[Test] Noctua NH-D15 – Conseil Config : Specs | CPU | Hashrate | Review | Config

Hi all !

Not long ago Noctua finally announced a replacement for the very popular and high performance NH-D14, I named the NH-D15! After 5 years of good and loyal service, it was time to update this monster for a model with all the latest technologies specific to the brand. I was lucky enough to get my hands on the NH-D15 (thanks to Jakob!) And it stands to reason that it will be put to the test!
Everything is of course made in excess, the dimensions (165x150x161 mm) and the weight (1320 g with the 2 fans) make this cooler one of the most imposing and the heaviest, What is it worth in practice? This is what we will see!

The box is imposing (240x270x190 mm) and takes all the colors and the layout of the brand, everything remains sober and you are not attacked by a surplus of marketing, only the main characteristics and a small message saying that the NH- D15 is based on the NH-D14 are present on the front panel.

We are on familiar ground here, or almost! As usual, Noctua has everything neatly stored in separate boxes for easy installation. The cooler itself is in a cardboard box and surrounded by foam, there is really very little chance that it will arrive damaged at your place, or the delivery people will have played a rugby match with your cardboard 🙂

Here is the beast in profile! Yes it’s very big for a cooler, and that’s what we like! As you can see, the edges have been cut to allow very high compatibility with the memory (64 mm maximum), you then have the possibility to reassemble the fan if the height of your case allows it, or to use the NH-D15 with a single central fan.

The bundle consists of:

• 1 kit de fixation AMD AM2(+) / AM3(+) / FM1 / FM2 (+)
• 1 Intel LGA 1150/1155/1156 / le 2011 mounting kit on request
• 1 tube of thermal paste
• 1 wire in Y 4-pin
• 2 clips for the second fan
• 2 LNA adapters (1200 RPM)
• 1 Phillips screwdriver
• 4 anti-vibration mounts for fan
• 1 Noctua metal sticker

As usual at Noctua there is everything you need and even more to mount the cooler in peace, Y cable if you only have a single 4-pin connector, LNA adapters to reduce the speed maximum fan rotation (and therefore noise), 4 anti-vibration mounts for the 2nd fan if you decide not to install it on the cooler as well as a tube of thermal paste and a Phillips screwdriver (just in case! ).

The radiator

As you can see the characteristics are out of the ordinary, 1.32 kg on the scale as well as dimensions that will not fail to not go unnoticed in a case the NH-D15 also has a huge dissipation surface in addition to being compatible with a large part of the RAM on the market. If you have the idea of ​​mounting a gaming PC in a mATX box, this will certainly not be the right choice 🙂.

Fans

The 2 fans are identical to the fans of the Noctua NH-U14S so there will be no surprises here, the fans are excellent with a very good cooling capacity as well as a large margin of maneuver in terms of noise pollution!

To start, you have to put the back plate under the motherboard, being careful to put it in the right direction:

You must then turn over the motherboard, and put the black plastic spacers like this:

Then put the 2 metal plates and screw them, you can put them in 2 directions according to the desired final orientation. We finish with a little thermal paste!

Then gently place the cooler (fanless) and screw it to the 2 plates, like this:

And There you go ! your cooler is fixed, you have to admit that the new Secufirm 2 system is really very easy to install, all you have to do is put the fans in place.

Attention: For the NH-D15 considering the width of the beast if you have a motherboard with a PCI-e 16x port right next to the processor it will then be unusable because the cooler will encroach on it! like this :

Memory compatibility

The question that arises every time when buying a cooler, especially if it is obviously overweight like our little Noctua NH-D15, let’s see what it looks like!

As you can see, there is no real worry about the height of your memories, as here with Corsair Vengeance (52.5 mm high) there is plenty of room. On the other hand, you should know that the higher your strips are, the more you will have to raise the fan which is above and this will quickly become a problem in a normal size case.

The test platform

The Noctua NH-D15 has been tested on the following configurations:

• Processor: Intel Core i7 875K @ 3,2 Ghz & Intel Core i5 4670K @ 4,5 GHz
• Motherboard: Asus P7P55D & Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD5 TH
• Memory: Kingston HyperX 4 x 2 Go 1600Mhz
• Hard disk: WD Raptor 150 Go
• Graphic card: Sapphire Toxic 5850
• Food: Seasonic X650

The test protocol

The core i7 875K was slightly overclocked to 3.2Ghz while the Core i5 4670K was overclocked to 4.5Ghz. The temperatures under load are an average of all the cores for 3 tests of 30 minutes on OCCT, the temperatures at rest were taken after 15mins on the desk (still an average of the 4 cores).

The cooler has been tested against Noctua NH-U12S, NH-U14S, be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 and Thermalright HR01 (equipped with a Nexus real silent 120 fan) on the Core i7 875K. Only the 2 biggest coolers will be tested for the moment on the Core i5 4670K, I named the NH-D15 and be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3.

The temperatures

Intel Core i7 875K @ 3,2 Ghz

Well, the NH-D15 takes first place on the podium with the valiant Core i7 875K, followed closely by the NH-U14S and the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3!
The differences are not really important here and any of these coolers will be able to keep this type of processor cool, that’s why I’m going to test the 2 “dual tower” mastodons that are the NH-D15 and Dark Rock Pro 3 on a processor that tends to heat up, an Intel Core i5 4670K overclocked to 4.5 GHz.

Intel Core i5 4670K @ 4,5 Ghz

The 2 heavyweights are held in a pocket handkerchief, but remains a small advance of 2 ° in favor of the NH-D15 with 69 ° in load compared to the 71 ° of the Dark Rock Pro 3, the Noctua wins by a short head!

Noise pollution

Attention : Part to be taken with a grain of salt, unfortunately not having access to the appropriate equipment and using an android application to take the readings the measurements below are only indicative! The readings were taken 15cm from the cooler.

Not much to say about the noise level, the fans being the same as the NH-U14S the results are therefore logically identical, neither of the two fans suffers from parasitic noise and they know how to be very quiet at rest. As much as possible, the fans are obviously heard (a little more than the Dark Rock Pro 3) but adapters are delivered in order to lower the maximum rotation speed and thus lower the maximum noise.
In general, fans are very pleasant and it will certainly not be the ones who disturb your ears (unless you are a maniac of silence) 🙂

Here we are at the end of this test! Noctua signs yet another cooler which will remain in the spotlight for a while, replacing the aging NH-D14 and placing itself at the top of the basket in terms of performance. Like the NH-U14S, the sound level of the NH-D15 is very low, being able to be extremely quiet and at the same time have a very good ventilation, according to your settings it will adapt to the most demanding.
The size of the beast, however, does not make it a cooler capable of being installed in all boxes. Memory compatibility has been greatly improved thanks to the cutting of the fins and it will now be much less frustrating to choose your memory since the “low profile” will not be an obligation (even if you will then have to pay attention to the height available in your box. in order to keep the fan above memory).
There is no doubt that the Noctua NH-D15 will be a bestseller for years to come, an excellent choice for a high-end, overclocked gaming PC!

A big thank you to Jakob from Noctua who allowed me to do this test.

Where can I find the Noctua NH-D15?

[phpzon asin= »B00L7UZMAK » country= »FR » trackingid= »conseil-config-21″ merchantid= »Amazon » templatename= »conseil »]