Noctua NH-D15 ??

[Lickedeyes]

Few things on a Noctua NH-D15 I'm curious of, first an Asus z170 a can definitely handle the weight of a 3lb rad?
Is a noctua still relevant fot high-end gaming? I've considered a photonic hex 2.0 but I can't find enough benchmarks to vouche for it. I've also considered an aio cooler, but it just feels risky to me. Maybe someone can suggest a good cooler for an i7 6700k on an Asus z170a - or should I just get the Noctua NH-D15? Seems like a 70-75° OC load temp, good enough for a "safe" cooler right?

 

[ubercake]

AIO coolers are not that risky at all. That being said, I've never had one that keeps temps as cool or is as quiet as my NH-D15 with both fans installed and on auto.

A big drawback of the NH-D15 is its size. It makes an entire area in your PC hard to work around (e.g. RAM). Also, the cooling fins are sharp and cut deeply when your not careful. But you can't beat the NH-D15 other than with a custom liquid setup when it comes to the performance to noise ratio.

 

[Lickedeyes]

I specifically went out of my way to buy a full sized atx next case, this is a relatively new build for me - so there's nothing but room & hearing that makes the "Noctua NH-D15" that much more appealing. I just worry about aio pumps failing, and ive seen mild cases of where there's either cord erosion around where the cord connects to the CPU and into the rad, or it disconnected in a more severe case. I understand these are extremely unlikely, nonetheless you CAN find videos if corsair leaking on YouTube. (/ Sigh)

 

[Zerk2012]

I have done water and got over it.
Any of these would be good choices and have no memory clearance issues.
The H7 will give a decent overclock the H5 for being more agressive and the R1 will about max what your chip can do.
I use the R1 with my 4790K very good cooler.
http://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/8TvRsY,jK8H99,93Crxr/

 

[Lickedeyes]

Does anyone know the difference, as to why some nh-d15 are like $90, and others over $200? I can't find the specific specs as to what would make a difference. Or is it just the seller ?

 

[Zerk2012]

Just the seller.

 

[10tacle]

The NH-D15 (and older D14 which I have) are high end air coolers for aggressive overclocking. Do you have intentions for serious overclocking? If not, then that cooler is really overkill. It doesn't show its superiority over much less expensive mid-range coolers like the Kryorig H7 until well up in overclock speeds and voltage settings.

Just to give you an idea, here's a test of a stock and mildly overclocked i7 4770k at 4.2GHz in a load test. The H7 is only 3C warmer at stock and 4C warmer overclocked than the ND-D15:

Stock: https://tpucdn.com/reviews/CRYORIG/H7_Universal/images/CPU_stock_typical_a.gif

Overclocked: https://tpucdn.com/reviews/CRYORIG/H7_Universal/images/CPU_OC_typical_a.gif

 

[Lickedeyes]

Thanks for all the support I think despite it all I'll roll with the noctua just for the safety of not water cooling & plenty of headroom for OC. My biggest concern I feel, was ensuring it was still relevant, and that my mobo could hold it without harming. I think I'm good