# Can Noctua NH-D15S at stock speed keep Intel I7 8700k cool enough



## teigas (Aug 6, 2018)

I am building a new computer and are looking in to air cooling and water cooling. I want to build in a fractal design case and see that if i go with water cooling i will loose my hd bay. So i was looking in to Noctua and wondering if it will be good enougf for keeping it cool at stock speed. I looked at the big brother with two fans, but I am not sure that it will clear my g skillz trident ram. So I was wondering if this would keep it cool or i should fine another case and go water cool?

The cpu: https://www.amazon.com/Intel-i7-870...qid=1533593640&sr=1-2&keywords=intel+i7+8700k

The fan: https://www.amazon.com/noctua-D-Typ...pons&keywords=noctua+nh-d15s+cpu+cooler&psc=1

The case - https://www.amazon.com/Fractal-Desi...3922&sr=8-2&keywords=fractal+design+define+r6

The memory - https://www.amazon.com/G-SKILL-Trid...1533593968&sr=8-1&keywords=f4-3200c14d-32gtzr

The motherboard - https://www.amazon.com/Strix-Z370-F...0&keywords=asus+rog+strix+z370-f+gaming+s1151


----------



## crazyeyesreaper (Aug 7, 2018)

Yeah the D15-S will do fine, just check the latest review: https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ID-Cooling/Dashflow_360/6.html

D15 and D15S are both in the charts.

As for memory clearance, a simple check of the manufacturers website will tell you the D15S offers 65 mm of memory clearance. Meanwhile the Gskill Trident Z RGB memory modules are just 44 mm tall. meaning you have 19 mm of clearance. Its not an issue.

While the review is on an older platform I used Trident Z for clearance testing. As you can see its not a problem:


----------



## teigas (Aug 7, 2018)

Thanks for the links and info. I will try the s version for my setup


----------



## John Naylor (Aug 7, 2018)

You could spend $90 on a Noctua NH-D15, an excellent product BTW, or, if money is tight, you could also spend half as much for a $42 for a Mugen Max or Scythe Fuma and get virtually  the same results  Depending on test performed, should be with + / - a degree or so of one another.

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/8YrcCJ/scythe-cpu-cooler-scmgd1000
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/ffKhP6/scythe-fuma-revb-790-cfm-cpu-cooler-scfm-1100






The Scythe is generally 1 - 2 dbA quieter throughout most of the rpm range... all about the same at max speeds (42 dbA)

Clearance should not be an issue as the HS doesn't overlap the RAM slots .... tho you might have a problem on a ITX MoBo w/ just 2 RAM slots or if installing 4 sticks.  OTOH, the Fuma is a lot shorter than most coolers allowing it to fit in cases that won't allow for a NH-D15, the R6 if memory serves has a substantial allowable cooler height so this should be  anon issue.   Fuma is 149 mm (w/ fans)  ... NH -D15 is 165 and case allows 185

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Scythe/Fuma/4.html

be advised that at stock speed, just about any cooler will do just fine.   Any of those coolers is capable of colling the 8700k overclocked, sometimes even up to 5.0 Ghz


----------



## cucker tarlson (Aug 7, 2018)

D15S can deal with 8700k easily, and memory compatibility is great. I had predator ddr3 sticks which are just HUGE and there was still a lot of clearance. What I like most about noctua is the mounting process. You just can't screw it up, it's simple and fast, the cooler sits firmly when you put it on. I had TR macho before and it used to slide on the IHS unless you were very careful.


----------



## teigas (Aug 7, 2018)

cucker tarlson said:


> D15S can deal with 8700k easily, and memory compatibility is great. I had predator ddr3 sticks which are huge and there was still a lot of clearance. What I like most about noctua is the mounting process. You just can't screw it up, it's simple and fast, the cooler sits firmly when you put it on. I had TR macho before and it used to slide on the IHS unless you were very careful.



Thanks 



John Naylor said:


> You could spend $90 on a Noctua NH-D15, an excellent product BTW, or, if money is tight, you could also spend half as much for a $42 for a Mugen Max or Scythe Fuma and get virtually  the same results  Depending on test performed, should be with + / - a degree or so of one another.
> 
> https://pcpartpicker.com/product/8YrcCJ/scythe-cpu-cooler-scmgd1000
> https://pcpartpicker.com/product/ffKhP6/scythe-fuma-revb-790-cfm-cpu-cooler-scfm-1100
> ...




I went with the one in the topic title will get it before the weekend or just after so we will see  Thank you.



crazyeyesreaper said:


> Yeah the D15-S will do fine, just check the latest review: https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ID-Cooling/Dashflow_360/6.html
> 
> D15 and D15S are both in the charts.
> 
> ...


Thank you i went with the
*NH-D15S*


----------



## cucker tarlson (Aug 7, 2018)

enjoy this majestic cooler (and 6 years of warranty)


Spoiler: majestic


----------



## teigas (Aug 7, 2018)

cucker tarlson said:


> enjoy this majestic cooler (and 6 years of warranty)
> 
> 
> Spoiler: majestic



Norway has


cucker tarlson said:


> enjoy this majestic cooler (and 6 years of warranty)
> 
> 
> Spoiler: majestic



Norway has actually much better waranty than the US or other countries. Many of the things have 1 - 3 year warranty but if they break we can complain and get them fixed if its the manufactors fault for 5 years. So if my western digital disk just shuts down after i four year or the cpu the company that sold them should give me a new one or get it repered if its ment to last for 5 years.. Small cheep electronics dont have the 5 year.


----------



## nomdeplume (Aug 7, 2018)

You need to post that in the TPU photo thread.


----------



## delshay (Aug 19, 2018)

FAN SPEED

Take this information as a pinch of salt as it may have no real effect whatsoever.

Someone posted on another website that if you have a dual fan set-up (same fans, make & model) one of the fans has a slightly higher max fan speed than the other. This is what I found when using Noctua NH-C14S. The difference in RPM can be as high as 25 RPM. So I place the fastest fan pushing though the radiator, while the slightly slower fan is pulling. Note that any fan that is pushing though the radiator slows down a little.

EXAMPLE: If I had the heatsink in this thread with a three fan set-up, I would put the fastest of the three fans on the outside pushing though the radiator & the slowest at the far end.

You could call this fan/airflow optimizing, but I have no idea if it has any real effect on performance or noise level.


----------



## Vayra86 (Sep 4, 2018)

delshay said:


> FAN SPEED
> 
> Take this information as a pinch of salt as it may have no real effect whatsoever.
> 
> ...



Spoiler: it does not. 25 RPM is nothing, even 100 is negligible


----------



## John Naylor (Sep 4, 2018)

With the sides closed in all fans would invariably have the same amount of air pass thru them.   If a fan was actually sending more air to the one downstrea, it would theortetcially just escape out the sides.  However, air will escape or get sucked in thru the sides in any case.


----------



## delshay (Sep 5, 2018)

Vayra86 said:


> Spoiler: it does not. 25 RPM is nothing, even 100 is negligible



Sorry, the 25RPM difference is my set-up should have made this clear. I have the same fan on another set-up & it's around 100RPM slower, so it varies from fan to fan from the same make & model as you have already pointed out.

It also seems the slowest fan in a two or three fan set-up must connect to the PWM signal when using the Y adaptor.

Again take this info as a pinch of salt & conduct your own experiment to see if you can detect any differences. Listen carefully to acoustic changes (if any) when fans are at max speed if you have more than one fan.


----------



## las (Sep 13, 2018)

Yeah it will cool it just fine but temps will be high because of the TIM job.

If you build a new PC, wait for 9th gen. Launching soon.

i9-9900K, i7-9700K and i5-9600K will use STIM aka solder which will make them much easier to cool (and they will run higher clocks/boost and have more cores).

A single tower 120-140mm will be cool these just fine on stock without massive throttling.

Compare this to 8700K which needs 240mm+ AIO or high-end air to not trottle or be in 90C range.


----------



## Deleted member 178884 (Sep 13, 2018)

Forget the post above, the 8700k will be perfectly fine to cool.


----------



## mstenholm (Sep 13, 2018)

Even a D14 could keep my 130 W TPD i7-970 cool (60-65 C) running 100 % for years at a decent OC. No problem there.


----------



## crazyeyesreaper (Sep 13, 2018)

las said:


> Yeah it will cool it just fine but temps will be high because of the TIM job.
> 
> If you build a new PC, wait for 9th gen. Launching soon.
> 
> ...


Not entirely true, Overclocking the 8700k a lower end cooler can do just fine with the CPU pushing 4.8 GHz with an AVX offset. In my reviews I use 1.3v typically you can get away with far less at 4.8 somewhere between 1.2 and 1.25 volts. With regular loads temps will be just fine only AVX workloads push the CPU to extreme temps and 99% of programs will not use AVX 100% of the time.

NH-U12S single tower single 120 mm fan manages to handle 4.8 at 1.3volts with no AVX offset. Drop voltage to more appropriate settings and temps will be fine. Typical workloads show most coolers are just fine so use a 100-200 Mhz AVX offset and boom done stable on an affordable air cooler. Sure you won't be rocking 5 GHz overclocks but majority of people wont anyway unless they delid. There is also the fact that the new generation is likely to be more expensive than the previous gen and for gaming / daily workloads the difference between an 8700k and the more expensive 9000 series will likely be minimal. Considering Intel's rumored shortage of parts.


----------



## John Naylor (Sep 14, 2018)

Id use a NH-D15 before Id use any 240/280 CLC type AIO.  If ya want better, Swifteck or EK OLC type AIOs are your best option short of a custom loop.


----------



## RejZoR (Sep 14, 2018)

My 5820K at 4.5GHz feels perfectly comfy on a single 120 AiO. And I don't even run some crazy fan RPM. It's sub 75°C even with AVX. Without, it's usually around 60-65°C. Given 8700K is newer on smaller node (although using crappy toothpaste as IHS TIM), it shouldn't be a problem despite higher clocks.


----------

