Noctua is a designer and manufacturer of some of the most impressive CPU air coolers that you can find. The company was founded in 2005, and Bigbruin.com first reviewed their products in 2006 (
the NH-U9 and the NH-U12). Their designs have followed the same basic formula, but they have evolved to offer greater performance, convenience, and compatibility with the latest processors from AMD and Intel. My first experience with Noctua came last year when I covered the
NH-U12S and NH-U14S together, and I had actually acquired an NH-D15 before the sample was provided for review.
The promotional image above shows the beastly NH-D15, which looks more like two traditional heatpipe coolers standing side-by-side. It is hard to get a sense of scale, but consider that each fan is 140mm in diameter, and you may be able to imagine that this is a rather large cooler. Before getting in to the heart of the review, let's take a look at some published data on the NH-D15, as taken from
the official product page on the Noctua website.
Features and Specifications:
» Socket compatibility:
» Intel: LGA2011-0 & LGA2011-3 (Square ILM), LGA1156, LGA1155, LGA1150
» AMD: AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, FM1, FM2, FM2+ (backplate required)
» Height (without fan): 160 mm
» Width (without fan): 150 mm
» Depth (without fan): 135 mm
» Height (with fan): 165 mm
» Width (with fan): 150 mm
» Depth (with fan): 161 mm
» Weight (without fan): 1000 g
» Weight (with fan): 1320 g
» Material: Copper (base and heat-pipes), aluminium (cooling fins), soldered joints & nickel plating
» Fan compatibility: 140x150x25 (with 120mm mounting holes), 140x140x25 (with 120mm mounting holes), 120x120x25
» Scope of Delivery:
» 2x NF-A15 PWM premium fan
» 2x Low-Noise Adaptor (L.N.A.)
» Y-cable
» NT-H1 high-grade thermal compound
» SecuFirm2™ Mounting Kit
» Noctua Metal Case-Badge
» Warranty 6 Years
Fan specifications:
» Model: 2x Noctua NF-A15 PWM
» Bearing: SSO2
» Max. Rotational Speed (+/- 10%): 1500 RPM
» Max. Rotational Speed with L.N.A. (+/- 10%): 1200 RPM
» Min. Rotational Speed (PWM, +/-20%): 300 RPM
» Max. Airflow: 140,2 m³/h
» Max. Airflow with L.N.A.: 115,5 m³/h
» Max. Acoustical Noise: 24,6 dB(A)
» Max. Acoustical Noise with L.N.A.: 19,2 dB(A)
» Input Power: 1,56 W
» Voltage Range: 12 V
» MTBF: > 150.000 h
