Review Noctua NH-D15 G2 Review: not worth $150

[Admin]

The NH-D15 G2 improves upon its predecessor, but it’s hard to recommend at $150 when there are much cheaper alternatives perform very well.

Noctua NH-D15 G2 Review: not worth $150 : Read more

 

[colossusrage]

Noctua fanboys are gonna be foaming at the mouth. Thermalright has shown that Noctua has always been overpriced. BUt tHE EnGiNeeRiNG! Please, you can't hear the difference between this cooler and a Phantom Spirit. A decibel meter can pick up the difference, but not your ear.

 

[footman]

I'll stick with my Peerless Assassin and the P12 Max fans I swapped in.

 

[Dr3ams]

Never used Noctua CPU coolers, so I don't have a personal opinion on the quality. Having said that, I wouldn't pay 150 Euros (the price here in Germany) for an air cooler. For the last 15 years I've been using bequiet! for CPU coolers, PSUs, cases and case fans. Their hardware and service has always been very reliable. I don't see any reason to switch.

 

[vanadiel007]

There was a time when this mattered, because you could overclock just a bit more and squeeze some extra performance out of it for $150.

These days, CPU's are already so tuned that there's very little room for "regular" overclocking, making these products way to expensive for the verry little you get in return.

 

[Amdlova]

You get a noctua heat sink only for the fans
Rebuild a 7900X and put an Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 Se (the fans are pure garbage rattle like hell) you spend less on heatsink but need place another fans :S
@Albert.Thomas Thanks for the review!

 

[Eximo]

Noctua's only major selling point now is the extremely long support. 150,000 hours is quite something though. 17 years 24/7 they guarantee the fans for. This is what makes the fans popular in non-consumer applications.

When the NH-D14/D15 were between $80 and $90 and competed pretty well with 240mm AIO it was worth it. Now with 240mm AIO being nearly disposable at sub $50, yeah not so much.

Now the D15 is $110. That is 360mm AIO RGB with screen, etc territory.

 

[Heiro78]

The cooler took too long to come out and expectations set (either by fans or Noctua itself) were high. It's unfortunate. I hope Noctua still stays in business. Thermalright is and has been an amazing purchase for the money. I don't see how they can maintain that long term though.

 

[Amdlova]

@Dr3ams The noctua quality is another level... everything pays up. you can use this forever will no oxidate or will lost the shine. just clean and change the machine again and again... but with that price you can change four times with another brand cooler

 

[Eximo]

I like my little NH-L9 in m HTPC, overkill for a 12100F, but it stays quiet.

 

[Phaaze88]

The things Noctua has going for it, most do not concern themselves with. Just seeing the price, and it's, "Haha, nope."
Non-consumer applications, on the other hand...

Too much, too little, and too late...

 

[punkncat]

I like Noctua fans and coolers in the experience I have had with them. I think their product looks nice and the two coolers I am using of theirs work well in the application. I have an NH-U9S on an 11600K and am using an NH-L9 variant on an 11400.

I find the noise output of the fans to be comfortable when I hear them at all and temps stay within expected levels. I intend to try one of the larger models in the future. Not for nothing, I also think that having a cooler from Noctua tends to add a bit of clout to the build and sure isn't hurtful when you sell on.

 

[NinoPino]

@Author Nice to see you have dropped the delta temperature system for an absolute temp. Thanks.

I'm a bit disappointed to see that you used an Intel CPU to stress the cooler. A lot of persons consider AMD series 7000 way more difficult to cool, so I suppose AMD CPUs are a more appropriate testbed.

A note for the hot climates. An ambient of 22-23 C is absolutely irrealistic in the summer season when the external temperature touch 35 degrees, also with climate. With such external temperatures the internal is set often 25/26 degrees (to not die).
There are also a lot of peoples like me that do not use air conditioning if the ambient temp is about 25 or more.
I think could be nice and useful to stress this systems also with a higher ambient temperature. The difference of 2-5 degrees of base temp is absolutely relevant.

Thanks for the review.

 

[Conor Stewart]

Did Noctua not say they managed to avoid using Sterrox for the frame and are just using ABS like on previous fans and changed the design to better distribute the forces and prevent warping?

 

[thestryker]

Noctua's only major selling point now is the extremely long support. 150,000 hours is quite something though. 17 years 24/7 they guarantee the fans for. This is what makes the fans popular in non-consumer applications.

The other problem Noctua has here is that this cooler is so expensive you can buy a pair of these fans (currently ~$77 on Amazon US) and put them on a cooler that is cheaper, and better (note the Peerless Assassin 140 here) still without spending as much as you would for Noctua's cooler.

 

[cAllen]

Water cooled or air cooled is usually the debate for CPUs. Water usually runs $100 -$350 for prebuilt 3 fan AIOs and custom can go over $1,000. Air cooled usually runs $50-$150. I'm an air cooled guy and spent around a buck for a first gen D12 that cools my i9-12900KS just fine. Price is relative to what you want, how long you want to use it and for what purpose.

 

[mwm2010]

I'll stick with my AK620 Digital for now.

 

[jk47_99]

Noctua's only major selling point now is the extremely long support. 150,000 hours is quite something though. 17 years 24/7 they guarantee the fans for. This is what makes the fans popular in non-consumer applications.

When the NH-D14/D15 were between $80 and $90 and competed pretty well with 240mm AIO it was worth it. Now with 240mm AIO being nearly disposable at sub $50, yeah not so much.

Now the D15 is $110. That is 360mm AIO RGB with screen, etc territory.

But why pay more for their cooler, when you can get a Peerless Assassin for a fraction of the price, and just replace the fans should they ever fail for much cheaper?

Their appeal is the same as Apple, brand loyalty.

 

[Albert.Thomas]

@Author Nice to see you have dropped the delta temperature system for an absolute temp. Thanks.

I'm a bit disappointed to see that you used an Intel CPU to stress the cooler. A lot of persons consider AMD series 7000 way more difficult to cool, so I suppose AMD CPUs are a more appropriate testbed.

In many of last years reviews, I tested both Intel's i7-13700K and Ryzen 7 7700X, but for the most part (with a few exceptions) coolers performed similarly well on either system. I'm currently evaluating options for SFF cooler testing, and I'm leaning towards using the Ryzen 7 7700X for that testing.

A note for the hot climates. An ambient of 22-23 C is absolutely irrealistic in the summer season when the external temperature touch 35 degrees, also with climate. With such external temperatures the internal is set often 25/26 degrees (to not die).
There are also a lot of peoples like me that do not use air conditioning if the ambient temp is about 25 or more.
I think could be nice and useful to stress this systems also with a higher ambient temperature. The difference of 2-5 degrees of base temp is absolutely relevant.

Thanks for the review.

Oh, I hear you about the heat. Where I've recently moved, it's been as hot as 40c with 80% humidity! The Air Conditioners I initially bought were NOT sufficient for that, and I had to DOUBLE my cooling capacity!

I might investigate scaling between coolers at different ambient temperatures in the future, because at least in theory weaker coolers would likely scale worse at say 35c vs 23c compared to stronger coolers. But that's not something I have time to investigate at the moment, because I'm probably going to tweak my testing methodology one last time when Arrow Lake is available - I'm very serious when I say my intent is to raise the standards for testing coolers, and at the moment between reviews I'm experimenting with further ways to better test them. Finding the balance between "just enough" and "too much" information can be difficult .

Thank you for the comment

 

[punkncat]

In many of last years reviews, I tested both Intel's i7-13700K and Ryzen 7 7700X, but for the most part (with a few exceptions) coolers performed similarly well on either system. I'm currently evaluating options for SFF cooler testing, and I'm leaning towards using the Ryzen 7 7700X for that testing.

Small Form cooling can be a bear for any cooler. So often that those systems turn out to be best with mid tier or lower CPU/GPU combos and can still generate a lot of heat. It will be interesting to see the hardware and performance for such a build. I look forward to it.

 

[OneMoreUser]

But why pay more for their cooler, when you can get a Peerless Assassin for a fraction of the price, and just replace the fans should they ever fail for much cheaper?

Their appeal is the same as Apple, brand loyalty.

You're wrong when comparing with Apple. Noctua makes top quality and provide amazing service, with Apple you get average tech in pretty packages and service is questionable.

As for buying cheaper and then just replacing, sure if you count only $ and don't value your time and the environmental impact of replacing part over and over.

I am definitely a Noctua fan, but I haven't bought much of their products. I bought a CPU cooler from them long time ago for a early Core i7 920 and have used it up till a Ryzen 3600, enabled by new mounting adapters send to me for free by Noctua. Then when I moved to a 5800X3D I took the jump to a D15 and I will not be surprised if it last me for the next few CPU generations.

Buying quality is cheaper in the long run.

 

[OneMoreUser]

TH????
Torx 20 screws a downside, really!
Torx screws are a better format than Philips heads, less risk of the head of a screw driver slipping and really any toolbox should include Torx tools. And for those that don't the box from Noctua includes a screw driver, so calling it a downside is just silly.

 

[The Historical Fidelity]

@Author Nice to see you have dropped the delta temperature system for an absolute temp. Thanks.

I'm a bit disappointed to see that you used an Intel CPU to stress the cooler. A lot of persons consider AMD series 7000 way more difficult to cool, so I suppose AMD CPUs are a more appropriate testbed.

A note for the hot climates. An ambient of 22-23 C is absolutely irrealistic in the summer season when the external temperature touch 35 degrees, also with climate. With such external temperatures the internal is set often 25/26 degrees (to not die).
There are also a lot of peoples like me that do not use air conditioning if the ambient temp is about 25 or more.
I think could be nice and useful to stress this systems also with a higher ambient temperature. The difference of 2-5 degrees of base temp is absolutely relevant.

Thanks for the review.

I wish my summers would stay around 35C. Right now, it’s been around 43C for the last couple weeks and yesterday set a record high of 45C for my city….Texas heat is unforgiving

 

[User of Computers]

You're wrong when comparing with Apple. Noctua makes top quality and provide amazing service, with Apple you get average tech in pretty packages and service is questionable.

As for buying cheaper and then just replacing, sure if you count only $ and don't value your time and the environmental impact of replacing part over and over.

I am definitely a Noctua fan, but I haven't bought much of their products. I bought a CPU cooler from them long time ago for a early Core i7 920 and have used it up till a Ryzen 3600, enabled by new mounting adapters send to me for free by Noctua. Then when I moved to a 5800X3D I took the jump to a D15 and I will not be surprised if it last me for the next few CPU generations.

Buying quality is cheaper in the long run.

This "cheaper is worse" argument doesn't really hold much water in the CPU cooler game. A big stack of metal, regardless of manufacturer, is a big stack of metal. Just because it has Noctua branding on it, and costs twice as much as a competing (just as performant) solution, doesn't mean that stack of metal will last longer than the cheaper one. And even with fans, they are rated to last hundreds of thousands of hours, longer than you will probably ever use them for.

Buying quality is cheaper in the long run.

For some things, your point is true, but it just doesn't shake out in the CPU cooler game as much as it seems. Coolers last for over a decade easily, even those awful OEM coolers will last for 10-12 years if you treat it right.

 

[Ogotai]

But why pay more for their cooler, when you can get a Peerless Assassin for a fraction of the price

A big stack of metal, regardless of manufacturer, is a big stack of metal. Just because it has Noctua branding on it, and costs twice as much as a competing (just as performant) solution, doesn't mean that stack of metal will last longer than the cheaper one.

what if other brands are not available ? and there is nothing comparable for less ? then what ?