Installation

For our installation, we will be following the included installation guide and using all included tools. In the case of our test bench we will be following the LGA 115x method. The included parts here are pretty straightforward with two brackets, plastic spacers and thumb screws much like the NH-U14S.

The backplate is an extremely easy install yet again with nothing more needed than threading the screw posts through the hole in the motherboard. With that done you can slide the plastic spacers over the screws.

Next up is attaching the mounting brackets and screwing securely to the backplate with the thumb screws. A quick quarter-turn with the included screwdriver is enough to ensure the secured bracket for the U14S.

Finally it is time to mount the cooler. After applying your thermal paste, it is as simple as lining up the cooling tower and tightening it down with the included screwdriver.

With the cooling tower securely in place it’s time to attach our cooling fan(s). Fans installed, we can now look at the clearances the NH-U14S has around our test bench board. The fan clearance over the first RAM channel is a tight fit but there is actually no overhang at least on our test bench with low profile DIMMs. Still this is close enough for me to feel like you may have compatibility issues with larger RAM heat spreaders. The rest of the board clearance seems fine around the U14S even with both fans installed.