News Noctua responds to complaints of ‘rattling’ noise affecting its new NH-D15 G2 CPU air cooler

[Admin]

Austrian firm is still analyzing the situation but will agree to full refunds.

Noctua responds to complaints of ‘rattling’ noise affecting its new NH-D15 G2 CPU air cooler : Read more

 

[derekullo]

We don't always test our CPU coolers
But when we do
We test in production!

 

[Lucky_SLS]

150 USD for non chromax version and no heatsink covers is a rip off. I am eager to see reviewers do a value comparison with the next best air cooler!

 

[greenreaper]

Steve from Gamer's Nexus did one. Basically the result is as you would expect and they suggest water cooling at close to half the price in the form of the Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 unless you really want air and the brand, if not brand then Peerless Assassin III or slightly better the ID-Cooling Frozn 620/720 offerings are very close at 1/3 to 1/4 price.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Yeah, agree with @Lucky_SLS , 150£$€ is waaaay to much for what this is.

But, kudos to Noctua. Not all OEM's are as quick to own up, and offer the full refund to all affected. Their CS is very good, having dealt with a return a few years back. Top quality customer service, IMO.

 

[hotaru251]

We don't always test our CPU coolers

thats a bad statement.
its not a universal issue (so even if tested it could still miss issue) & its casued by soemthign they cant really test normally (how a package is abused in transit)

is a rip off. I am eager to see reviewers do a value comparison with the next best air cooler!

noctuas never been the value cooler...its quality & their support ppl pay more for.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

There is always a cost/limit . And here, everyone is asking the same question.

 

[BillyBuerger]

As a company that has a big focus on providing "quiet" cooling products, I find it annoying that their response is that the rattle isn't loud in dB. If you are talking noise, there's a big difference between the white noise of a fan whooshing at the same dB level as a rattle or ticking type noise. I was very impressed when I swapped my Scythe fans for some Notcuas mostly because the Scythe did has some ticking noises that were definitely noticeable but the Notctuas do not. The actual volume of the noise is probably pretty similar between them but the Noctuas are more more pleasant and fade into the background. So their statement about the level of the noise is just wrong.

 

[Notton]

Who came up with the name "Rattlegate"?
That's so dumb.

Noctua is owning up to the issue and is even offering full refunds.
-gate is reserved for companies that deny any wrongdoing, despite being 100% proven to be responsible for the circumstances.
For example, Asus RMAgate.

 

[derekullo]

thats a bad statement.
its not a universal issue (so even if tested it could still miss issue) & its casued by soemthign they cant really test normally (how a package is abused in transit)



noctuas never been the value cooler...its quality & their support ppl pay more for.

While it's true that the shipping logistics are out of their control, this is the first time I have heard about Noctua having a rattling issue with any of their cpu coolers.

Even if it isn't a design flaw with the cooler itself, Noctua is still responsible for insuring the packaging adequately protects the hardware inside ... as they have done for previous cpu coolers that did not have the issue.

 

[Phaaze88]

Bummer, I read this on Hardware Busters the other day...

 

[FoxTread3]

Steve from Gamer's Nexus did one. Basically the result is as you would expect and they suggest water cooling at close to half the price in the form of the Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 unless you really want air and the brand, if not brand then Peerless Assassin III or slightly better the ID-Cooling Frozn 620/720 offerings are very close at 1/3 to 1/4 price.

July 16, 2024 - Yes. I believe I saw that Gamer's Nexus episode. So far... knock wood, I haven't had to go back to liquid cooling for over a decade now. I don't do any over clocking or "fancy stuff" with my full tower rigs. so, I haven't had any heat issues. I have an older model of Noctua in my Win11 machine, and a Cooler Master air cooler in my Win10 machine. When I started hearing bearing wear on the Cooler Master. I bought the same model Noctura cooler as a replacement. However, the Cooler Master "settled down", and I haven't had to replace it yet. Of course, if I had waited to order the new cooler, the Cooler Master would have gone berserk 🤣

 

[Viking2121]

Its alright, if I was to spend $150 on a cooler, it sure wouldn't be Noctua with that price to performance and now noise ratio.

 

[awake283]

For $150 it better be made of gold or silver.

 

[KyaraM]

So overpriced and having issues. What a steal...

 

[gilmanw]

Pictures: (photos on Dropbox)

I ordered a NH-D15 G2 HBC twice now from Amazon. The first time I immediately saw bent fins on the top of the front tower (picture with yellow annotations). So I returned it immediately and ordered a second unit hoping that I just got unlucky. Second unit arrived today and I again have bent fins at the top of the stack of the front facing tower (the two pictures with red annotations).

I never got to the point of installing these coolers and testing if it has a rattling issue, but it seems consistent with the possible cause that Noctua identified.

I have a brand-new NH-U12A on hand that I'll use for my build instead.

P.S. Customer service is trying to blame Amazon for trying to sell a used product as new. Despite mentioning "Rattlegate" (and that Noctua has publically acknowledged the issue) they seemed unaware of the issue. I didn't really expect CSR to help me...I was just hoping they would pass it along to manufacturing to help track down this issue. Well, I tried at least...

 

[FoxTread3]

I ordered a NH-D15 G2 HBC twice now from Amazon. The first time I immediately saw bent fins on the top of the front tower (first unit fin damage). So I returned it immediately and ordered a second unit hoping that I just got unlucky. Second unit arrived today and I again have bent fins at the top of the stack of the front facing tower (second unit interior corner fin damage, second unit exterior corner fin damage).

I never got to the point of installing these coolers and testing if it has a rattling issue, but it seems consistent with the possible cause that Noctua identified.

I have a brand-new NH-U12A on hand that I'll use for my build instead.

P.S. Customer service is trying to blame Amazon for trying to sell a used product as new. Despite mentioning "Rattlegate" (and that Noctua has publically acknowledged the issue) they seemed unaware of the issue. I didn't really expect CSR to help me...I was just hoping they would pass it along to manufacturing to help track down this issue. Well, I tried at least...

July 23, 2024 - That's very frustrating to say the least. It sounds like a quality control issue, but Amazon selling used products could be one of the reasons for the problem. I always check to see if an item I'm purchasing, and especially Tech related items is being sold by Amazon, and not another company. Obviously there's poor quality control somewhere along the line. Frankly, I wouldn't have bothered with Customer Service and just returned the items. At least you had a backup option and won't lose any more time with the issue. Stay well👍