I never thought I'd see proper competition for the Noctua NH-D14 before 2011.
It looks like Saxman hoss, Thermalright, has done it again with their new flagship cooler...
The Silver ArrowOf particular note is the wonderfully neat finish applied to the crimped ends of the heatpipes.
That alone worth the price of admission for me, but there's more...according to
this rather comprehensive
review, its performance either equals, or slightly exceeds the NH-D14...all the while, costing less (both cost the same on SVC though).
Based on overall size, it looks like this one will be a slightly better fit...and it comes with TWO 14cm fans,
which is better than what Noctua offers (one 12cm, and one 14cm). The only potential drawback is the way
the cooler hangs over the 1st RAM slot. I use Corsair Dominators, which have very tall heatspreaders,
so the front fan will have to go in the back, or it can be removed altogether and the middle fan can be used.
Either way...the NH-D14 has just been replaced.
* adds to Christmas wish-list *