Noctua Unveils The NH-D15, The Successor To The NH-D14

[coffeejunkee]

I'm curious to see if it beats the NH-D14 in load temp and by how much. can't wait for reviews!

They sure are taking their sweet time.

Also, Noctua is famed for 6 year warranty and free brackets for next gen sockets. No liquid cooler can match that service

I wouldn't call it free, pretty sure it's calculated into the base price. Very nice if you change sockets 3 times but if you never change you paid (a little) for nothing.

Not everyone is comfortable running water through their case.

Not everyone is comfortable with a 1kg+ chunk of metal hanging on their motherboard.

My H100i leaked on me about a year ago and it was a disaster. My mobo and GPU basically went down the toilet. Good thing I was using a cheap AMD system so it didn't bother me all that much. But yeah, now I'm done with water cooling.

Cheap or not, you really should have gotten compensation from Corsair.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

They sure are taking their sweet time.

Not everyone is comfortable with a 1kg+ chunk of metal hanging on their motherboard.

Well, coffee-man -- it depends on what is measured and how it's measured.

Fins and heatpipes are a very small part of it. The NH-D14 ships with two Noctua 6oz fans -- that's 3/4 lb. The heaviest part of the D14 -- as with many of these coolers -- is the base. But any stress to the motherboard derives from the torque of any weight hanging at some distance from the mounting points. It can't much come from the base itself.

But we've been through this several times since Zalman released their "copper-flower" cooler several years ago. That cooler was solid copper; the heatsink base was more massive than that of any heatpipe cooler I know of, and by a longshot. It had no pipes: just copper fins. But the standard promoted by Intel for its boards with other coolers never changed. I think it was around 450 grams -- just a little less than 0.5 Kg.

When they defined that spec, I don't think there were any "tall" or "tower" heatpipe coolers. Nobody likely anticipated it. Yet -- what's nearly touching the left case side-panel (another worry that people seem to have in choosing a cooler) -- doesn't weigh very much. Doesn't weigh much? Doesn't comprise much torque at a distance from the mounting.

So the worst of it is the fans. I replaced my Noctua 140mm "round" fan and the 120mm square fan with a single Akasa Viper 140mm "round". So I got rid of 3/8 lb and its torque on the board.

Bottom line: For many of the "big" heatpipe coolers, this notion about "weight" (when what should be meant is "torque") is fairly mythical.

 

[coffeejunkee]

Well, it doesn't bother me too much, I think in general it's fairly safe. I'm assuming Noctua and other manufacturers test stuff like this, at least roughly.

But it's a complaint or fear that's often heard when discussing big air coolers. And there might be some truth in it: Tom's Hardware experienced trouble with a warped mobo, although the question is who was to blame? Asrock for the paperthin pcb or Noctua for the giant cooler? The replacement Asus board worked fine.

I've also heard someone say: "yeah at first it's no problem but after 3 years the torque will take its toll". In any case, it's easier to find aio leakage troubles than big air mobo warping.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Well, it doesn't bother me too much, I think in general it's fairly safe. I'm assuming Noctua and other manufacturers test stuff like this, at least roughly.

But it's a complaint or fear that's often heard when discussing big air coolers. And there might be some truth in it: Tom's Hardware experienced trouble with a warped mobo, although the question is who was to blame? Asrock for the paperthin pcb or Noctua for the giant cooler? The replacement Asus board worked fine.

I've also heard someone say: "yeah at first it's no problem but after 3 years the torque will take its toll". In any case, it's easier to find aio leakage troubles than big air mobo warping.

:thumbsup::thumbsup: and +1 to that, man!! There are mythical risks, and there are mythical risks. The notion of myths is that they can be partially true, equally false, often misleading. Maybe the leaking hoses and failed pumps are "more true." SOMEBODY may have had trouble with a warped mobo.

But that could've been "back in the day" when boards weren't made for the modders, geeks and overclockers. Anyway, I love to find ways to take the fan-weight off those bad-boys and leave the fans just as effective. I see folks with really nicely-tweaked air systems, sporting two fans on an NH-D14 which butts up close to a 120 or 140mm case exhaust fan. 10 minutes with some foam art-board -- more time with a heat-gun and a panel of Lexan -- you can jettison at least one fan from the cooler and get the same result with the exhaust fan that's already there.

But just as likely, even for more fans than necessary, the 12-oz weight of the fans isn't going to make your mobo screw the pooch . . .

 

[coffeejunkee]

First review: http://www.modders-inc.com/noctua-nh-d15-dual-tower-cpu-cooler-review/4/

A tiny bit better than Phanteks. Awaiting more data, also would like to see hexacores tested.

 

[4960X]

First review: http://www.modders-inc.com/noctua-nh-d15-dual-tower-cpu-cooler-review/4/

A tiny bit better than Phanteks. Awaiting more data, also would like to see hexacores tested.

If I were shopping for a CPU cooler now, I'd personally go with the Phanteks TC-TC14PE just because it's $25-30 cheaper and offers about the same performance as the D14/D15. On a different note, all I want from Noctua is those damn active noise cancellation fans!!!

 

[coffeejunkee]

Phantek is $75 now at Newegg, but I'm not sure if it's a limited time sale or not?

Read 2 more reviews and they do claim that the NH-D15 is a bit quieter (which kinda suprises me, Phantek has 1200rpm 140mm fans, Noctua has 1500rpm 150mm fans, so based on that I would expect the inverse).

Price performance is a slippery slope with these high-end coolers anyway. For $25 less you get TR Macho which doesn't perform that much worse. And for another $25 less you get a Hyper 212 which does a good enough job still (but it stops there, I wouldn't recommend stock coolers to my worst enemies).

As for the anc fans, I understand they only work well in just the right scenario. Any deviation from that and they actually produce more noise than normal fans.

 

[AFQ]

Here is another review: http://www.chiploco.com/noctua-nh-d15-review-33440/

I think there is not much improvement capability left in the air coolers. We've reached the limit.

 

[4960X]

I think it's safe to say that anyone who has a NH-D14 will not feel like they need to upgrade to the D15. I think I will just buy two NF-A15 PWM fans and call it a day.

 

[MongGrel]

Phantek is $75 now at Newegg, but I'm not sure if it's a limited time sale or not?

Read 2 more reviews and they do claim that the NH-D15 is a bit quieter (which kinda suprises me, Phantek has 1200rpm 140mm fans, Noctua has 1500rpm 150mm fans, so based on that I would expect the inverse).

Price performance is a slippery slope with these high-end coolers anyway. For $25 less you get TR Macho which doesn't perform that much worse. And for another $25 less you get a Hyper 212 which does a good enough job still (but it stops there, I wouldn't recommend stock coolers to my worst enemies).

As for the anc fans, I understand they only work well in just the right scenario. Any deviation from that and they actually produce more noise than normal fans.

Noctua fans are overpriced in many peoples standards, and the color scheme isn't exactly a bling thing.

I have several in various computers though, and IMHO are well built to last and quiet.

Might have to look at the 150's myself and switch a few things about.

As far as weight goes

I've my old TRUE 1200 copper on the computer I'm on in the bedroom atm, still need to put the L5639 in here, but that big hunk weighs over 4 lbs and I've a couple Noctua fans on it still in shrouds. But I actually have piano wire rigged up to the top that I switched from the old rig supporting it from the top.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I just want to see some more reviews on the D15. You're goll-darn right that a D14 user wouldn't "need" to shell out moving from 14 to 15.

But unlike 4960X, I don't care about Noctua's noise-cancellation feature. Their engineer admitted to me that we'd never get full performance out of a Noctua cooler with Noctua fans. Any change in that regime would be truly unforeseen.

I replaced the Noctua fans on my D14 with a single Akasa Viper, and I know of a way to get rid of that one . . .too .. . .

My observation: I believe I trimmed about 10C off the original performance of my D14. That would carry over into minor changes if I replaced with the D15. If this "review" of the D15 shows a 3 or 4C advantage (which may seem like nothing) -- would it be only 3 or 4C with my own improvements? MOre? OR less?

I wanna see more reviews.

 

[cbrunny]

It looks like it performs very well, but man is it ever ugly. I am in the market for a new CPU air-heatsink right now. I want something that looks not-disgusting but performs exceptionally well. Logically, that would mean water-cooling but for a variety of reasons I'm not going there.

Torn right now between the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 (great asthetics, lesser performance), the Noctua NH-D15 (hideous asthetics, likely the best performance), and Phanteks PH-TC14PE or perhaps a pending successor if one exists (acceptable aesthetics, performance in-between the other two). Hmm...

Wish this thing was less ugly and available today.

 

[ValidUsername]

Looks pretty decent to me, if only it would go by the older NH-D14 price

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAbooEX9wEI

 

[BonzaiDuck]

It looks like it performs very well, but man is it ever ugly. I am in the market for a new CPU air-heatsink right now. I want something that looks not-disgusting but performs exceptionally well. Logically, that would mean water-cooling but for a variety of reasons I'm not going there.

Torn right now between the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 (great asthetics, lesser performance), the Noctua NH-D15 (hideous asthetics, likely the best performance), and Phanteks PH-TC14PE or perhaps a pending successor if one exists (acceptable aesthetics, performance in-between the other two). Hmm...

Wish this thing was less ugly and available today.

How did the Noctua NH-U14S compare to the Phanteks in the reviews? I thought the U14S proved out quite well, but don't remember the details. The pipe and fin design for the U14S is replicated exactly in the double towers of the D15, except that the D15 uses the same number of heatpipes as the U14S welded into two towers of fins instead of one.

Frankly, I don't care about "ugly" if it give me performance. If it is ugly, it is only because of the size of the thing in cubic inches. I've really never had a problem over obstruction of RAM modules or anything like that. My D14 comes close to obstructing my 200mm side-panel HAF fan, but misses touching it by some few millimeters. It doesn't even require particular care to the operation of closing up the side-panel.

 

[cbrunny]

How did the Noctua NH-U14S compare to the Phanteks in the reviews? I thought the U14S proved out quite well, but don't remember the details.

Absolutely it did. The 14S and the Phanteks trade blows depending on the review you look at. But the D15 seems to perform not-insignificantly better than the Phanteks.

It makes me curious about whether or not Phanteks will update their flagship model as well to compete with the D15. I'd assume if they were the drop would be imminent.

As for uglyness, I agree, it doesn't really matter... it shouldn't... but... when performance is so close between top models, something has to factor in I guess. I have a Carbide Air 540 that this will go in, with the nice big window. More of a minor consideration, but also not insignificant.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Absolutely it did. The 14S and the Phanteks trade blows depending on the review you look at. But the D15 seems to perform not-insignificantly better than the Phanteks.

It makes me curious about whether or not Phanteks will update their flagship model as well to compete with the D15. I'd assume if they were the drop would be imminent.

As for uglyness, I agree, it doesn't really matter... it shouldn't... but... when performance is so close between top models, something has to factor in I guess. I have a Carbide Air 540 that this will go in, with the nice big window. More of a minor consideration, but also not insignificant.

I may have made myself out to be an old throw-back to low-tech solutions that may not count much anymore. I just think I can improve the performance of a D15 (or U14S -- or Phanteks) by several degrees -- maybe 10C better than the benchmark results. "Noise-cancellation innovations" notwithstanding, I'd do it by chucking the Noctua fans right away. The rest is in little bits and pieces here and there -- lapping, diamond paste or liquid metal, and ducting with acoustic enhancement.

But I need to know what I'd be starting with . . .so "bring on the reviews" and we'll see whether it's worth it.

 

[DrMrLordX]

It would be nice if Noctua would sell a version without fans. That might lower their margins, or it might not, but it certainly makes sense to sell fanless PSUs to enthusiasts who bring their own fans to the party.

The Ultra120 came without fans, and Thermalright sold a ton of those things.

 

[gradoman]

Review here: http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cases_cooling/noctua_nh-d15_review/1

 

[lehtv]

It would be nice if Noctua would sell a version without fans. That might lower their margins, or it might not, but it certainly makes sense to sell fanless PSUs to enthusiasts who bring their own fans to the party.

Fanless PSUs aren't meant to be combined with third party fans, they're supposed to be fanless.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Fanless PSUs aren't meant to be combined with third party fans, they're supposed to be fanless.

Say what? The NH-d15 is a heatsink that comes with two Noctua fans. Some of us want to run 100 cfm Sanyo Denkis or what have you on heatsinks like that. Who said anything about a PSU?

The Ultra120 was/is also a heatsink, not a PSU . . .

Review here: http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cases_cooling/noctua_nh-d15_review/1

I don't know if this review is the only place the issue has been noticed, but it looks like they've gone from blocking RAM slots to the first PCI-e slot. Hmm. That could be a problem for some.

It definitely outperforms the D14, at least when comparing the stock fans for each.

 

[coffeejunkee]

Well, you did say psu. Be nice to see what Noctua could bring to the table in that segment.

Anyway, not too many companies selling fanless hsf's anymore. Prolimatech still does but TR only has HR-22 at the moment (which sort of makes sense for a passive-type hsf). Simple fact is most popular coolers, either air or aio, come with fans.

 

[cbrunny]

I don't know if this review is the only place the issue has been noticed, but it looks like they've gone from blocking RAM slots to the first PCI-e slot. Hmm. That could be a problem for some.

This is something that i'm concerned about. Would be a major dealbreaker for me and I'd guess for many potential users. I'm going to google around a bit and see if I can find a compatibility list or something.

EDIT: Found it. http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=compatibility_gen&products_id=34&lng=en#LGA2011_Gigabyte

Worth nothing that the review located here http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cases_cooling/noctua_nh-d15_review/6 (linked above by gradoman) uses a motherboard that is not fully compatible with the N15.

 

[Maximilian]

Say what? The NH-d15 is a heatsink that comes with two Noctua fans. Some of us want to run 100 cfm Sanyo Denkis or what have you on heatsinks like that. Who said anything about a PSU?

You did, as a typo :awe:

 

[MongGrel]

But that could've been "back in the day" when boards weren't made for the modders, geeks and overclockers. Anyway, I love to find ways to take the fan-weight off those bad-boys and leave the fans just as effective. I see folks with really nicely-tweaked air systems, sporting two fans on an NH-D14 which butts up close to a 120 or 140mm case exhaust fan.

Shoots straight into the big fan up top on the 1200.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Say what? The NH-d15 is a heatsink that comes with two Noctua fans. Some of us want to run 100 cfm Sanyo Denkis or what have you on heatsinks like that. Who said anything about a PSU?

The Ultra120 was/is also a heatsink, not a PSU . . .



I don't know if this review is the only place the issue has been noticed, but it looks like they've gone from blocking RAM slots to the first PCI-e slot. Hmm. That could be a problem for some.

It definitely outperforms the D14, at least when comparing the stock fans for each.

I can say something about that -- the size maybe interfering with a gfx-card slot. I'd rather doubt this is going to happen on various mainstream ATX motherboards, especially with a Noctua product. But if it does, it may not be sufficient reason to choose some other cooler -- if the D15 fills your bill and floats your boat.

It is very easy to turn the double-tower at a right-angle to the usual orientation if doing so eliminates any such interference, and you can still get the same CFM throughput and exhaust to the case rear with some very simple modifications. By this, I mean limited ducting to obstruct airflow between the towers and assure that all air sent to the exhaust fan goes through the cooler fins. If done properly, this might even enhance airflow through the cooler as opposed to the usual orientation. At one time, I even proved slightly better cooling on a single-tower TRUE cooler sucking air through its narrow end.

In the end, it's all about trade-offs between desirable results and your priorities. For instance, given the RAM options I've had, I'd rather forego the "tall" RAM modules with enormous heatsinks. My red G.SKILL GBRL's fit fine -- it's a little tight, but I don't need to remove the cooler to remove any RAM module.

On the matter of "100 CFM" fan choices -- you got that right!! I'm repeating myself again: Every so often I run IBT or LinX under my current fan-profile so I can "pinch" myself at how quiet my Gentle Typhoon AP-30 spins to within 300 RPM of its 4,250 top-end, and still seems relatively quiet except for the air-turbulence -- which also seems like almost nothing . . . At that speed, we're not just talking about your 100 CFM, but more like 120 to 130 CFM.

If you want a quiet fan for 100 CFM, you can pick an Akasa Viper. If you want an "almost" quiet fan for 120, well . . . I posted my photos and explanation with the circles and arrows. In the future, I'll be looking again at the AP-30 for certain types of applications, and the experience under my belt for making them work to my desires.

I'm beginning to wonder -- with that sort of airflow -- if it actually reduces kruft build-up by blowing out all the kruft!