Noctua announce the NH-D15 - Will air coolers make a comeback?

[WYP]

The Noctua NH-D14 is widely renowned by reviewers and enthusiasts alike as the best air cooler money can buy, over the years this title has been contested by the likes of the Thermalright Silver Arrow and a few others but nobody has been able to outright beat Noctua by any significant margin. The wait may finally be over.

Presenting Noctua's new flagship air cooler the NH-D15.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-nutyHONWM#t=32

"Having convinced tens of thousands of quiet cooling enthusiasts around the globe, our NH-D14 has become a reference for top-tier dual tower heatsinks"
"In the end, it took us more than three years of continuous development, countless thermal simulations and over hundred samples to come up with a substantial improvement in efficiency. Staying true to our policy of not releasing anything we're not 100% satisfied with, we had to accept some delays in order to squeeze out the last few percent of performance, but now we're proud to finally release the NH-D15 as a worthy successor to the venerable D14."

The NH-D15 will include many refinements over it's predecessor, it will include Noctua's new NF-A15 fans and a widened heat stack compared to the NH-D14 (150mm compared to the NH-D14's 140mm).The NH-D15 will also offer much greater ram support, thanks to it's recessed lower fins.

The NH-D15 will still offer many of the things we are used to, like low-Noise fan adaptors for quieter operation, Noctua's famous SecuFirm2 mounting solution and their NT-H1 thermal compound. Top that off with a 6 year manufacturers warranty, the NH-D15 forms a complete premium quality air cooling solution that will please overclockers and silence-freaks alike.

The NH-D15 will be available by mid-April at suggested retail prices of EUR 89.90 / USD 99.90.

Now the question on everybody's mind should be; "How will this compete with AIO watercoolers like the H100i?". I have no doubt that TTL and other reviewers will get their hands on this Beautiful piece of engineering soon, there we will get our answer.

What do you guys think of Noctua's New Flagship cooler? Would you consider it over the AIO water coolers currently on the market? Please comment below.

Source - Noctua

 

[SeekaX]

No, air coolers won't make a comeback. No matter how well they perform, they look like a tumor in your PC.
A noctua AIO would be cool.

 

[SieB]

Air coolers are pretty obsolete now AIOs are affordable.

I don't see why anyone would choose to have a massive heatsink like the D14/15 when you can have something like the H100 which will do a better job with fans at a lower speed. If you are on a budget then going for an air cooler like the hyper 212+ is understandable, but if you are paying £60+ then an AIO is the way to go.

 

[SeekaX]

Air coolers are pretty obsolete now AIOs are affordable.

I don't see why anyone would choose to have a massive heatsink like the D14/15 when you can have something like the H100 which will do a better job with fans at a lower speed. If you are on a budget then going for an air cooler like the hyper 212+ is understandable, but if you are paying £60+ then an AIO is the way to go.

There is still a surprisingly large amount of people who prefer high end aircoolers, usually there is no real argument behind preferring the aircooler though, i suppose some people like big bulky things in their rigs.

 

[SieB]

There is still a surprisingly large amount of people who prefer high end aircoolers, usually there is no real argument behind preferring the aircooler though, i suppose some people like big bulky things in their rigs.

Maybe it is just me but personally that I would rather have the nice and tidy look of an AIO rather than a big heatsink, But each to their own.

 

[WYP]

Maybe it is just me but personally that I would rather have the nice and tidy look of an AIO rather than a big heatsink, But each to their own.

I agree, I do prefer the look of a water cooler. But we cannot deny the Bling factor of an air cooler like this.

 

[SeekaX]

Maybe it is just me but personally that I would rather have the nice and tidy look of an AIO rather than a big heatsink, But each to their own.

The majority of people do. There is nothing which can beat an h100i 350d build in terms of aesthetics for me.
But once in a while you meet someone who either thinks air coolers look cool or is still biased by the problems the early AIO coolers had.

 

[Wraith]

I suppose some people like big bulky things in their rigs.

I'll never go back to air coolers especially considering the size they are becoming :lol:

 

[barnsley]

I actually think aios are overrated from a performance standpoint. AIOs look better however I've never been blown away by them.

 

[SuB]

I actually think aios are overrated from a performance standpoint. AIOs look better however I've never been blown away by them.

Agreed, 100%. It's just a form factor change, moving the heat further away from from the plate on the cpu. They do just the same work as something like a heatpipe, just a different form factor

 

[Remmy]

I'd always go for an AIO over an air cooler for the same price, but I understand some people's apprehension to (AIO) water cooling, even when it's a closed loop piece of kit, despite their excellent reputation. It still seems alien to some people having a water cooler in a PC, especially to newcomers.

 

[Wraith]

I'd always go for an AIO over an air cooler for the same price, but I understand some people's apprehension to (AIO) water cooling, even when it's a closed loop piece of kit, despite their excellent reputation. It still seems alien to some people having a water cooler in a PC, especially to newcomers.

I was apprehensive at first so I waited a couple of years to see how they went before taking the plunge, and I'm glad I did there was always that thing in the back of my mind saying "Electricity & Water" surely not.

Sorry Watsyerproblem getting the thread back on track it's good to see Noctua getting even better than what they already were, no one can dispute their cooling performance but come on Noctua change the colour please.

 

[Robi_G]

If they can make a heatsink that will passively cool an i5...

 

[kbalaz]

Air coolers are pretty obsolete now AIOs are affordable.

I don't see why anyone would choose to have a massive heatsink like the D14/15 when you can have something like the H100 which will do a better job with fans at a lower speed. If you are on a budget then going for an air cooler like the hyper 212+ is understandable, but if you are paying £60+ then an AIO is the way to go.

Air coolers are less maintenance than water, if the fans fail, which cooler is still able to dissipate heat better? Has that study ever been done? My logic seems to think that the big air cooler will be able to cool better if the fans fail than an aio, but I could be wrong. This was one of the main I went with NH-D14 over an AIO cooler. If my logic is completely flawed and this study has been done, my next upgrade may be to an AIO

 

[barnsley]

Air coolers are less maintenance than water, if the fans fail, which cooler is still able to dissipate heat better? Has that study ever been done? My logic seems to think that the big air cooler will be able to cool better if the fans fail than an aio, but I could be wrong. This was one of the main I went with NH-D14 over an AIO cooler. If my logic is completely flawed and this study has been done, my next upgrade may be to an AIO

Fans don't really fail unless you're super unlucky.

 

[rubby]

Fans don't but pumps do.
Let me remind you that not everybody lives in America. The prices are teribbly high in Europe (especially in the east) and the price difference from an NH-D14 and an H100i is about 40-50$ so people choose from the point of price/performance and aparently the high-end air coolers win.

 

[Excalabur50]

Also don't forget these coolers are good for the peeps who cannot fit an AIO

 

[Edgeyforsure]

aircoolers are alot quieter, if i had room i would have a NHD14 /15 into my case.

the pump on my h100i makes such a noise, same with HDD's only thing stopping my rig being truely 'silent' on the desktop

 

[RBJWOOD]

Fans don't really fail unless you're super unlucky.

No but pumps do.

 

[barnsley]

No but pumps do.

Again its rare and you'd be very unlucky.