Noctua NH-D15S

[Daddy Dave]

Yes, I do have a  Noctua NH-D15S. I know that most air cooling people get fired up whenever people talk about Noctua's because they love the brand, but I honestly don't know if I like it. I don't even know if it is doing the job properly. I honestly see it as a fan that is just spinning as all other fans are. Can someone explain to me why this is so hyped up? Am I supposed to overclock my CPU so that I can see the true power of this Noctua fan? What makes it so special you all? 

 

Here is my build by the way 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i7-9700K 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor	$372.00 @ Walmart
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-D15S 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler	$79.90 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Asus ROG STRIX Z390-E GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$239.99 @ Best Buy
Memory	G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$84.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$99.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card	Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB GAMING 8G Video Card
Case	NZXT H500i ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply	EVGA SuperNOVA G2 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit	$15.00
Case Fan	Corsair ML120 PRO RGB (3 pack w/Lighting Node PRO) 47.3 CFM 120 mm Fans	$129.99 @ Amazon
Monitor	Asus ROG SWIFT PG278QR 27.0" 2560x1440 165 Hz Monitor	$956.97 @ Amazon
Speakers	Logitech Z623 200 W 2.1 Channel Speakers	$119.99 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$2098.82
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-18 15:59 EDT-0400

 

[Hairless Monkey Boy]

3 minutes ago, Daddy Dave said:

What makes it so special you all?

It moves air from here to there, and does so quietly.

[00RaZoR11]

It's supposed to be less noisy than others, and their bearings supposedly last forever.

The only noctua product I have is a set of rubber fan screws. I really wanna try an nh u12a, but it's almost as expensive as my custom loop was.. I can't comment about what makes noctua heatsinks amazing, but I know stuff about fans.

The nf a12x25 is very rigid, allowing for a narrow gap between the frame and the blades, and the blades have teeth on the trailing edge ==> less noise.

I found that blacknoise noiseblocker eloops implement these design points with more confidence, and those are cheaper so I got those. Unfortunately they don't make cpu coolers.

16 hours ago, Daddy Dave said:

 What makes it so special you all? 

 

[freeagent]

Half of the people don’t know why they like Noctua so much. Maybe their first taste of a quality part? 3/4 of the replies are all regurgitated responses. They do make a quiet fan, but it’s not the strongest, or even the quietest. Their mounting system is ok, but it’s nothing special. It’s no easier to install than a 212 evo. The cooler itself is huge, and blocks ram. So it’s inconvenient and expensive. They are nice coolers, but they haven’t been the best for a few years now. I am curious how the D16 will pan out, but I won’t hold my breath.

[Algebruh]

Noctua D15(s) are not the most powerful heatsink, but it has the best performance to noise ratio.

A12x25 and A14 are the only Noctua fans worth buying IMO. 

Thermalright Ty-147ASQ is pretty much the same as Noctua A14 but with garbage bearing.

Thermalright Ty-147B is the same as Ty-147A but with FDB. It is supposed to be the successor of Ty-147A, but it produces clicking sound when mounted horizontally for some reason,.

 

If you want best performing heatsink with stock fan and don't care about the noise, then buy Thermalright IB-E Extreme (or whatever it's called).  

However, it is extremely loud at full speed, and the temperature is only 2~3C lower than D15.

If you want to run those fan(Ty-143) under 1500rpm, just buy D15(s). It is quieter and easier to install.

Scythe Fuma 2 is pretty soild, too.

 

Review of Assassin III, NH-D15(S), U12A, CNPS20X, Le Grand Macho RT, A500, R1 Ultimate, MasterAir MA620M :

The Best High-End Air Cooler - 2020 Edition

[freeagent]

I do have my TY-147 A and B mounted horizontally and both are quiet. TY-143 has the potential to be loud, but at the same rpm sound like TY-147A. Of course that changes after 1500rpm or so. The silver arrow is a great cooler, but Le Grand Macho RT also shares the same TDP. True Spirit 140 Power has the highest TDP in the lineup and is only 50 bucks.

[Algebruh]

1 minute ago, freeagent said:

I do have my TY-147 A and B mounted horizontally and both are quiet. TY-143 has the potential to be loud, but at the same rpm sound like TY-147A. Of course that changes after 1500rpm or so. The silver arrow is a great cooler, but Le Grand Macho RT also shares the same TDP. True Spirit 140 Power has the highest TDP in the lineup and is only 50 bucks.

I'm pretty curious about the performance of True Spirit 140 Power. 

It has 6x8mm heatpipes, but the heatpipe arrangement and the fin surface area look pretty suboptimal.

How is True Spirit 140 Power compared to IB-E Extreme and Le Grand Macho RT?

[freeagent]

I can’t speak for the silver arrow as I don’t own it, but my TS140P is nearly identical with LGMRT. I know of someone else who saw better temps with TS140P over his LGMRT, so I chaulk it up to the coldplate at that point. I do prefer LGMRT from a performance standpoint, but I am constantly experimenting with my case and fans, and it is hard to work around it’s size. If I would just leave things alone I would still be using it. With the dense fin pack of TS140P, TY-143 works a little harder and revs to about 2550. With LGMRT it will rev to 2600. One good thing about LGMRT is you can use it passively up to 90w tdp. I’ve tried on my 3770K at 4ghz on an open bench and it was just fine. 

[Falkentyne]

Their mounting system is one of the best mounting systems out there.  Can easily be installed just as easily while the motherboard is in a case (as long as you have an open cutout) as outside of the case.  It just works.  Apply mounting bracket through the 4 holes, apply the four black washer spacers, apply the aluminum mounts on top for your socket, screw down with the four thumbscrews, done.  Only thing left is heatsink/paste and screwdown, which is probably the hardest part.

 

Anyone who has dealt with some of Thermalright's questionable mounting brackets in the past can appreciate this.  Or anyone who has tried to install an Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360's socket bracket....

[freeagent]

You are probably thinking of the mount for the true. I’m not going to argue on that. Their new mounts are better. Really easy to mount once it’s all set up. The ones I hear with the most complaints are Zalman and be quiet. Installing a D14/15 is no harder than a 212. Very similar actually.

[Daddy Dave]

On 6/19/2020 at 2:35 PM, Falkentyne said:

Their mounting system is one of the best mounting systems out there.  Can easily be installed just as easily while the motherboard is in a case (as long as you have an open cutout) as outside of the case.  It just works.  Apply mounting bracket through the 4 holes, apply the four black washer spacers, apply the aluminum mounts on top for your socket, screw down with the four thumbscrews, done.  Only thing left is heatsink/paste and screwdown, which is probably the hardest part.

 

Anyone who has dealt with some of Thermalright's questionable mounting brackets in the past can appreciate this.  Or anyone who has tried to install an Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360's socket bracket....

Was there something special I was supposed to do when mounting my noctua cooler? I just put thermal paste, let it sit as I screwed in the thing into the board. I would say the only tricky thing was the suspension mechanism on it. You had to screw one screw than the other then back to the screw over and over again. 

[Daddy Dave]

So I installed my noctua two years ago and I am very underwhelmed. All I did was plug in the cooler into the CPU fan spot on my motherboard and it started spinning. Is that all? Was that what the noctua hype is about? Am I doing something wrong? 

 

If anyone can answer me this question: Was I supposed to overclock my CPU to take full advantage of the Noctua Cooler? Does the Noctua fan also adjust to the CPU temps? (PS Noctua fans probably do adjust to the CPU temps but I am nooby so I have to ask.)

 

 

Here is my build 

 

[Eighjan]

What CPU temperatures are you getting?

[Senzelian]

Every fan is controlled by temperatures.

It's not the fan that decides that, it's the motherboard and BIOS/UEFI.

 

And about the other questions,

What the f*ck?! 

[Daddy Dave]

Just now, Eighjan said:

What CPU temperatures are you getting?

My PC graphics card is currently dead, but I am getting a new one soon. Once I get my PC up and running I will inform you on my temps. Also, whenever people ask for my temps are they asking for my temps with a stock CPU (no overclock) ? If you could explain further that would be nice  

[Daddy Dave]

2 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

Every fan is controlled by temperatures.

It's not the fan that decides that, it's the motherboard and BIOS/UEFI.

 

And about the other questions,

What?! 

Haha I was thinking that whenever I submitted this post. I know that the cooler itself doesn't do it lol. What do you mean and about the other question lol. Again I am nooby please do not get mad..

[Eighjan]

If you get and install HWiNFO64, that will give you access to all/any info anyone may need.

  

1 minute ago, Daddy Dave said:

What do you mean and about the other question lol

Noctua coolers - well any after market cooler - is better than the Intel stock solution; that said, what were your expectations that seem not to have been met?

[Senzelian]

Just now, Daddy Dave said:

Haha I was thinking that whenever I submitted this post. I know that the cooler itself doesn't do it lol. What do you mean and about the other question lol

I'm just confused af by your questions.

Did you think it would spray magical rainbow dust all over your components?

It's a slab of metal with a fan on it.

 

If you overclock is your choice. Your cooler can certainly handle it.

[Daddy Dave]

1 minute ago, Eighjan said:

If you get and install HWiNFO64, that will give you access to all/any info anyone may need.

I promise to get you a screen shot of the application whenever I get my PC fixed. Also, (since you seem very informed on this topic lol) could you explain air cooling vs water cooling? What are the main pros and cons.

[gloop]

1 minute ago, Daddy Dave said:

I promise to get you a screen shot of the application whenever I get my PC fixed. Also, (since you seem very informed on this topic lol) could you explain air cooling vs water cooling? What are the main pros and cons.

AIr cooling is more reliable and coolers like the nh-d15 match up to 280mm aios.

 

Watercooling has theoretically better heat transfer and looks better.

[Daddy Dave]

4 minutes ago, Eighjan said:

If you get and install HWiNFO64, that will give you access to all/any info anyone may need.

  

Noctua coolers - well any after market cooler - is better than the Intel stock solution; that said, what were your expectations that seem not to have been met?

I guess I was just underwhelmed by the flashy coool colors of the liquid cooler compared to my slab of metal. Could you explain to me what makes them different? Essentially the main differences between air cooling vs liquid cooling. 

[Daddy Dave]

1 minute ago, gloop said:

AIr cooling is more reliable and coolers like the nh-d15 match up to 280mm aios.

 

Watercooling has theoretically better heat transfer and looks better.

dammit gloop I know that they look a lot better. Give me positives about my cooler compared to the flashy liquid cooler please. 

[Eighjan]

1 minute ago, Daddy Dave said:

What are the main pros and cons.

Mainly the hardware... a stack of fins (air) or a radiator pumping liquid - like a car - (water/liquid).

 

[gloop]

Just now, Daddy Dave said:

dammit gloop I know that they look a lot better. Give me positives about my cooler compared to the flashy liquid cooler please. 

More reliable, quieter, much better value, need an expensive ($170+) watercooler to get better temps.

[Eighjan]

If the machine is gonna stay put/not be moved around a lot - AIR; otherwise liquid may be a wiser choice, but more expensive.