Noctua NH-D15 Dual-Tower CPU Cooler Review
Test System and Benchmark Results of the Noctua NH-D15
Ambient temperature monitored at case intake and temperature Delta was used. All case and heat sink fans were benchmarked with fan control settings disabled and running at 100% unless otherwise specified. Intel integrated video is utilized to eliminate additional ambient heat source from discrete graphics cards. Temperatures are averaged (last minute) from individual core temperature results monitored by AIDA64 after 15 minutes. FPU load average is used to simulate worst case scenario load levels similar to Intel Burn Test or OCCT, results marked “0″ means thermal limit was reached and the CPU was throttled and thus the results were discarded. Stock settings have all power saving features enabled in the motherboard with Vcore set static to 1.1V and set to “Balanced” in the OS. Overclocked settings have Vcore voltage manually set to 1.2V at 4.2GHz and 4.4GHz with EIST disabled. All tests were taken at least three times to get the final result.
| Processor | Intel Core i7-4770K (Retail) |
| Motherboard | ASUS Maximus VI Gene Z87 Motherboard |
| Memory | Patriot Viper 3 “Black Mamba” Low-Profile 2x8GB DDR3 Memory |
| Drive | OCZ Agility 4 256GB SSD |
| Video Card | Intel Integrated Graphics |
| Thermal Compound | Noctua NT-H1 |
| Case | Cooler Master HAF XB (open air test-bench mode, all fans removed) |
| Power Supply | Corsair HX850W |
| Operating System | Windows 7 x64 Pro |
| Comparison Heatsinks | Noctua NH-D15 |
Phanteks TC14PE |
Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 3 | Noctua NH-U14S | Noctua NH-D14 | Cooler Master Nepton 140XL |
| Fan Size (mm) | 140mm x 2 | 140mm x 2 | 135 and 120mm | 140mm x 1 | 140 and 120mm | 140mm x 2 |
| Max fan RPM | 1500 | 1200 | 2100 and 1500 | 1500 | 1200 and 1300 | 2000 |
| PWM | YES | NO | YES | YES | NO | YES |
| Fan Bearing Type | SSO2 | UFB | FDB | SSO2 | SSO2 | Rifle |
| SLIM | NO | NO | NO | YES | NO | – |
| Direct-Heatpipe | NO | NO | NO | YES | NO | – |
| Heatpipe Thickness (mm) | 6 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | – |
| Heatpipe Count | 6 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | – |
| Radiator Size |
– | – | – | – | – | 171 x 139 x 38mm |
| Radiator Material |
– | – | – | – | – | Aluminum |
| Price (in USD) | 99 | 99 | 80 | 76 | 82 | 99 |
Benchmarks:
Results marked “0″ means thermal limit was reached and the CPU was throttled.
Fan Sound Profile:
Noise levels are very identical between the NH-D15 and the Phanteks TC-14PE, even though the Noctua NF-A15 fans run up to 1500 RPM while the Phanteks TC-14PE only run up to 1200 RPM. These two are the best balance of noise to performance of the test group but ultimately, the NH-D15 takes the crown since it can do so at a higher RPM and still has allowance for lowering the noise further via PWM controls or via low-noise adapter without dropping performance significantly. Normally the NF-A15 produces a high-pitched sound when placed directly as a “pull” fan in the rear but the gap between the NH-D15 radiator and the center NF-A15 is wide enough that turbulence does not become a factor and thus noise is minimal. The CM Nepton 140XL may be on the top spot, but factoring in fan sound performance, it is dead last. The quietest performing fans on the group belongs to the Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 although understandably, it did not perform when pushed with FPU only loads and hung out with the NH-D14 at the back.
Performance Summary:
Ahead of the pack on all three tests was the CM Nepton 140XL, the only liquid cooler in our test sample round and previous winner of Modders-Inc Editor’s Choice award. Vying for the close second is the new NH-D15 and the Phanteks TC-14PE. Although the Phanteks TC-14PE is older, its massive 5x 8mm heatpipes and powerful pair of 140mm fans at 1200 RPM are a force to be reckoned with. The NH-D15 has smaller 6mm heatpipes but has six of them across a wider surface, plus aided by a pair of NF-A15 fans, the performance of the two are very close. Ultimately, the NH-D15 takes the top spot among all the dual-tower air coolers, beating the Phanteks TC-14PE by a narrow margin and even matches the Nepton 140XL with its 2200 RPM fans in 4.4GHz load average. The previous NH-D14 has trailed behind even the slim NH-U14S and could not cope with the overclocked FPU only loads as easily as the NH-D15 did.
