absolute terms. Just, louder than I hoped.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    King_V said:
    And then:

    "produce up to 24.6 dbA noise."
    That's insanely quiet for that kind of cooling capacity!
    Yes, but A-weighting is mostly intended to be used for measuring outdoor noise. It has a narrower frequency window, which results in lower numbers. That's why everyone uses it. However, that means any raspy hiss wouldn't be reflected in the dbA measurements.

    C-weighing should be used for audio equipment and (IMO) any appliances or computers you might use in a setting where you're trying to enjoy hi-fi audio.
    Reply
  • TechieTwo
    IME AIO cooling is mostly a gimmick for the average PC user. Many top end HSF cool as good or better than entry level AIO and there is no hassles with fluid leaks, mold, radiators, galvanic reaction, etc. Yes a large HSF requires a case with clearance but as Noctua, Deepcool and other HSF makers have shown, a HSF can be quiet and handle high wattage CPUs just fine.

    When I build new PCs I typically run them 24/7 under Prime 95 to stress test them before providing them to customers. IME a quality HSF provides reliable, practical, simple CPU cooling.
    Reply
  • ien2222
    bit_user said:
    Yes, but A-weighting is mostly intended to be used for measuring outdoor noise. It has a narrower frequency window, which results in lower numbers. That's why everyone uses it. However, that means any raspy hiss wouldn't be reflected in the dbA measurements.

    C-weighing should be used for audio equipment and (IMO) any appliances or computers you might use in a setting where you're trying to enjoy hi-fi audio.

    A-weighting is also used extensively for safety in work place environments.

    But yeah, A weighting leaves out a lot of info, C is absolutely better, but without a frequency response graphic I'd rather have it Z weighted.
    Reply
  • rkhalloran
    I've been using the NH-U14 with my 12-core Ryzen 5900x and a) keeps it nicely cool even when doing transcoding across all the cores b) does it quietly. Not surprised they're trying it with one of the server-grade chips.
    Reply
  • 2Be_or_Not2Be
    Can't wait to see one for the AM5 platform!
    Reply