Noctua NH-D15 and NH-U9S

[yusidu]

May I know what is the difference between these two?

Which is better?

I'm planning to overclock, but not to the extreme.

 

[synphul]

The nh-d15 is larger and cools a bit better than the nh-u9s. Either would work for mild overclocking.

 

[ShadyHamster]

They aren't even in the same league, you are comparing a 92mm single fan cooler to a monster dual tower/140mm cooler.
As synphul said, both will work for a mild oc but NH-D15 will destroy the NH-U9S.

 

[hwc1954]

They aren't in the same league in terms of size and motherboard real estate, either! The NH-U9S has pretty much the same footprint as the stock Intel and AMD coolers and won't typically block memory slots, etc. at 125 mm tall, it will fit typical mini-tower cases.

In between the smallest and largest Noctua tower coolers you cite are several versions of 120mm and 140mm fan towers that might make sense if you have the room for something bigger than the U9S.

The U9S, the U12S, and the U14S are all pretty much the same design, in small, medium, and large sizes. All three can be run with one fan or two fans. Unless you need extreme cooling in a massive case, those are the three Noctua models I'd be looking at, with size in the case being a prime consideration.

I'm trying to buy an NH-U9S for a mini-tower case as soon as they are available.

 

[TheMagicalWallaby]

The NH-D15 is for serious overclocking and the U9s is a small form factor heatsink. The Noctua NH-D15 is so much better that comparing the two is unfair as they are way different in terms of what they were made for.

In response to, "The nh-d15 is larger and cools a bit better than the nh-u9s. Either would work for mild overclocking," The NH-D15 cools more than just a bit better than the NH-U9s.

 

[hwc1954]

The NH-D15 is for serious overclocking and the U9s is a small form factor heatsink. The Noctua NH-D15 is so much better that comparing the two is unfair as they are way different in terms of what they were made for.

In response to, "The nh-d15 is larger and cools a bit better than the nh-u9s. Either would work for mild overclocking," The NH-D15 cools more than just a bit better than the NH-U9s.

On the flip side, in many systems the NH-D15 would be ridiculous overkill. Even if i could fit it in my system (not even close), the CPU fans would barely turn on because the cooling capacity is so far beyond the heat generated. There would be no benefit to offset the disadvantages of taking up so much motherboard real estate and such a big bite out of my wallet.

For my system, it would be like buying an 18-wheeler semi truck to run to the grocery store and park in the driveway.