Almost Everyone is Wasting Their Money On CPU Coolers

[AdamFromLTT]

No matter where you go, you’ll see people debating the amount of cooling you need to make sure your CPU runs fast. With power hungry GPUs and computer cases that go a little too heavy on tempered glass it is important to make sure that your Intel Core or AMD Ryzen processor can run its best. But cooling can be expensive. So how much do you really NEED? Especially if you’re just gaming? Less than you think.
 

 

[Quirkle88]

Do you all ever make the benchmark data from these tests available as a CSV or excel? I thought this was a great video, I just struggle with interpreting your visualizations sometimes and wanted to take a stab at it.

[terroralpha]

the only real takeaway from this video: don't buy trash from NZXT.

 

everything else is preference or your specific use case 

[dogwitch]

1 hour ago, terroralpha said:

the only real takeaway from this video: don't buy trash from NZXT.

 

everything else is preference or your specific use case 

yeah. or some odd gpu  deisgn that dump air in a certain area of the case.

[Bob__]

I meab ny NHD15 cant cool my i5-13600k but point taken linus

[spaghet rat]

10 minutes ago, Bob__ said:

I meab ny NHD15 cant cool my i5-13600k but point taken linus

yeah but you overclock the shit out of everything to the point where its slower than a chromebook

[spaghet rat]

1.5gHz oN a tHiRtEeNtH gEn iNtEl

[Linkn]

The math is a little off when calculating the cost of the NH D15 compared to the entire build @10:11.

$109.95 / $2603.81 * 100 = 4.2% not 2.6%

 

They did say "extra" cost, but that's not exactly how they visualize it with the formula. A little misleading? This bugged me just enough to finally make an account here...

[Failure 101]

I was hoping to see the the ps120 covered instead of the pa 120 i haven't seen much reputable benchmarks with the ps120 

[Remove]

55 minutes ago, Failure 101 said:

I was hoping to see the the ps120 covered instead of the pa 120 i haven't seen much reputable benchmarks with the ps120 

I was more concerned with why they went with NH-L9a/i to represent low-profile SFF coolers when the NH-L12/S has a higher ranking on the cooler tier list.

 

Lucky me, I'm planning a SFF build and live in the Caribbean with insane humidity. So much for using the Intel stock cooler on the i5-13400.

[Spotty]

2 hours ago, Linkn said:

The math is a little off when calculating the cost of the NH D15 compared to the entire build @10:11.

$109.95 / $2603.81 * 100 = 4.2% not 2.6%

 

They did say "extra" cost, but that's not exactly how they visualize it with the formula. A little misleading? This bugged me just enough to finally make an account here...

They were comparing the extra cost of the $109 noctua to one of the cheaper coolers that would have been 'good enough'. I think one of the $50 coolers. Really the equation should have been the extra cost of the noctua as a percentage of the overall cost (noctua - cheaper cooler) / total cost. 

(109-50) / 2600 = 0.0227 which matches what was said in the script ("approximately 2.3% extra").

 

It seems the equation they did when writing the script was right but the equation they showed on screen was incorrect/incomplete.

Also welcome. I noticed the maths looked off when watching but I didn't really give it more than a glance and didn't think much more of it so I'm glad you posted.

[darknessblade]

Thank you LTT, I hadn't bought a CPU cooler yet for my ryzen 9 7900 [non-X] system, so this video is perfectly released at just the right moment

[Arika]

I always overkill my coolers as much as possible.

My current case makes that fairly difficult, but my nh-u9s is great for the 5600x

 

though i do also blame tech channels for "everyone" going overkill on their coolers, because that's 90% of what goes in showcase builds

[pApA^LeGBa]

Yeah, those games used might work mostly fine at 21°C (wich is not realistic, at least not in europe during summer). But one Indie or early access title or even just a freshly released AAA game that is poorly optimzed and all that goes out the window. Like 7 days to die, wich is kinda popular even constanly in the top50 on steam, easy +15°C when there is a horde.

 

Luckily there is Noctua, wich is basically a one time investment for lifetime buying the NHD15.

 

[Vishera]

24 minutes ago, Arika S said:

I always overkill my coolers as much as possible.

My current case makes that fairly difficult, but my nh-u9s is great for the 5600x

 

though i do also blame tech channels for "everyone" going overkill on their coolers, because that's 90% of what goes in showcase builds

Overkill cooling is the theme i went with when building my PC and ordering parts,

Sure i could use the AMD stock cooler for my 5700X but instead i am use my ancient 212 EVO.

I could have gone with a dual-fan GPU cooler instead of the 3-fan GPU cooler i have on my GTX 1660.

I could have gone with a better looking case but instead i am using a case with front mesh with good fans and have plenty of airflow.

 

But overkill cooling has a lot of benefits!

Both CPU and GPU can boost higher = More performance

You have plenty of headroom for overclocking = More performance

Your fans don't need to spin that fast = The system is very quiet

 

So the question should be why not?

[Stahlmann]

.

Edited May 5, 2023 by Stahlmann
My original post contained misinformation.

[schtormm]

7 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

Ltt did a pretty good job with the video, except they missed a huge factor. You can have NH-D15 performance for $40-$50. (Literally less than half the price) One example would be the Thermalright peerless Assassin. And that alone completely reshuffles the entire concept of this video.

 

Now you could say to use the box cooler for the lower-end CPUs that include one, and for everything else get the Peerless Assassin and fully unlock your CPU's potential for $40.

 

 

Except for the fact that they literally mentioned the Peerless Assasin as a recomendation IN the video we're discussing here.. and that it technically is not equal in performance to the NH-D15.

[Stahlmann]

17 minutes ago, schtormm said:

Except for the fact that they literally mentioned the Peerless Assasin as a recomendation IN the video we're discussing here..

When did they? I must have missed it.

 

17 minutes ago, schtormm said:

and that it technically is not equal in performance to the NH-D15.

Yeah you're right. It's better than the NH-D15.

Edit: It's better until you're loading up a 13900K which overwhelms it. I was wrong.

[schtormm]

1 minute ago, Stahlmann said:

When did they? I must have missed it.

6:45 (in the "middleweight contenders" and at the end (around 15:00) as a recommendation for AMD systems.

[Wh0_Am_1]

I need my NH-D15 my 5900x (new render build not in bio yet) hits 84C under load and 90C+ (W/O PBO) when my GPUs (a 2080 and a 1660) are heat dumping too this is in an *Antec P101 Silent with the acoustic panel open and the fans operating at max power. 

 

*yeah I know a silent case, I got it for future NAS operations with its 8 3.5" bays and 2 2.5", and the case is best quality case this side of $170 USD

 

[Thaldor]

With price there's also other things to consider, like support. Like I have had NH-D15 since LGA775/AM4(+) and most likely when I'm going to upgrade the platform, I can just email Noctua, wait few days and my free mounting brackets have arrived and I didn't need to buy new cooler. I don't know how many platform changes NH-D15 will still remain relevant comparing to how hot things are turning up but at least I have been saved from buying 2 extra coolers.

[Beerzerker]

Alot of people miss that sometimes you can have the biggest cooler on a chip but it still runs hot because it's in a teeny-tiny case with next to no airflow going through it or just no real airflow through it even if the case isn't that small.
If you don't have cool air IN the case for the cooler to use and no airflow moving warm/hot air out, it's not going to cool well at all. That's because cooler has to use air inside the case to cool the chip with and if it's already warm/hot ......
Shoudn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the obvious here.

Speaking of coolers, I still have this classic and it works great.
Did some runs with it just the other day for a comp.




 

[Agall]

NH-D15 go brrrrr.

 

It'll also likely last for literally an eternity where Noctua will send you updated brackets for your next build. Can even mounted standard 120mm fans on it since the included 140mm's use closer spacing to fit a 120mm footprint.

[Failure 101]

8 hours ago, Stahlmann said:

When did they? I must have missed it.

 

Yeah you're right. It's better than the NH-D15.

Edit: It's better until you're loading up a 13900K which overwhelms it. I was wrong.

Which is why I wanna see the ps120

[Deadpool2onBlu-Ray]

Too bad they completely omitted the non Asetek coolers like the EK Aio and deepcool AIOs