Noctua NH-D15S chromax.black, Premium Dual-Tower CPU Cooler with NF-A15 PWM 140mm Fan (Black)

Product Information

Compatibility: Intel LGA 2066/2011-0/1155/1156/1150/1200/1700 and AMD AM5/AM4/AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2/FM1/FM2/FM2+ Noctua heatsinks have long been revered for their top-tier cooling abilities and quiet operation but their understated design and their brown fans specifically, are occasionally the subject of ridicule among PC builders who value aesthetics above all else. Inside, we find squishable foam – my favorite kind. The foam has some give to it and doesn’t break like Styrofoam. The foam surrounds fully recyclable boxes. But you are not going to recycle perfectly good boxes that were custom built for this heatsink and its accessories. The whole thing goes together too nicely. You will keep your box. Inside you’ll find the instructions, two white heatsink covers and two steel clips. Before I get into the installation, I must give kudos to Noctua for the excellent design of these covers. Not only do they look stunning but they way they are installed is ingenious! Noctua also sent out a Noctua NA-HC4 chromax.white heatsink cover kit for the D15S. The chromax series of heatsink covers is one of those rare ideas that takes an existing flagship product and without altering it, improves upon it without compromising the products’ greatest qualities.

The stress tests were carried out with AIDA64 Extreme. We went with the Thermaltake View 71t instead of an open-bench setup. Three intake fans are located in the front of the Thermaltake View 71t, while one exhaust fan is located at the rear. Finally, slide a cover over each fixture and the magnets do the rest. It’s that easy! You don’t have to detach the fan and can even do this while the heatsink is installed on the motherboard. Amazing! Upon removing the heatsink covers, you’ll notice a gray fixture on the underside of each cover. If you pull away in the corner, the fixture will come off as you break the connection of the magnets holding it in place. Looking at our results, we see that three fans cool no better than two fans, with substantially more noise. Comparing the pair of 1200 rpm A15’s to a single 1500 rpm A15 shows that the pair of 1200 rpm A15’s cool this heatsink about the same as the single 1500 rpm A15 cools it, but more quietly (Not that the NF-A125 1500 was all that loud). The front of the box displays the fan’s specs as well as a small picture of the fan outfitted with the different colored anti-vibration pads. It also displays the included pad colors next to the fan.Finally, a second box under the fan tray has the additional anti-vibration pads necessary for installation in every color. There are also four mounting screws if the fan is to be installed in a case. A low-noise adapter is also included. You want extra RAM clearance: If you have high-profile RAM modules and need a cooler that provides ample clearance for your RAM slots, the Noctua NH-D15S is an excellent choice due to its asymmetrical design.

Now attach the mounting bars and install with the four NM-ITS1 thumbscrews, making sure the connection is tight and firm (not too strong). Each test run was 60 minutes in duration. The last 50 minutes of each run was measured, and the temperature logs were analyzed in Open Office spreadsheets. An Intel chip reports its temps in one degree increments, so for best accuracy these reports should be averaged in aggregate. Here the core temps were measured once a second, resulting in 3000-line spreadsheets. The digital thermometer measuring air temp reported its measurements in increments of 0.1 °C. The ambient temperature was measured every five seconds, resulting in 600-line spreadsheets. The mean ambient temp was subtracted from the mean core temps, resulting in a net temp for each run. The net temps were then averaged. If we installed a 2 nd fan, the D15S might even surpass an AIO. So, if you are after the highest possible performance and feel you must have an AIO to attain it, think again. The next picture shows you how you can fit a 140 mm fan (an NF-A15 in this case) as a push fan and still not interfere with your RAM – as long as you use low profile RAM.

Unboxing & Overview

The Noctua NH-D15S is a fantastic value. Yes, it’s a bit more expensive but it’s well worth the investment. Not only does it rival AIOs in performance, it does so while maintaining a much lower noise profile. Plus, this heatsink can be carried over every time you upgrade or rebuild your computer. Lastly, Noctua brings a level of quality to the table that few manufacturers can match. The NH-D15S is no exception and its 6-year warranty is among the highest in the industry. We utilized an Intel Core i7-10700K for this test and used the factory CPU settings of 3.8GHz at 100% load to put the cooler to the test. The second and third tests were performed with an OC stage of 4.7GHz and 5.0GHz, respectively. We wanted to see how well the Noctua NH-D15S performed in standard and high-end OC modes. As usual, slower fans do not cool as well as faster fans, but they work more quietly. But here, running with two NF-A15 fans at 1200 rpm will be very quiet; and if you are willing to remount your heatsink until you get that “golden mount,” you can get very good cooling indeed. Conclusions The Noctua D15S is a most capable heatsink and it shows exactly why AIOs have not replaced traditional CPU cooling solutions. Plus, there is literally no maintenance with the D15S. Yes, AIOs don’t require maintenance but the liquid mixture inside them does eventually breakdown and they have been known to fail and even ruin systems with water going everywhere. These situations are rare but nevertheless do occur. Conclusion The NH-D15S is at least as good as its predecessor, the NH-D15. It accomplishes Noctua’s main aims of making more room for a 1 st-slot card, bringing down the cost of the cooler, and making this heatsink truly compatible with tall RAM.

You don’t need the extra features: If you don’t require the specific features offered by the NH-D15S, such as the asymmetrical design for RAM clearance, and you’re content with a more basic cooler, you can opt for a simpler and less expensive cooling solution. Final Remarks Upon removing the D15S heatsink from its box, I was amazed at its sheer bulk. This is a serious heatsink and it oozes quality. This is a heatsink you buy once and will re-use again every time you upgrade your system.

However, even more impressive is our 79° temperature during 100% load! Just as with our idle temperatures, the D15S stayed in range of a high-quality 240mm liquid cooling unit, no pump noise necessary!