Noctua NH-D15 Review

With the NH-D15 Noctua shows its latest high-end CPU cooler. This monster comes boxed with one 140 x 140 x 25 millimeter fan as well as 140 x 150 x 25 millimeter fan. Putting the cooler on a scale reveals it weighs a massive 1320g. Overall this leaves us rather curious how this thing is going to perform.

 

 

Today we are taking a look at Noctua’s latest tower CPU cooler, the Noctua NH-D15. This particular model is based on a twin-tower design. Other than that there is a nickel-plated copper base connected to the heat-sinks via six 6mm cooper-heatpipes. Fresh air comes from one 140 x 140 x 25 millimeter as well as a 140 x 150 x 25 millimeter PWM fan. With the NH-D15, like the old version NH-D14 cooler, Noctua makes use of a sandwich construction which means that one of the two fans is located between the two cooling tower heatsinks.



Both the base and the heatpipes on the Noctua NH-D15 are made from nickel-plated copper. It features six heatpipes which are not in direct contact with the CPU but have been routed through a copper base. The Noctua NH-D15 features dual-tower heatsink design in order to have more surface area which in the end usually means better heat dissipation and of course higher airflow efficiency. There are two large PWM fans where the one inbetween the two towers measures 140 x 150 x 25 millimeter and the other 140 x 140 x 25 millimeter. When it comes to rotation speeds, max RPM is 1500. Both heatsinks are made out of aluminum and as you can see, it is clear that this is quite a big CPU cooler with dimensions of 165x150x161mm. The manufacturing quality is definitely on a high level and we honestly did not expect anything less from Noctua.

Specifications

Model Noctua
Type Dual-tower
Provided Fan(s) 1 x 140 x 150 x 25mm PWM, 1500 rpm
1 x 140 x 140 x 25 mm PWM, 1500 rpm
Supported Fan(s) 2 x 140 x 150 x 25 mm
2 x 140 x 140 x 25 mm
2 x 120 x 120 x 25 mm
Base Material Nickel plated copper
Fins Material Aluminum
Socket Support AMD AM2(+), AM3(+), FM1, FM2(+), FM3(+) (backplate required)
Intel LGA 1150, 1155, 1156, 2011
Thermal compound Noctua NT-H1 3.5g Tube
Product Page Noctua

 

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The box is made out of solid cardboard and although it is only protected by a plastic shroud our sample arrived without a single dent or any damage whatsoever. One of the bundled fans have been attached in between the towers while the second one is in a very nice looking small box. The rest of the mounting components are placed in three separate small boxes. The bundle includes all installation manuals for different sockets signed by Noctua’s CEO, AMD mounting kit and the Intel mounting kit, four fan clips (two already mounted), a 3.5g tube of thermal compound enough for 15 applications, two fans (one installed) and of course the tower heatsink itself.