Return of the King - Noctua NH-D15 G2 Review

[Kenrou]

"If you are looking for the absolute best air cooler for your gaming PC, then the obvious choice has always been the Noctua NH-D15. But now with Noctua's NH-D15 G2, they're changing the game again but their goal of once again having the best air cooler for Intel and AMD systems now has some serious competition with Thermalright and DeepCool. So with a sky-high price and amazing temperatures, can the D15 G2 really become the best of the best again?"

0:00 - 10 YEARS Later...
1:00 - D15 G2 Price, Size, Weight vs D15
2:56 - Sponsor Spot
3:26 - D15 G2 Standard vs LBC vs HBC
7:54 - Installation Kits
8:28 - The NF-A14x25 G2 Fans
9:17 - Acoustical Testing
10:15 - How & What we Tested
11:40 - Intel 180W Temperature Testing
12:29 - Intel 253W Temperature Testing
13:59 - Intel No Limits Temperature & Frequency Testing
14:47 - Intel GAMING Temperatures
16:00 - Ryzen 5 7600X Temperature Testing
16:45 - Ryzen 7 7700X Temperature Testing
17:05 - Ryzen 9 7950X Temperature Testing
17:37 - Ryzen GAMING Temperatures
17:59 - Was the wait Worth It?
19:11 - YES there's a Market for This
20:13 - Don't Buy the Wrong One!

 

[EarthDog]

Not sure if it's mentioned in this video, but...

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

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

www.tomshardware.com

From Noctua -

First of all thank you very much for choosing our NH-D15 G2. We’re sorry to hear that you have encountered an issue with your unit. We’re still in the process of conducting a thorough analysis, but our preliminary suspicion is that you have received a heatsink where the interlocking of the top fin has loosened a bit, probably in shipping. In this case, the airflow of the fans can cause the fin to vibrate, which may result in slight rattling sounds. From our measurement, the acoustic impact of this is very small (<0.5dB(A)).



However, we fully understand that this is frustrating and we’re working hard to provide a solution to customers who are affected by this as soon as possible. As a temporary mitigation, we would recommend either putting a piece of tape to the side of the fins (where they interlock) or inserting a small piece of plastic or foam with ~1.8mm thickness between the top fin and second fin. Both measures should prevent the top fin from moving and thereby eliminate the sounds you hear.



As we’ve said, we fully understand that this is frustrating for you and we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience, so in case you don’t want to use these temporary mitigations until we can provide a customised solution, we can also offer you to return the cooler to us for a full refund. For both options, please contact us at [email protected]. Since we cannot rule out that the issue would occur again in transit, we cannot replace the heatsink at this stage.

 

[Kenrou]

WoW, problems showed fast No issues reported on their sample

 

[Flamethrower1972]

After watching the video, I have to say either AMD or Intel do the job almost perfect. 4.7 stars out of 5 IMO.

 

[EarthDog]

WoW, problems showed fast No issues reported on their sample

Yeah, no clue. I didn't read that article, just ran across it.

I have to say either AMD or Intel do the job almost perfect. 4.7 stars out of 5 IMO.

What are you trying to say here? What job do they do well? What are you rating?

 

[Flamethrower1972]

Yeah, no clue. I didn't read that article, just ran across it.


What are you trying to say here? What job do they do well? What are you rating?

That they will perform well for AMD & Intel and the rating is how good of a cooler it is. IMO You know what I am saying right????Or not???

 

[Woomack]

WoW, problems showed fast No issues reported on their sample

I can't hear anything on my sample, and it's been standing on the desk next to me at work for 8 hours per day since last week. I'm the only one in that room, with closed doors.

I know that one reviewer took it into the non-echo cabin and tested it in perfect silence out of the PC case. That's why he found the issue. In short, it doesn't matter when a typical home environment is 30-35dB (with the PC turned off), and most PCs have coolers inside the case. There is no way you will hear the difference if there is a +/- 0.5dB difference, as Noctua has already confirmed. Considering what they said, it's not in every sample, but it may happen. There is also a possibility that the sample from which everything started was the worst one and/or the one of only a few affected by this issue. I saw several reviews of this cooler, but only one mentioned it. I see that today published a review on TPU, and they also haven't heard any issue.
It shouldn't happen in such an expensive cooler, but someone is trying hard to make a big problem out of nothing. Most fan series make very quiet rattling or tearing noises or are generally noisy, and no one says a word. You know what I mean if you test/review coolers/fans or graphics cards more often. It's not so rare.

 

[EarthDog]

Yeah... no idea how big of a problem it is, but wanted to share it.

That they will perform well for AMD & Intel and the rating is how good of a cooler it is. IMO You know what I am saying right????Or not???

Well, the meaning matches the words this time at least.

 

[Flamethrower1972]

Yeah... no idea how big of a problem it is, but wanted to share it.


Well, the meaning matches the words this time at least.

You know I have a mental disability and sometimes it's hard for me to explain myself correctly. Sometimes I don't understand things clearly.

 

[EarthDog]

You know I have a mental disability and sometimes it's hard for me to explain myself correctly. Sometimes I don't understand things clearly.

Ummhm.. We know. That's why I asked what you meant... because that wasn't clear initially (at least to me, lol).

 

[Nebulous]

I still have my D15 tucked away under my coffee table. I managed to get the new AM5 mounting hardware for free from Noctua.
I figured if I ever decide to go back to air, I'll have the cooler for it

 

[EarthDog]

Noctua NH-D15 G2 Review: Not worth $150

Better than its predecessor, but impossible to recommend over much cheaper competitors.

www.tomshardware.com

 

[freeagent]

Not a very innovative company these days..

Or were they ever?

 

[Woomack]

Not a very innovative company these days..

Or were they ever?

What other brand is more innovative? Many others just try to copy Noctua's ideas or compare their performance to Noctua for years. Since it's air cooling, it's not so easy to improve it even more. It's because of how much heat you have to transfer from those little CPU dies and the typical PC dimensions are a problem too. I feel like cooling generally slowed down years ago and now everyone only makes little changes and focuses more on the RGB/displays.

Noctua still releases many products that the competition doesn't have. I mean SFF coolers for specific heights and PC cases, server/workstation coolers, and some more.
What other brand releases CPU coolers with AM5 offset already designed in the mounting kits? What other brand offers direct die installation kits for their air coolers?
From other things. They have the best fans (in general, like you can trust whatever you pick, even though it's expensive) and actually started improving high-pressure series with their Sterrox series fans some years ago. Most others copied that later and most competitive fans are not really cheaper. All the top Phanteks, Thermaltake, Thermalright, EK, Lian-Li, and some other brand fans appeared after Noctua presented their somehow new idea for fans introducing the Sterrox series, and it took them a couple of years to do that.
I'm not judging their high prices, and as I said, I wouldn't buy some of their products, but if you look at what they add in the box with every cooler, and what warranty they offer, then it seems more reasonable.

Btw. Tom's Hardware review is the first in which I see that Thermalright has better results than Noctua. I don't know how they did that, but in every other review, which I saw with high wattage tests, NH-D15 G2 is better. Nearly every review is based on the standard NH-D15 G2 cooler and Intel CPUs. I wasn't testing it on Intel as I have the LBC version, which is for large dies, and at least on AMD there is nothing better from air coolers.

A lot of people complain about the $150 air cooler that performs not much worse than AIOs, while most AIOs cost $150+ nowadays and some prices go up to $400. I haven't seen anyone complaining about AIO prices. Most AIOs make more noise and are of doubtful quality. If I wanted to install a cooler and forget about it for 5+ years, then for sure, I wouldn't buy any AIO.

 

[freeagent]

I will come back to this thread when I have the energy..

I have a good argument waiting!