Noctua NH-D15 Review

Key features

Noctua NH D15 is a flagship cooler from Noctua and with its high performance, it ensures that your CPU stays properly cooled even under maximum load. This heatsink and fan has a 6-heatpipe dual tower design for more efficient cooling and supports various sockets manufactured by AMD and Intel. Installation of the cooler is extremely easy and the cooler starts performing almost instantly. Granted that this cooler is not inexpensive (which is true for all Noctua coolers), but the value per dollar for this product is extremely high.

Introduction

There are various CPU cooling solutions available and Noctua has been at the forefront of manufacturing class-leading heatsinks and fans since 1995. Noctua NH D15 is a high-performance cooler that keeps your CPU cool under full load. It maintains the CPU temperature within acceptable limits and only wavers slightly in performance at temperatures above 75°C. While there are two fans installed in this cooler, the noise generated is whisper like (24.6 dBA maximum). The fins are made of aluminium and the base and the heatpipes are made of copper – leading to excellent cooling solutions. The look is not great but then who cares when this cooler provides you with all the right cooling solutions.

Is it easy to install?

To install Noctua NH D15, the backplate needs to be installed first. But the mounting arms now need to be slid into place and secured with the provided nuts. For mounting the heatsink, some thermal compound needs to be prepared. The mounting arms now need to line up the posts and the spring loaded need to be screwed into place. A screwdriver is provided to attach the heatsink to the mounting arms by screwing down the spring loaded screws. The last step is to attach the fans to the heatsink. The installation process is absolutely simple and the provided screwdriver is a big help.

How is the performance?

The Noctua NH D15 coolers work great at default operating frequencies while leaving room for overclocking. Enthusiast class cooling is available at temperatures below 50°C and at temperatures above 71°C, this heatsink provides average cooling. Performance cooling is provided between the temperatures 51°C and 60°C while mainstream cooling is provided between the temperatures 61°C and 70°C. The noise management is rather good even with two installed fans and the entire setup is quiet during operation. The temperature management is more or less ok if you don’t apply a sudden voltage tweak.

Conclusion: Should I buy it?

Noctua doesn’t let its users down in terms of performance and Noctua NH D15 maintains the high performance standards. Even if you take the Core i7 3770K (the most difficult processor to cool), this heatsink and fan does admirably well in maintaining the temperature of the processor. The temperature and noise management are very good and you get a solid performance through and through. The 6-year warranty on this product tells you that Noctua is extremely confident of this product.