Noctua Announces $150 Flagship NH-D15 G2 CPU Coolers and NF-A14x25r G2 140mm Fans

[freeagent]

In my experience silence and high performance generally do not mix well. This should be interesting.

 

[FoulOnWhite]

Well i have an original D15 and yes i will most likely buy one of these. After paying £700+ for my old water loop, this is pretty cheap.

 

[Dr. Dro]

I purchased my NH-D15S not too long ago, but I already want this one. Noctua quality is unmatched. I'm probably gonna order one when they come around my corner of the world.

 

[rv8000]

Looking forward to a review, mildly ridiculous price however especially considering we get the poo color fans first (would sell far better if they went for black right off the bat).

Different shaped base models is also a rather poor choice. Got a convex package cpu this time, all set… The next gen cpu package is concave, too bad sol, enjoy your worse performance. Sort of defeats the point of air cooler longevity with this approach.

 

[Onasi]

@Dristun
Sure, berating even expensive products when there is grounds for it is fine. I agree here. See HiFimans notorious QC issues even on pricier models or, as you mentioned, Audeze. Noctua do at least live up to their price reliability-wise, that’s already a plus.
As for JLR… Well, you know the joke. “80% of all Land Rovers are still on the road. The rest have actually reached their destination.”

 

[Random_User]

Great stuff. Great engineering. Amazing approach for the cooler base, with multiple shapes. Surely, the reviews must be seen prior to any conclusions. The materials are expensive, and the warranty, quality seems to be top notch. But for most people, no engineering can justify this amount of money for real world situation. Unless, of course, this really enters the AIO and LC cooling territory by it's performance, and cooling capabilities.

Yes, this is still viable product, at this prices, as there should be many offerings available for purchase, as it eventually will find it's customers. As much as such halo products should exist as an showroom example of air-cooling advantacement and tech specs. But as a real world product, this will be very limited, no matter how good product will be.

So far, I'm not sure about the heat-pipe longevity of Thermalright products, and how much tougher the NH-D15 G2 is compared to the original version. But seeing that NH-D15S being throttled out, while the Phantom Spirit 120 EVO kept churning the air with about 6°C cooler than NH-D15.... And this is for a one thirds of the G2's MSRP. The real price would be closer to $200, without a doubt. I guess many people would find the way to tollerate the TR sad naming, that can be only seen on the product box.

 

[Eddie58]

£150?!?!?! Too much when so many air coolers perform great for a third of the price.

If the UK price ends up being £150 then the Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE (£30.39) would almost be a fifth of the price.

 

[JustBenching]

Great stuff. Great engineering. Amazing approach for the cooler base, with multiple shapes. Surely, the reviews must be seen prior to any conclusions. The materials are expensive, and the warranty, quality seems to be top notch. But for most people, no engineering can justify this amount of money for real world situation. Unless, of course, this really enters the AIO and LC cooling territory by it's performance, and cooling capabilities.

Yes, this is still viable product, at this prices, as there should be many offerings available for purchase, as it eventually will find it's customers. As much as such halo products should exist as an showroom example of air-cooling advantacement and tech specs. But as a real world product, this will be very limited, no matter how good product will be.

So far, I'm not sure about the heat-pipe longevity of Thermalright products, and how much tougher the NH-D15 G2 is compared to the original version. But seeing that NH-D15S being throttled out, while the Phantom Spirit 120 EVO kept churning the air with about 6°C cooler than NH-D15.... And this is for a one thirds of the G2's MSRP. The real price would be closer to $200, without a doubt. I guess many people would find the way to tollerate the TR sad naming, that can be only seen on the product box.

Just for context though, d15 is a 10 year old design, not made for modern CPUs, and most importantly, the fans on it are for todays standards bad. They are facing the same problems Be quiet has with their dark rock 4, those CPUs were made back when the high end desktop part were 4 cores and consumed less than 90 watts. They weren't meant to move air. Slap some modern fans on the d15 and the results will be interesting.

 

[#22]

Different shaped base models is also a rather poor choice. Got a convex package cpu this time, all set… The next gen cpu package is concave, too bad sol, enjoy your worse performance. Sort of defeats the point of air cooler longevity with this approach.

Wrong. There's a standard version for universal, longevity approach. LBC and HBC versions are for folks who value more squeezing few additional degrees for the cost of worse performance on opposite type of platform. I personally laugh from these folks and damn few degrees (especially given that needing quite big load to show), because they won't change a thing, but let folks be - temperature paranoia, temps feeling always too high is common among pc users.

Noctua here gives a choice no competiton have ever bothered to give and solves the concern of any other cooler being more suitable for one of these types of platforms - it's pure added value and one optional. It would be a poor choice if there was no standard version.

 

[Random_User]

Just for context though, d15 is a 10 year old design, not made for modern CPUs, and most importantly, the fans on it are for todays standards bad. They are facing the same problems Be quiet has with their dark rock 4, those CPUs were made back when the high end desktop part were 4 cores and consumed less than 90 watts. They weren't meant to move air. Slap some modern fans on the d15 and the results will be interesting.

Agreed. This is a valid point. THe NH-U12A was a good example. But the fact that Thermalright does the better job, with regular fans for a fraction of price, is still a major factor. Yes, the Noctua fans are without doubts the solid choise for silent performance, with barely any alternatives. But LC is still a very expensive choice. The NH-A12x25 PWM costs almost $33 on amazon. Now imagine how much will cost the A12x25 G2, that is comming later, some time. Not that people not wanting those. I myself would rather buy a case with no fans, just to fill it with A12x25 brown and beige stuff. But the price makes to find a better alternatives.

As for the subject, the air cooling has reached it's limit. Unless there's some breakthrough, or some magic involved, the heatsink itself has barely any room for improvements. And I strongly doubt this cooler is a case here. I'm somewhat lean to the idea of the entire change lies in the fans themselves. And looks like it's the entire sellpoint of this cooler. But $40 MSRP is no way to justify, for a fan, that is still unproven, and not tested in real world conditions. The amount of retries the NF-A14x25 has passed through, doesn't inspire confidence very much. It may end up brilliant fan and product. But where's the chace it would work great outside D15 G2 combo? And for the $80, there's no point in upgrading the original D15 fans either, as there can be bough entire better performing coolers instead.

 

[rv8000]

Wrong. There's a standard version for universal, longevity approach. LBC and HBC versions are for folks who value more squeezing few additional degrees for the cost of worse performance on opposite type of platform. I personally laugh from these folks and damn few degrees (especially given that needing quite big load to show), because they won't change a thing, but let folks be - temperature paranoia, temps feeling always too high is common among pc users.

Noctua here gives a choice no competiton have ever bothered to give and solves the concern of any other cooler being more suitable for one of these types of platforms - it's pure added value and one optional. It would be a poor choice if there was no standard version.

If you think it’s that cut and dry hats off to you.

For those that are less tech inclined/literate, and will rely on recommendations from more in the know sites/youtubers/etc…, more options when it comes to such a minute difference suddenly becomes 6-8c difference with wrong/opposite base type, with the potential to perform worse than coolers less than half the cost. Sub-models only serve to increase manf. costs, muddy buying decisions, incease returns, and leave a publicity hole for the “gamers-nexus minded” consumer to socially slam Noctua any chance they get.

 

[ymdhis]

620W heat dissipation
13900k (250W) at 49-55C max
7950X (180W) at 44-49C max

holy moly

 

[#22]

If you think it’s that cut and dry hats off to you.

For those that are less tech inclined/literate, and will rely on recommendations from more in the know sites/youtubers/etc…, more options when it comes to such a minute difference suddenly becomes 6-8c difference with wrong/opposite base type, with the potential to perform worse than coolers less than half the cost. Sub-models only serve to increase manf. costs, muddy buying decisions, incease returns, and leave a publicity hole for the “gamers-nexus minded” consumer to socially slam Noctua any chance they get.

Your points are total shit lol They gave you an optional option of squeezing from this cooler a little more and you complain. That's the point.

 

[sLowEnd]

I prefer Noctua for their support and ease of installation, Thermalright can't match them on support or providing updated mounting hardware for free.
Although IMO the new D15 should be closer to $120, $150 is too much for an air cooler even if you don't want to use an AIO.

The mounting hardware isn't free. It's baked into the product price, and you're prepaying for it.

 

[Random_User]

Wrong. There's a standard version for universal, longevity approach. LBC and HBC versions are for folks who value more squeezing few additional degrees for the cost of worse performance on opposite type of platform. I personally laugh from these folks and damn few degrees (especially given that needing quite big load to show), because they won't change a thing, but let folks be - temperature paranoia, temps feeling always too high is common among pc users.

Noctua here gives a choice no competiton have ever bothered to give and solves the concern of any other cooler being more suitable for one of these types of platforms - it's pure added value and one optional. It would be a poor choice if there was no standard version.

This is true, Noctua did what most cooler maker, and filled the empty space. But the problem is, that some particular IHS on CPUs are indeed garbage. Think for a minute: would any cooler maker really bother with multiple base variants, and trying to capitalize on the problem, that doesn't exist. The Alder-Lake itself is a "magnificent" CPU, that introduced the issues, that have lead to contact frames, the obscure thing that was not seen since open die CPUs of early 2000, and socket, IHS bending.

AMD has the issue either. Though it is less concearning, this is still a flaw. At least there's no bending at AM5 IHS itself. But I think that, if AMD was going with completely new socket, with completely different approach, they would as well rather using the completely new, different IHS design, instead of sticking for the old, pointless tolerances, that could be mitigated by cooler makers with the basic addition of correct height standoffs. However, this seems ended up in overall sturdy and reliable socket and CPU design, with decent CPU contact and absence of deformations. I think this still is a better trade off, that somewhat sacrifices the thermal dissipation, but otherwise omits the further reliability issues.

But I guess the solution for better heat transfer for OC geeks, can be in CPU makers tomake some special SKUs versions for overclockers, which exclude the IHS altogether, might as well the warraty itself.

The mounting hardware isn't free. It's baked into the product price, and you're prepaying for it.

Prepaying, even considering, that newer cooler iterations lack those mounting brackets altogether, while maintaining the same price.

 

[AsRock]

150€
i stick to my Phantom Spirit.

Yeah screw that i will stick with the original, seen no real good numbers to do other wise.

 

[ymdhis]

I just hope that those same people are consistent in their takes and also would never, ever berate NVidias pricing. Or ask why the Zaunkoenig mice cost insane money. Or why high-end headphones are eye-wateringly expensive.

Show me a nVidia card from 1984 that plays everything with as high settings today as it did when it came out, and I'll show you my Koss Portapro, which does.

And it still costs $50 today as it did in 1984.

 

[Noyand]

That's not exactly how you have to recoup or recover your margins ~ sell directly, why go through Amazon, Newegg, BestBuy or eBay? That's at least 10-20% gross margins right there!

Not saying they should close that avenue completely but there are other places where they can sell more/charge less albeit probably with a lot more to do at their end.

Handling the sales directly isn't that cheap...Noctua isn't that big of a company. There's rent to pay for each warehouse, salary to the employees handling logistics, customer services relating to sales, etc... NVidia themselves don't do direct sales; they are using the infrastructures of other people. (They are going through LDLC in France for example)

 

[R0H1T]

Right that's why I said it's not going to be easy & they'd need a lot more people, depends on their ambitions as well. The pricing though atm reflects they still want to be kinda niche/boutique "mass market" company. Whether they change that in the future or not who knows? I'd be happy if they do but not that bothered if they don't.

 

[Upgrayedd]

And you're saying that's fine for a 14900k or 13900k or 7950x or 7900x ? We can go round & round all night long! The point about Air coolers being safe, & nearly ever lasting is fine, but that's still nearly.

Who said anything about an i9 or R9? You're putting words in people's mouths that they never said.

But about my imagined statement, it'd be better than an AIO with a dead pump definitely. The new passive cooler can handle those CPUs fine with an average sustained load, say under 150w. If somehow BOTH fans die on a D15, more than likely the user would also have case fans to help with airflow.

 

[Fourstaff]

They are asking for a lot of money, hope their sales team did the price to demand calculations correctly. I think they need to absolutely crush the performance per dB ratio and still do a very good showing in their outright performance.

 

[FoulOnWhite]

It's £127.95 on Amazon uk, not too bad imo, i'd pay that.

 

[rv8000]

Your points are total shit lol They gave you an optional option of squeezing from this cooler a little more and you complain. That's the point.

Sorry I can view potential outcomes from more than a single viewpoint without having to resort personal attacks with no substance?

You’ve already emphatically stated you think people trying to get the last few degrees for cooling is something to “laugh at”, seems you need to make up your mind on whether this is really a necessary segmentation.

Merely pointing out multiple base types can cause problems down the line, obsoleting a cooler if your one to chase those last few degrees. Or that retooling manf. equipment for subtle changes doesn’t add to cost saddled by the end user for potential pointless differences. And so on. Spend some time outside of your box.

 

[trsttte]

Just for context though, d15 is a 10 year old design, not made for modern CPUs, and most importantly, the fans on it are for todays standards bad. They are facing the same problems Be quiet has with their dark rock 4, those CPUs were made back when the high end desktop part were 4 cores and consumed less than 90 watts. They weren't meant to move air. Slap some modern fans on the d15 and the results will be interesting.

Fans have a tolerance of +-10% which makes things difficult to judge. Noctua's own graphs show only a 3ºC difference while pushing 250W (what intel rates the 14900k at) through the cooler, I see no need to upgrade at all as long as noctua keeps providing mounting hardware for future sockets.

It's a nice update if you're trying to min max your build, but I rather min max my wallet

 

[Upgrayedd]

Merely pointing out multiple base types can cause problems down the line, obsoleting a cooler if your one to chase those last few degrees. Or that retooling manf. equipment for subtle changes doesn’t add to cost saddled by the end user for potential pointless differences. And so on. Spend some time outside of your box.

I may be wrong here but I thought it was known Intel would be making their chips so the die or dies would be in a rectangular fashion under the heat spreader? And they'd be sticking to the single lever ILM, which would continue with the convex design. Which is how the long standing D15 has always been shaped for, it isn't flat.