News Noctua's next-gen flagship CPU cooler finally arrives — Noctua NH-D15 G2 released at $150

[boju]

Until the Peerless Assassin made a huge splash they didn't have any competition who undercut them by a lot. All of their competition was generally within 20% of their price for similar performance and quite frankly so long as the colors aren't a bother Noctua's fans alone are easily worth that price difference.

The current market is nothing like the market they released all of their coolers into. As it is their most recent non workstation/server coolers have all been cheaper models. I certainly don't expect Noctua to start making budget coolers, but there's no way they aren't aware of the market and set their sales expectations accordingly.

Probably consider the mounting system as well, SecuFirm/ SecuFirm2 seems highly praised. I wonder if there are comparison sites reviewing that aspect between brands, if there's more dramas or whatnot getting the thing on with cheaper alternatives.

 

[NedSmelly]

I'm not so sure. Noctua don't sell any cheap coolers. They do have cheaper models than the NH-D15 but even those are more expensive than rival coolers in that category.

I don't think they want to sell a cheap cooler.

Redux line. They're trying.

 

[thestryker]

Probably consider the mounting system as well, SecuFirm/ SecuFirm2 seems highly praised. I wonder if there are comparison sites reviewing that aspect between brands, if there's more dramas or whatnot getting the thing on with cheaper alternatives.

No doubt they're top notch on mounting solutions. Gamers Nexus and Hardware Canucks both have sections of their reviews about mounting which is extremely helpful as bad mounting solutions is absolutely a reason to not buy a cooler.

 

[JasonovichClone]

If only motherboards came in beige and brown. Noctua, reversible case fans would be nice. 😊

 

[boju]

If only motherboards came in beige and brown. Noctua, reversible case fans would be nice. 😊

Look up some old timer motherboards, 286/486 Pentium 2 & 3 etc, most are ugly, either mostly green pcb or poo colour ;p, not nearly the sleek mobos of recent times.

Noctua chromax all black is nice. Black goes with any colour.

 

[35below0]

Redux line. They're trying.

It's still expensive. I have one of the fans but only because it was the exact profile i was looking for.

But i take your point.

 

[bit_user]

I certainly don't expect Noctua to start making budget coolers, but there's no way they aren't aware of the market and set their sales expectations accordingly.

Yeah, maybe that explains this:

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-com...lar100-nv-fs1-desk-fan-is-the-star-attraction
​

On the other hand, they might just be looking at companies like Dyson with envy (2022 revenue: £6.5B).

 

[bit_user]

Look up some old timer motherboards, 286/486 Pentium 2 & 3 etc, most are ugly, either mostly green pcb or poo colour ;p, not nearly the sleek mobos of recent times.

I almost bought a new motherboard that's green. Color didn't factor into my decision, but I did like the idea of a plain, no-nonsense green PCB.

https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/motherboard/X13SAE
​

It's not a cheap board, either. Being aimed at entry-level workstations & servers, it sells for about $385!

Black goes with any colour.

All of my cases are black (and windowless, when possible).

 

[ingtar33]

i think people are missing my point a bit.

I am saying nothing about the looks or performance of a tower cooler. i've owned tower coolers they're great stuff.

i'm saying i bought the highest performing non-custom loop CPU cooler (an arctic III) for $99. the no.1 cpu cooler amongst the AIO/Tower. and that AIO was 2/3 the price of the noctua.

it just seems expensive to me. i remember the original d15 was like $70 at launch. so i'm wondering how noctua thinks 150 for this cooler will sell.

 

[JasonovichClone]

Look up some old timer motherboards, 286/486 Pentium 2 & 3 etc, most are ugly, either mostly green pcb or poo colour ;p, not nearly the sleek mobos of recent times.

Noctua chromax all black is nice. Black goes with any colour.

I was teasing LOL. Noctua have black fans but their brown and beige seem to stick out with modern motherboards but I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder 😊
Noctua are quality but pricey. Some case fan manufacturers come with reversible fans. My APNX FP2 30mm deep 120mm metal frame case fans comes with a spare reverse fan and much cheaper than any of the leading brands. If you hate Leds you won't like the APNX.

 

[bit_user]

I was teasing LOL. Noctua have black fans but their brown and beige seem to stick out with modern motherboards but I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder 😊

In a way, it's quite clever to have signature colors that immediately tell you it's a Noctua, but also to make those colors so ugly that no one else would want to copy them!
: D

 

[COLGeek]

In a way, it's quite clever to have signature colors that immediately tell you it's a Noctua, but also to make those colors so ugly that no one else would want to copy them!
: D

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[bit_user]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Okay, call their colors "controversial", if you prefer. They never put me off from buying Noctua fans or coolers, but I always put them in black cases and rarely ones with windows.

I know a guy who built a PC in a Fractal Design North case (I think), with the wooden front panel accents.

North

North reimagines the gaming PC, introducing natural materials and bespoke details to make gaming a stylish addition to your living space. Leveraging design to give you a better experience, its airflow functionality and intuitive layout make building and gaming both smooth and enjoyable.

www.fractal-design.com

He liked how the Noctual color scheme went with the case so well that he bought a NH-D15 cooler and replaced all the case fans with Noctua. He actually had never heard of Noctua, before, but saw someone build a machine like that on PcPartPicker and just really liked the aesthetics.

 

[35below0]

Just a quick comment on the North. When i first so it, i immediately dismissed it. No. It just looks wrong, and silly.

As i was looking at other cases, they all seemed to offer either too much or not enough. I don't need space for large liquid cooling. Not gonna put 12 HHDs inside. The Torrent is really meant for extreme temperature control. Almost every case just wasn't right.

So i kept coming back to the North and it was less and less off-putting. It's specs were almost ideal.
Only thing is that case is a lot more expensive.

But eventually i kinda came around to liking the idea of having genuine oak wood as part of the case, and in an aesthetically pleasing way.

So i bought it. And there's a Noctua NH-D15 inside, but that's just a coincidence.

It's a very nice case to work with. Doesn't have external cable guides but otherwise it's a dream. And even the mesh model is pretty silent.
I would suggest the North XL though. It's slightly bigger and slightly more expensive but a lot more comfortable. Other features are the same.

 

[KyaraM]

I bought the Dark Rock Elite in a Black Friday sale for about half the money last year. Even today it costs only 2/3rds the priceand you can't really argue with low quality or that they are budget with beQuiet!, either. Looks way better and performs similarly. I have no idea who the heck would buy this poop-colored monstrosity outside fanboys...

 

[35below0]

I bought the Dark Rock Elite in a Black Friday sale for about half the money last year. Even today it costs only 2/3rds the priceand you can't really argue with low quality or that they are budget with beQuiet!, either. Looks way better and performs similarly. I have no idea who the heck would buy this poop-colored monstrosity outside fanboys...

Dark Rock Elite is overpriced though. Noctua's flagship cooler performs better, so if we're going to poo poo an overpriced cooler, the Elite is first up.

Dark Rocks are dissapointing considering their own price. Elite is ok but you genuinely can argue against it's value.

 

[bit_user]

So i kept coming back to the North and it was less and less off-putting. It's specs were almost ideal.
Only thing is that case is a lot more expensive.

This sorta matches how I arrived at several decisions, like buying the old style Lian Li cases or Seasonic PSUs. I were supposed to be good, but they seemed expensive and I was skeptical of how much of their reputation was simply hype. The more I looked around, the more compelling they seemed and I eventually found myself aboard the bandwagon!

You could probably even put Noctua in this category, too. I tried a couple other brands of fans that were supposedly quiet, but ended up disappointed. That's when I decided to stop messing around and just spend a bit more on a Noctua fan, and then every time thereafter, it sort of became my default choice. I'm still open to reconsideration, such as when someone brings new tech to the market:

• https://www.anandtech.com/show/21198/the-alphacool-apex-stealth-metal-120-mm-fans-capsule-review
• https://www.anandtech.com/show/21376/capsule-review-sunon-maglev-120mm-fan

 

[thestryker]

One thing I noticed over the weekend is that the NF-A14x25r G2 fans are ~$40 USD for one and ~$77 USD for a two pack. So that makes the cooler portion $70-73 on the D15 G2 which still makes it look questionable in my estimation. Of course we're severely lacking in testing data right now so perhaps it'll be better than I expect.

Dark Rock Elite is overpriced though. Noctua's flagship cooler performs better, so if we're going to poo poo an overpriced cooler, the Elite is first up.

What's interesting here is how much different the reviews for this cooler are (of the 3 I regularly go to for CPU cooling reviews):

• Hardware Canucks doesn't use a contact frame, but does use a regular case and it was middle of the pack.
• TechPowerUp uses contact frames for both AMD/Intel in a case which is largely open and it's towards the top
• Tom's Hardware uses a contact frame (Intel only testing currently) with a regular case and it's towards the top

It's above Noctua in the bottom two and behind in the top. Granted it, like the D15, is outperformed by Thermalright coolers that cost less than half as much just the same.

 

[KyaraM]

Dark Rock Elite is overpriced though. Noctua's flagship cooler performs better, so if we're going to poo poo an overpriced cooler, the Elite is first up.

Dark Rocks are dissapointing considering their own price. Elite is ok but you genuinely can argue against it's value.

One, you did catch me saying what I paid for the Elite, yes? Let me spell it out for you again, it was 80€ when the cheapest(!!!) old D15 cost over 100€ and isn't really better.
Second, even the worst price I have seen for it is a lot less than the new D15, so no, it's not "first up when poo pooing on a cooler", especially not when you can get it for 2/3rds the price, which, again, is ALSO less money than the similarly performing regular D15.
Short Google search for each cooler in my country:
Best price regular eye cancer model: 105€
Best price for the not eye cancer inducing Chromax: 114.19€.
Best price Dark Rock Elite right now: 97.89€
Best price new eye cancer Noctua: 159.90€
So if you want to argue against the value of the Elite, for God's sake, at least be honest with the value of Noctua coolers if you compare them against each other. Because, Noctua value for money is very unarguably worse than beQuiet!. And as others said above, neither has the value for money crown anyways. It's mostly brand name for both, but at the very least beQuiet! isn't quite as egregious.

 

[35below0]

One, you did catch me saying what I paid for the Elite, yes? Let me spell it out for you again, it was 80€ when the cheapest(!!!) old D15 cost over 100€ and isn't really better.
Second, even the worst price I have seen for it is a lot less than the new D15, so no, it's not "first up when poo pooing on a cooler", especially not when you can get it for 2/3rds the price, which, again, is ALSO less money than the similarly performing regular D15.
Short Google search for each cooler in my country:
Best price regular eye cancer model: 105€
Best price for the not eye cancer inducing Chromax: 114.19€.
Best price Dark Rock Elite right now: 97.89€
Best price new eye cancer Noctua: 159.90€
So if you want to argue against the value of the Elite, for God's sake, at least be honest with the value of Noctua coolers if you compare them against each other. Because, Noctua value for money is very unarguably worse than beQuiet!. And as others said above, neither has the value for money crown anyways. It's mostly brand name for both, but at the very least beQuiet! isn't quite as egregious.

Chill out.

Dark Rock Elite is overpriced. I'm sorry if i'm slagging off your favorite cooler. I like beQuiet products. Their PSUs are a little bit underrated.
But the Dark Rock... It's a good cooler but just barely. As thestryker mentioned above, different reviewers got different results and came to different conclusions.

Ultimately, the Dark Rocks are not very good in terms of overall performance. They're well built. I have not read many complaints about bent fins. Or any. That is something that happens with DeepCool and ThermalRight coolers.

The Elite is the only Dark Rock that reviewed well, and it's the most expensive one, and it's more expensive than Peerless Assassin or Phantom Spirit EVO, and it is not as good as a D15.
So what do you want to call it? It's why i said overpriced, and objectively it is. It doesn't do as good a job as the much cheaper Phantom Spirit EVO.

What you paid for yours and what it costs in your country is a lame argument to bring up and i don't know why we would compare different countries. I don't know the prices in too many different countries anyway.


Here's your problem:
The NH-D15 is an awesome cooler.
The DR Elite isn't.
Both are overpriced when ThermalRight has at least two models that can compare favorably or outright beat both the Noctua and beQuiet!

So if i'm going to rag a cooler for being overpriced, i'm not going to start with one of the best coolers around.

 

[KyaraM]

Chill out.

Dark Rock Elite is overpriced. I'm sorry if i'm slagging off your favorite cooler. I like beQuiet products. Their PSUs are a little bit underrated.
But the Dark Rock... It's a good cooler but just barely. As thestryker mentioned above, different reviewers got different results and came to different conclusions.

Ultimately, the Dark Rocks are not very good in terms of overall performance. They're well built. I have not read many complaints about bent fins. Or any. That is something that happens with DeepCool and ThermalRight coolers.

The Elite is the only Dark Rock that reviewed well, and it's the most expensive one, and it's more expensive than Peerless Assassin or Phantom Spirit EVO, and it is not as good as a D15.
So what do you want to call it? It's why i said overpriced, and objectively it is. It doesn't do as good a job as the much cheaper Phantom Spirit EVO.

What you paid for yours and what it costs in your country is a lame argument to bring up and i don't know why we would compare different countries. I don't know the prices in too many different countries anyway.


Here's your problem:
The NH-D15 is an awesome cooler.
The DR Elite isn't.
Both are overpriced when ThermalRight has at least two models that can compare favorably or outright beat both the Noctua and beQuiet!

So if i'm going to rag a cooler for being overpriced, i'm not going to start with one of the best coolers around.

Then don't rag the Elite because it is one of the best coolers around as well at a cheaper price. As many reviews show, some of which were linked here, others only take a quick search or you could ask people who actually run it. And I literally just said above that other options are cheaper. I have no idea what your problem even is with me, dude.

 

[Albert.Thomas]

Well folks, I recieved my sample of Noctua's new cooler the other day. Unfortunately, I'm about to move so I won't be able to have it completed as quickly as I would prefer, but this will give a good opportunity for us to update our testing methodology!

 

[vanadiel007]

No you weren't correct. The AG620 is a cheap aircooler, compared to what at the time was the best AIO, the LT720. Performance delta between the 2? 2.5%, LOL.

Yeah, sure you were right bud.

Everyone holds to higher power = more performance mantra. What the heck do you even mean?

It's simple really. The power increase does not scale linear with power usage. There's a point where you need a lot of extra power to achieve a 5-10% performance increase over much lower power consumption performance.

Is it worth it pumping all this extra power into a CPU or a GPU to achieve a relative small performance increase?
I don't think it is, especially since you need to factor in the cost of extra cooling to keep the temperature at an acceptable level.

If you have an issue with the article I quoted and don't believe the information, you can take it up with the author as they performed all the testing to reach those conclusions.