A Closer Look

Looking at the D-15 G2 it has 58 aluminium fins with an asymmetrical layout that pushes the cooler closer to the motherboard's top VRM heatsink and away from the graphics card. The bottom fins being cut away means better support for taller memory modules in a single fan configuration, but its worth noting that with the second fan installed you will want to stick with standard height DIMMs as much as possible.


Overall the cooler is a monster in terms of size, but it's not insane by any means; the max height of the cooler with fans is only 168 mm. While this rules out many smaller cases, most mid-range options should be okay. Although weight is another matter, if you move your PC often do keep in mind the cooler with fans is a hefty 1525 g hanging off the motherboard.


Since the fins are bare aluminium they are a fingerprint magnet so if you want to keep them clean, wear gloves. Beyond that you won't find any top plates or plastic shrouds. While less can be more, a top cover would have been nice to see at this price point. As for the base and heat pipes they are nickel-plated and have a high quality finish. In fact the base itself, while slightly convex, hardly shows machining marks. While they can be seen they are faint, meaning the base has a cleaner finish than most.


When it comes to fans Noctua has opted for two of their all new NF-A14x25r G2 fans which have a max RPM of 1500 without the low noise adapter and a max airflow of 91.5 CFM. This fan design is entirely new with a multitude of features, such as an ultra-tight tip clearance thanks to the liquid-crystal polymer compound. It will be interesting to see how they perform when compared to the NH-D15 and its older NF-A15 fans.