Finished Looks

While the NH-D15S lacks a fan in comparison to the NH-D15, it is still a monster of a cooler. It makes the standard ATX motherboard I used in my test system seem rather small by comparison.


As with any Noctua cooler, the colors clash with the motherboard's color scheme. That said, the new design does offer better memory and expansion-slot clearance because of the asymmetrical design. Users still have the option of adding another fan if they wish to do so as well. Thankfully, the single fan sandwiched in-between the two cooling towers helps hide the ugly colors a bit.


With such a large cooler, clearance does suffer a bit around the socket, but users should run into no real issues while connecting everything. That said, clearance for graphics cards is fantastic thanks to the NH-D15S's offset design, which makes it compatible with some mini-ITX motherboards the NH-D15 could never hope to fit on. Memory clearance under the fins is still limited to 64 mm, which, while not unlimited, does give users a good bit space. Overall, I would say the NH-D15S to definitely be an improvement over its less refined sibling.