Noctua NH-D15 G2

[BoggledBeagle]

This guy is talking about it in 22:12:

 

[Han44]

even a maybach can fail so ya think peeps won´t by it,
but let´s stop this - not leading anywhere

I quote: The problem is said to be due to a loose upper fin in the radiator. The manufacturer recommends its customers a temporary solution in the form of gluing the plate or inserting plastic or foam between the plates. I wonder if you had a Meybach, you would also use foam or plastic. This should absolutely not happen in top and expensive devices and that's it

 

[freeagent]

I would expect that on a 212 Evo, not the best air cooler in the world

 

[ARF]

I would expect that on a 212 Evo, not the best air cooler in the world

That is a very small cooler, for CPUs with 45 to 65 watts TDP

Speaking about this here, the fan specifically has very weird four crossed support columns on the back side which act to block the airflow.
Also, there is no tunneling effect, the air moves in all directions, so that the flow through the fins is relatively weak.

 

[freeagent]

That is a very small cooler, for CPUs with 45 to 65 watts TDP

I wasn't talking about its performance, I was talking about its design flaw.

10 years of hard work down the drain because someone forgot how to math.

 

[wheresmycar]

I quote: The problem is said to be due to a loose upper fin in the radiator. The manufacturer recommends its customers a temporary solution in the form of gluing the plate or inserting plastic or foam between the plates. I wonder if you had a Meybach, you would also use foam or plastic. This should absolutely not happen in top and expensive devices and that's it

So pointlessly over-engineered even the fins are breaking loose and escaping the $150-infamy. One of Noctuas USPs is its excellent after sales support (which i agree with) but this time around Noctua's getting more creative (or cost-effectively creative) pushing DIY-ghetto-mods on the buyer. lol @ glue, foam or plastic.

Frankly, no ones perfect and Noctua should get a free pass here too. Mistakes are made and eventually fixed. But coming back to the price, nah thats just foully unacceptable. I wouldn't pay a dime over $80 for a G2, actually wouldn't buy one at all. By todays "performance" standards $80 is a pretty hefty sum of money for an air cooler. Especially one that gets beat by a $30 cooler in the noise rankings and negligibly outperforms substantially cheaper offerings by 1-2%. To think of it, isn't Noctua's greatest asset championing reduced noise emissions vs the compo? Thats a big FAIL to unscrupulously paint 150 on it.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

I would expect that on a 212 Evo, not the best air cooler in the world

That is a very small cooler, for CPUs with 45 to 65 watts TDP

These "small" 4 heatpipe coolers can comfortably handle 160W or more, I am using one of these now - Noctua Redux 120mm cooler (with flattened base), note the elegant grey fan:



Compare that to this behemoth with poop coloured fans:



BTW the skin coloured frames make it so much worse, I wonder what sicko came with this colour combination...

 

[ARF]

These "small" 4 heatpipe coolers can comfortably handle 160W or more

They can't, unless the temperatures go to the 90s, or/and the noise level becomes unbearable. Thanks, but no..

So pointlessly over-engineered even the fins are breaking loose and escaping the $150-infamy. One of Noctuas USPs is its excellent after sales support (which i agree with) but this time around Noctua's getting more creative (or cost-effectively creative) pushing DIY-ghetto-mods on the buyer. lol @ glue, foam or plastic.

Frankly, no ones perfect and Noctua should get a free pass here too. Mistakes are made and eventually fixed. But coming back to the price, nah thats just foully unacceptable. I wouldn't pay a dime over $80 for a G2, actually wouldn't buy one at all. By todays "performance" standards $80 is a pretty hefty sum of money for an air cooler. Especially one that gets beat by a $30 cooler in the noise rankings and negligibly outperforms substantially cheaper offerings by 1-2%. To think of it, isn't Noctua's greatest asset championing reduced noise emissions vs the compo? Thats a big FAIL to unscrupulously paint 150 on it.

I think that the problem is a major one and on a conceptual level. They need to cancel all present and previous coolers, and begin with something entirely new, in order to increase the heat extraction capacity, and to minimise the noise levels.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

They can't, unless the temperatures go to the 90s, or/and the noise level becomes unbearable. Thanks, but no.

I do not want to derail this thread into an off-topic ditch, but I need to defend small coolers now!

I just ran an R24 test with 160W power limit and 28°C ambient temp and as you can see my average P core temps were around 75°C and E core 70°C! In normal temperature of 21°C they would be lower than 70 degrees! I call this that it can comfortably handle 160W.

The numbers here are just from the last moments of the benchmark, when the cooler was fully heat soaked.

 

[gffermari]

BTW the skin coloured frames make it so much worse, I wonder what sicko came with this colour combination...

What colour should we put on our fans so they don't match to any other hardware component?
Noctua: Yes.

 

[Smanci]

Are there any performance numbers with reference fans? Competition uses 120mm fans.

 

[ARF]

BTW the skin coloured frames make it so much worse, I wonder what sicko came with this colour combination...

It is beige and copper colours. See the natural PCB colour and the heat pipes colour:

What colour should we put on our fans so they don't match to any other hardware component?

White..

Noctua: No.

 

[CatalinT]

Hello.
Odd selection of coolers to compare with Noctua.
Why ID Cooling Frozn A720 is not in the test list?!
At more than half the Noctua's price its the best choice out there!
Maybe the shame of Noctua being crushed by a much cheaper cooler like ID Cooling Frozn A720 was to much ?

 

[HTC]

@crazyeyesreaper

I think the relative performance chart should be different: the performance per dollar chart uses the relative performance chart as reference so, changing the 1st will also change the 2nd.

In the previous sections of the review, you have found performances for Intel, AMD, Max RPM and Noise Normalized, and you're combining these to come up with this relative performance chart.


I disagree with the Noise Normalized part because a "normal" user can't select the fan(s) speeds in noise levels: they can only change the % of the fan(s) speed.

Instead, use the noise the coolers made to reach the max performance, in % of the reviewed cooler's noise.



What i suggest is that you use the CLASSIFICATION of the coolers (36 coolers tested in this review, so 1 to 36), apply this to each of the 4 categories and ADD THEM to create the "new" relative performance chart.


For example, lets say cooler X placed 7th in Intel, 6th in AMD, 11th in Max RPM and 4th in the "suggested" Noise chart: cooler X would get 7 + 6 + 11 + 4 = 28 points

Apply this to all coolers tested, and the cooler with LEAST points wins in this "new" relative performance chart.


Thoughts?

 

[ymdhis]

These "small" 4 heatpipe coolers can comfortably handle 160W or more, I am using one of these now - Noctua Redux 120mm cooler (with flattened base), note the elegant grey fan:

View attachment 355864

Compare that to this behemoth with poop coloured fans:

View attachment 355865

BTW the skin coloured frames make it so much worse, I wonder what sicko came with this colour combination...

I used to do to the same thing, H212 + P12 redux fan.
Swapping the redux fan to the A12 fan improved temps by 5-10C.
Switching to the NH-U12A improved them again by 5-10C more.
Even after I put the H212 to into my server, with a Ryzen 2200GE, using a single A12 will save 4-5C (even at idle) over using TWO P12s.

The A12 fans are simply much better than the old P12s. I've tested this across multiple coolers consistently.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

I used to do to the same thing, H212 + P12 redux fan.
Swapping the redux fan to the A12 fan improved temps by 5-10C.
Switching to the NH-U12A improved them again by 5-10C more.
Even after I put the H212 to into my server, with a Ryzen 2200GE, using a single A12 will save 4-5C (even at idle) over using TWO P12s.

The A12 fans are simply much better than the old P12s. I've tested this across multiple coolers consistently.

Thanks for suggestions, I checked how much does the A12 fan cost and I am not buying it. If I wanted more cooling power, I have DeepCool AG620 ready, or Arctic 360 AIO, or I can build a custom loop. The cooler I use now is "good enough", In normal use the CPU consumes much less than 160W. I like how small and light it is.

 

[ymdhis]

Thanks for suggestions, I checked how much does the A12 fan cost and I am not buying it. If I wanted more cooling power, I have DeepCool AG620 ready, or Arctic 360 AIO, or I can build a custom loop. The cooler I use now is "good enough", In normal use the CPU consumes much less than 160W. I like how small and light it is.

it wasn't a suggestion, I was just saying that I was in the same position and found out that, even though I figured I was doing great, the newer fan was a significantly better. Whether you consider the performance you already have to be adequate or not is up to you.

 

[Sunny and 75]

I'm interested in a U14S G2, should Noctua release such a cooler.

 

[Vario]

They can't, unless the temperatures go to the 90s, or/and the noise level becomes unbearable. Thanks, but no..



I think that the problem is a major one and on a conceptual level. They need to cancel all present and previous coolers, and begin with something entirely new, in order to increase the heat extraction capacity, and to minimise the noise levels.

Probably better heatpipe design, more heatpipes, better heatpipe interface to hotplate and fins is what is needed to get that extra bit. The heatsink has enough fin surface area, and the fans are fine.

 

[EmmanuelMar]

noctua in box thermaltake c750 Air

 

[Darkholm]

Noctua's G2 only substantial upgrade over NH-D15S is a price tag. Dear Lord, €150 for 0,9°C better than €70-80 coolers. Thermalright is having a field day with it coolers this year

 

[ARF]

Noctua's G2 only substantial upgrade over NH-D15S is a price tag. Dear Lord, €150 for 0,9°C better than €70-80 coolers. Thermalright is having a field day with it coolers this year

Vote with your wallet - don't buy it. It's literally not worth it - extremely weird, open design with asymmetric parts, the fans look ugly being larger, popping up over the towers.
Overall, it is a meh.

 

[Darkholm]

Vote with your wallet - don't buy it. It's literally not worth it - extremely weird, open design with asymmetric parts, the fans look ugly being larger, popping up over the towers.
Overall, it is a meh.

OFC. Bought NH-D15S in April 2021 on some easter sale or something like that for €74,99 shipping included. Thermalright Frost Commander was my 1st choice but it was unavailable in EU until 2022. And now, G2 is 100% more expensive for 1% better performance I think Noctua will end up like Abit or DFI with this over-engineering niche. You cannot survive depending on romantic buyers.

 

[wheresmycar]

Vote with your wallet - don't buy it. It's literally not worth it - extremely weird, open design with asymmetric parts, the fans look ugly being larger, popping up over the towers.
Overall, it is a meh.

ah!.... i for one kinda took a liking to the head-popping fans adding a little character. I still fancy that sort of thing but not at this price range. My last cooler purchase, when released, was a heavily discounted ALFIII 360 for £80. A chart topper of a cooling monster for £70 less... YAY!!

 

[Vario]

OFC. Bought NH-D15S in April 2021 on some easter sale or something like that for €74,99 shipping included. Thermalright Frost Commander was my 1st choice but it was unavailable in EU until 2022. And now, G2 is 100% more expensive for 1% better performance I think Noctua will end up like Abit or DFI with this over-engineering niche. You cannot survive depending on romantic buyers.

Between the Phanteks T30 fans and the heatsinks made by Thermalright and Scythe, Noctua needs to either engineer better products to justify their prices or lower their prices.