My Alienware's water-cooling system started to struggle more and more during the heavy lifting. The cpu paste had been renewed before, but that was only about 5 degrees. Time for drastic interventions because the temperature during the heavier calculations regularly came between 85 and 92 degrees ... Not good for the system and not good for peace of mind ...
After some tips bought the Noctua. Despite the warning, still shocked by the size: a real beast! After a lot of fitting and measuring, I was able to get the thing on the motherboard. Pay close attention to your mainboard compatibility - not everything just fits.
Installation is not complicated, but it is tricky because of the size. I myself was sweet for an hour...
Then the performance... I'm very impressed: idle about 27-29 degrees (work from home) and under high pressure about 43-45 degrees. Once seen 51 degrees at maximum stress test with only 1 fan active!). Sound in all cases quite acceptable, especially compared to the great noise of the old water cooler from Alienware (never buy again, by the way).
Number of pluses: complete set in terms of material, high-end cpu paste, clear instructions, the cooling has two large fans, both of which can be removed. It's so easy to install and if the dimensions of your cabinet don't allow it otherwise (like me). So in the end I only installed 1 (largest) and placed the others elsewhere.
Disadvantages are the size (PCI slot lost due to overlap). I don't see price as an issue given the excellent performance and the price of the PC as a whole.
