Noctua NH-D15 G2

[Nashtbg]

Why « wow » ?

 

[Sunny and 75]

I'm simply astonished by the concept, that's all.

 

[EmmanuelMar]

Looking for a silent computer will depend on many factors. The first thing is what screen resolution will be used and you know that the needs of a 1080p screen are not the same as 2kk or 4k. The higher the screen resolution, the more components are needed. Expensive and consume more electricity, for 1080p an RTX 2060 is fine but for 2K at least a 4060.

1)To make a silent computer you need a power supply that delivers double the consumption of the computer with everything running cpu+gpu at full performance, example 600w=1200 w power supply, this way at full load the fan of the power supply will work at full speed. lower rpm=less noise.

It won't be cheaper, it will be more expensive

2)Regardless of the CPU that you put here, the important thing is that the water/air heatsink is oversized in watts. If you install the best heatsink on the market in watts, you guarantee that it will be quieter, but in any case watch a video where you can see what type of noise it makes at maximum power, there are very unpleasant noises that exhaust the user after a few hours.

It won't be cheaper, it will be more expensive

3)
Case fans should never exceed 1500 rpm currently they are all 12v pwm but this is very important:
Unify the type of fan of the same brand, do not exchange fans of different brands

If you take some fans for your water/air CPU, they will make a certain noise.

Make sure that all the fans are of the same brand and range, if not, you could have multiple noise frequencies at maximum power, for example, high, medium, and low tones. If you unify the range/brand of fans, you will have 1 tone at maximum power, not several tones. .

Any case that allows 20cm fans will be better than any case that allows 14/12cm fans.

A 20 cm fan moves more air volume at 800 rpm and is quieter than a 14 cm fan at 1500 rpm, which inevitably makes more noise at higher rpm.

A box where you can install 20cm fans is more expensive.

 

[ARF]

Looking for a silent computer will depend on many factors. The first thing is what screen resolution will be used and you know that the needs of a 1080p screen are not the same as 2kk or 4k. The higher the screen resolution, the more components are needed. Expensive and consume more electricity, for 1080p an RTX 2060 is fine but for 2K at least a 4060.

This is the opposite of the truth. Power consumption during gaming at 2160p is lower than at 1080p, because the CPU utilisation is lower, the CPU draws less power at 2160p, while the graphics card utilisation stays the same at both 2160p and 1080p. You don't compare oranges to apples (different graphics tiers).

And the 4060 power consumption is actually lower than the 2060's.

RTX 4060:

RTX 2060:

 

[EmmanuelMar]

This is the opposite of the truth. Power consumption during gaming at 2160p is lower than at 1080p, because the CPU utilisation is lower, the CPU draws less power at 2160p, while the graphics card utilisation stays the same at both 2160p and 1080p. You don't compare oranges to apples (different graphics tiers).

And the 4060 power consumption is actually lower than the 2060's.

RTX 4060:

View attachment 357172

RTX 2060:

View attachment 357173

The cost of a 2060 160w is cheaper than its new range, the 4060 with new architecture. If you go to 2k/4k, a 4070/4080/4090 tdp 200w/320w/450w is already recommended.

The context is that I wrote, a more expensive card and more energy consumption for 2k and 4k screens.

The 2060 series is older and consumes more energy but its equivalent today is the modern 4060 that consumes less due to its new technology but is still more expensive and depending on whether you want more FPS in 2k and 4k you have to go to the highest series that They consume much more electricity.

 

[ARF]

The cost of a 2060 160w is cheaper than its new range, the 4060 with new architecture. If you go to 2k/4k, a 4070/4080/4090 tdp 200w/320w/450w is already recommended.

The context is that I wrote, a more expensive card and more energy consumption for 2k and 4k screens.

The 2060 series is older and consumes more energy but its equivalent today is the modern 4060 that consumes less due to its new technology but is still more expensive and depending on whether you want more FPS in 2k and 4k you have to go to the highest series that They consume much more electricity.

You don't buy a higher-tier graphics card to change the resolution. All RTX 4000 cards and all Radeon RX 7000 series cards can play 4K smoothly if you apply reasonable settings.

 

[EmmanuelMar]

You don't buy a higher-tier graphics card to change the resolution. All RTX 4000 cards and all Radeon RX 7000 series cards can play 4K smoothly if you apply reasonable settings.

Everyone buys what they want but the range of cards says a lot about where a 4060 is dedicated. It works well in 1080p but is terrible in full quality frames in 4k. Each card has its specific good segment and the ones with the least features perform well. much worse at high 4k resolutions. This is reality, to go to 4k with everything full you should not use a 4060.

If you have a 4060 and a 4k monitor you have 2 options either you change the card or you change the monitor for a 2k or 1080p

 

[ARF]

Everyone buys what they want but the range of cards says a lot about where a 4060 is dedicated. It works well in 1080p

It will work even better if you don't stress it at all, or apply the 480p or 520p resolution.
I disagree with you. The 4060 is extremely powerful to be able to handle 4K gaming pretty well, except some rare ray-tracing options.

 

[Carlyle2020hs]

I´ve just scolded HWLuxx for a similar review.
For beeing elitist since both of you demand from the reader to know which product is water and which is air cooled.
All your rankings are useless for a run-of-the-mill reader.

Am i wrong?

 

[AsRock]

I love Noctua's stuff and have used them for every air cooled build I've done in the past 13 years. Nice to see them continuing to push the envelope. I decided years ago that I prefer the aesthetics of an AIO to a big tower in my main build, but if I were buying a big dual tower, I wouldn't think twice about getting this one. The fact that you can buy a cooler from Noctua and know that it will work on all your future builds, cool any future CPUs as well as any air cooler can, and never need to be replaced until you get tired of it is a big deal.

I kind of look at this like a power supply purchase - buy for quality and not value, but reap the benefits long term across multiple builds.

benefits long term ?, how did you do that math ?.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

I´ve just scolded HWLuxx for a similar review.
For beeing elitist since both of you demand from the reader to know which product is water and which is air cooled.
All your rankings are useless for a run-of-the-mill reader.

Am i wrong?

Yeah, kind of, every AIO cooler other than Corsair for the most part has 240 / 280 / 360 in the product name in the graph telling you it's an AIO.

Only Corsair and the HYTE Q60 do not. However Corsair has used the same nomenclatures for over a DECADE so 100 = 240 150 = 360 H115 = 280 etc. They have used that setup forever on all liquid coolers. H100i H100i PRO H100i RGB etc etc etc.

But just to clarify the BLUE tell you it's an AIO based on the product name, The RED does not. Pretty easy to notice which is which as far as I am concerned. Although it can be confusing I also anticipate that readers building their own custom computers can understand the information they are looking at.

 

[EmmanuelMar]

It will work even better if you don't stress it at all, or apply the 480p or 520p resolution.
I disagree with you. The 4060 is extremely powerful to be able to handle 4K gaming pretty well, except some rare ray-tracing options.

You said it yourself, lowering performance in games can be playable but it is not at all ideal for a 4k, it is the same as having a 1080p monitor and putting a 4090... having a Volkswagen Polo with a Bugatti engine,or the bugatti chassis with the volswagen polo engine

 

[AleXXX666]

thanks, but I'll prefer Deepcool AG620 or some Deepcool Assasin (market dependent) anyday. Also, brown color doesn't fit into ANY build lol

 

[chrcoluk]

You can buy Noctua fans to put onto a Thermalright cooler, and it'll still be cheaper than the NH-D15 G2

Cant not like this as my defense on buying Noctua has been typically the fan quality, I am assuming they fit properly on the cooler.

 

[Knight47]

Question is: if $ is not in the equation or the least important part and silence is the most important part, should I go Noctua? PS? Or even something else?

I haven't tried the A12x25, but the Redux and older brown fans(A14, F12) are loud(motor noise, fan blade vibrating) compared to basically any Arctic fan. So if silence is the most important, buy the Arctic F14 or P14 Max or A-rgb.

 

[sephirotic]

I registered here just to say I'm VERY unimpressed with this cooler. Not because of the price. I see many people claiming the premium is worth it because of noctua and the fact "it is the best cooler even if just by a small margin".

I'd like to dispute that this is NOT a better cooler than the PS120 despite cooling 2% more wattage at the maximun speed. The reason is simple. This cooler is almost 300g heavier, having about 45% more thermal mass and roughly 10-15 more surface area which makes its design clearly less efficient and worse than the PS120. Not only that, being 168mm tall, 11mms taller than the thermalright, it makes it incompatible with plenty of compact matx cases. Being heavier and taller, also represents more stress to the motherboard and higher chance of damage when moving your pc.

Sure, you can argue these are "nitpicks" but I find these issues much more serious than just the complaints about the brown color. Noctua had 8 years to come with a proper design, I was excited waiting for their new 14cms fan designs that I was hoping would dethrone arctics p14 title as the best 14cms fan and I got very disapointed in what was supposedely the de facto design from the best cooling company in the market. I can't see them owning that title anymore and there is no way in hell this innefficient bulky design is worth its price. Heck, even if I could get it for 5 dollars cheaper than the PS120, I'd still get the PS120 simply because it is a lighter and smaller cooler.

I cant wait to see thermalright destroy noctua with a dual tower 14cms cooler design. Because they eill easily do it and shake these entitled austrians out of their pedestal. Id cooling's A720 already matched the G2, which is a glaring omission in this review. It will happen soon.

 

[Radical Vision]

Welp i will just give mah 2 cents here... I really like Noctua, as i have seen ThermalRight in the face of Macho and TR Silver Arrow Extreme... And i gotta say, TR for sure delivers on performance.. But in terms of fine quality, they are not on the same level as Noctua... Their fans have uneven spots on them, edges and stuff, their heatsink also look cheaper then NH-D15 G1, and Noctua fans dont have that cheap thing on them, like not properly cut plastic from the fan frame, like the molding was "original China"... And dont get me started on TR fan clips, they are so garbage, it is insane... But someone may say, does all this affect performance, hell naa it does NOT...

Now does NH-D15 G2 worth 150$ HELL NAA.... Sure i like Noctua a lot, but the price is too much, they should have been focusing on a way, to improve the base of the cooler, but that way the D15 G2, to be ONE model, with different mounting stuff, one for AMD and one for Intel all combined, i bet they could do this, instead of x3 D15 G2 versions, that took even more money to invest, and that results in very high price... I will also say something else.. Not much time did pass and i already found bundle NF-A14x25r G2 fans like brand new not much used full warranty for 40$ for both fans, and i did replace them on my original NH-D15 G1... And i plan to do the same with the G2 cooler at some point.. Also many ppl point out, how bad the price is, sure it is, but still if the ones of you that have NH-D15 G1, buy the G2, and then sell your G1 coolers, for like 70-80$ if you can, then the G2 will become waay cheaper, even more if you manage to find one second hand...

Hell i did even get Define 7 XL case for 25$... Someone will say how, simple second hand, for 1/3 of the price, and then i sold my old Define R2 XL, and after all this the Define 7 XL did cost me only 25$.....

So yes NH-D15 G2 have very bad price, but i have ways of not giving a FK about that, and bypassing the insane price...

 

[Hankieroseman]

I would prefer air cooled in the right case. I'm researching. My old Corsair 450D's Noctua NH-D15 Chromax worked well with the AMD R9 5950X. My be quiet! Dark Base 900 V2 and their Silent Loop 2 360 keeps the AMD R9-7950X cool. Bonus in winter time, it doubles as a space heater in my small cockpit sim room with a beer fridge. DON'T DRINK AND FLY!

 

[cellar door]

Just tried Noctua's warranty service in Canada, they were adamant about me acquiring pliers to break a fan blade - all for a $18 fan. I told them I'm not doing it.

So not only expensive but personally I'll be passing on them from now.

 

[HTC]

Just tried Noctua's warranty service in Canada, they were adamant about me acquiring pliers to break a fan blade - all for a $18 fan. I told them I'm not doing it.

So not only expensive but personally I'll be passing on them from now.

Break a fan blade?

What ever for???

 

[Chrispy_]

Break a fan blade?

What ever for???

Many vendors are doing stuff like this - snip the hardwired cables, cut x, y, or z in half - they want proof it's been made unusable, and not something you'll try and repair after the RMA and resell on the used market.

 

[HTC]

Many vendors are doing stuff like this - snip the hardwired cables, cut x, y, or z in half - they want proof it's been made unusable, and not something you'll try and repair after the RMA and resell on the used market.

Never knew about this.

I mean, it makes sense ... when you think about it, with the argument you just used ...

 

[cellar door]

Break a fan blade?

What ever for???

2 years into a 6 year warranty on a nh-p14 redux - 2 separate service agents and their manager told me that my warranty is denied unless I do it, take a picture and email it back.

I should have told them that in my tradition, I will need them to stand on their head take a picture before I proceed.

This was my 1st ever ticket with them too - I understand if I was constantly emailing them bs requests so I told them, I will buy local - which is Corsair for me. No one there is asking me to jump through hoops.

I'm not funding customer service like this. I emailed them my original invoice and pics showing production date on the frame. AND I said I can mail it back, but they have to cover it - if they don't believe me that the bearing failed.


I wonder how a disabled person could or someone older could ever claim warranty with them. Fail in my books.

 

[Chrispy_]

Never knew about this.

I mean, it makes sense ... when you think about it, with the argument you just used ...

There are two issues I can see from a manufacturers perspective. Whilst they're saving themselves some money (and the environment) by avoiding the shipping of something that's just going to be disposed anyway, the obvious risks are:

1. They don't want the "defective" item resold. If it's truly defective it hurts their reputatation by failing a second person on the used market. If it's not actually defective, that's at the very least a customer who was interested in buying your product lost to the used market where they see absolutely zero money.
   
   
2. A defective item can still waste time, effort, and money; If someone finds it in what appears to be a usable state, they might chance another RMA, wasting the time of the support department in a futile attempt to try and skirt proof of purchase with lies or feigned ignorance. Even if they aren't after an RMA and just want help/advice - that's a non-paying customer taking up employee time that you're paying salaries for.

Dealing with the amount of hardware I deal with, there are inevitably a few faulty/DOA items and for peripherals or small items like SSDs or RAM - if you can prove that the item is faulty then more and more manufacturers are requesting proof of destruction instead of paying for return shipping.

 

[HTC]

Dealing with the amount of hardware I deal with, there are inevitably a few faulty/DOA items and for peripherals or small items like SSDs or RAM - if you can prove that the item is faulty then more and more manufacturers are requesting proof of destruction instead of paying for return shipping.

Like i said, it has logic behind it ... but i have never encountered such a situation.

2 years into a 6 year warranty on a nh-p14 redux - 2 separate service agents and their manager told me that my warranty is denied unless I do it, take a picture and email it back.

I see.

Never had to use their customer support other then requesting an AM4 mounting kit, which they promptly sent after i demonstrated my ownership of a NH-C14 (a then LONG discontinued cooler) via a pic of it resting on top of the motherboard case i was using @ the time: