Noctua Reveals New Flagship CPU Cooler NH-D15

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Yep, my D14 barely, and I do mean barely, fits in my Antec 900 case. The fan cowlings are touching the side panel window. People without full towers are definitely going to need to take measurements on this. I'm curious to know what difference the larger fans and redesigned heat pipe layout of the D15 does for performance over the D14 (and retail box closed-loop water coolers of course). It is disappointing to see Noctua is still going with that nappy color combination that ruins the case aesthetics (for those who care about that anyway like me, who painted the fan cowlings on mine black).
 
They really had no choice given all the "Top Tier CPU Cooler Shootouts" ya can find on Youtube, Vortez and other sites which relegated the venerable Noc to 2nd or 3rd behind the Phanteks PH-TC14 and Thermalright Silver Arrow. Anxious to see how it stands up also and hoping that the "substantial improvement in efficiency" results from something besides the rpm increase.

In reference to the 1st comment, I have to agree.....given the presence of these 3 coolers, I fail to see a "raison d'être" for AIO / CLC's other than:

a) I oft put my PC in the hands of FedEx gorillas
b) My miniITX case doesn't give me many options

I was so hoping we'd see something better in the aesthetics department .... the color scheme while excellent for a "desert theme" build, is the usual first response I get when recommending the user pick from the aforementioned 3 coolers.
 
Great air cooler, and hopefully the increase in size makes a sizable difference, that thing is a a hell of a huge thing to fit into some cases. I wish they had some different colour schemes for those fans since most cases have a red, blue, or green theme.

In regards to the first comment too, closed loops are still good options since there is barely any weight on the socket, you can cool mini-itx cases easily, they look better, have extra features on some(H100i), and don't take up a huge portion of the interior of the case. Even if a closed loop performs 5C worse, or even 10c, and hitting a limit of 50c your processor will still last 6 to 10 years. I think the biggest plus is the UPS/FEDEX issue like Jack mentioned above, those gorillas can bring you your PC like it was just out of a blender.

 
No the colour scheme is perfect. When people look into your side window and say, "Looks good mate, apart from that naff fan on your CPU cooler."

You respond, "Thats the Noctua. You don't need to blend in with the rest when you perform that well."
 
Well here we go again, aio liquid coolers prepare to meet your air cooled maker yet again!
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It's been shown time again that the cooling prowess of massive air coolers can, in fact, match that of decent AIO coolers. The difference is that AIO's don't have a large mass of metal hanging from the motherboard socket. Not that has really ever been an issue, but is something to consider when transporting a LAN rig for example.
 
From what you can see from the video it is compatible with high RAM sticks though only at a single fan configuration so I'd say that's one of the "notable" improvements
 
Am I the last person in this world not caring about internal "good lookingness" of my pc? I mean.. the action is on the screen, if you are looking at my case there's something wrong :-D
 
It's one thing to just not have spent to much time giving your product a unique look. Its another thing to intentionally color it poop brown. Complete disregard for their customer in order to create brand recognition.

No thanks.
 
I would like to see if it is able to best Phanteks.
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Same here, especially in sound to thermals, since Phanteks dethroned Noctua for quiet high CFM fans late last year in a huge way. And I hadn't heard of the brand at all until then. I'd like to see Phanteks, Noctua and some AIO coolers from the likes of Corsair pitted against each other. Between the 75 and 125USD price range.
 
My NH-D14 keeps my Phenom II X4 965 at 52C under load. My overclock is limited most likely by the IMC on the processor rather than temperature, as I had to switch from 4x4GB to 2x8GB to move past 3.7GHz, and even now I can't push my base clock past 214. I don't intend to build a new system until my 965 is on the fourth tier of the Tom's Gaming CPU Hierarchy Chart, but I'll certainly have my eye on this if I encounter a temperature-limited overclock.
 
I do agree that Noctua should offer more traditional colors with their fans as I ended up going with Corsairs for my RVZ01 case fans as the Noctua's would clash really bad. However, for CPU fans, the color really isn't that big of an issue.
 
Am I the last person in this world not caring about internal "good lookingness" of my pc? I mean.. the action is on the screen, if you are looking at my case there's something wrong :-D
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I'm looking at the road when I'm driving my car but I still don't want lime green rims with a red car. Some people like to get performance AND matching aesthetics. Noctua makes phenomenal products but they remove themselves from potential sales because it can be difficult to fit their fans into a build for users who want their machine to look as good as it performs. They showed off all-black versions of many of their fans at Computex 2013 and got very positive feedback but it seems that none of the all-black models have made it to market.
 
They have no reason to assimilate. When you see that color scheme you know it is Noctua. There is no mistaking what is cooling your rig. If someone comments on the color scheme unfavorably, they obviously favor fashion over function and are clueless in terms of performance. I love their color scheme. It never, ever appears dirty or dusty, even when it is. You can't say that about anything painted black as it shows all scratches and dust. I will choose function over fashion every time.
 


For the fashion over function clueless comment to stand up, the DH-14 would have had to "hold the crown" ... they did for many years but they haven't for quite some time now. Noctua was "the bomb" 5 years ago, and I prolly used more DH-14's in my time than any other cooler, but they have been playing 2nd fiddle to Phantkes since the PH-TC14-PE was released. The Phanteks has numerous color choices, has easier mounting, costs less and thermally outperforms the DH-14. I have measured the Noc to be a hair quieter at load but as I can't hear either of them with the side panel on, I can't really get too excited about the win there. I no longer have a Noc "in the building" (machine died while son no. 1 was away at "Kolludge"), but still have Megahalems , PH-TC14-PE and Silver Arrow ....can't say a bad thing about any of them (well Silver Arrow's fan mounting is a PITA).

Since the PH-TC14-PEs introduction, the air cooler market has been a little stale .... attention having been diverted to CLC / AIOs which I am still puzzled why peeps find them attractive for mid and full tower cases that never leave the desk. Even here, we are seeing some kickback as peeps are wondering why they paid $40 extra for an AIO, then spent $30 more for quieter fans only to wind up w/ performance that is almost as good as the big 3 air coolers.

The new Noc breathes a fresh breath of air into this niche and will hopefully spark some innovations ....

Of course if ya wanna go all out ya for big and quiet, can always try one of these fanlesstech CPU coolers

CR95copper2.jpg


I tried putting one of these 230mm (9 inch) jobs on it ....

fan-927.jpg


But when CPU got hot, case would walk across my desk ...... <kidding>



 
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