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

Product Information

Attach the fan to the cooler as previously, making sure it is facing the desired direction ( airflow arrows can be seen on the side of the fan). Connect the fan to the 4-pin PWM connector once it’s been installed. 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!

Those two threaded rods were for the tensioning screws. Noctua provides an L-shaped screwdriver for tightening the tension bolts. However, you would do well to get a 200mm long-shaft #2 Phillips screwdriver. Very helpful for this and for tightening motherboard screw deep in a case. 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. ConclusionsYou 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. 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! After seeing the chromax heatsink cover in person, I can’t imagine building with it. While most aesthetic add-ons are a waste of money, the NA-HC4 can be seen and enjoyed every day if you are one of the many with a case that has a tempered glass side panel. The sheer quality of the covers and the stark change they have on the looks of your PC is well worth the price. Performance

One aspect of Noctua’s heatsinks has not changed: the NH-D15S like the –D15, the –C14S, the -D14 and others, all use the SecuFirm system. If you mount one heatsink, you can swap it for another Noctua heatsink in minutes. They make a reviewer’s job much easier. NH-D15S Pros Now, let’s pull out this heatsink and take a look. I took this picture upside down, so let’s see the NH-D15S rightside-up. Yup. It is definitely asymmetric. 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 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.In essence, I tried to do all the things you might find logical to try. I used two different mounts to compare the cooling. I mounted the NH-D15S a third time with the fans blowing up – I had recently tested the NH-C14S heatsink and found a 5 degree difference in cooling, depending on how I mounted it. So I tried this vertical mount to see if it made a difference in how well the D15S cooled. The results are presented in different charts to keep the different mounts separate.

A large 140mm Noctua NA-A15 PWM fan is clamped onto one side of the heatsink. An additional 120mm or 140mm fan can be installed on the other side but make sure it will fit in conjunction with your motherboard and RAM. 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!Compatibility: Intel LGA 2066/2011-0/1155/1156/1150/1200/1700 and AMD AM5/AM4/AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2/FM1/FM2/FM2+

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. 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.Dual-fan ready –Using the supplied extra fan clips, the NH-D15S can be upgraded with either a second round-frame 140 mm fan with 120 mm mounting holes (such as the NF-A15) . . . or a common 120 mm fan (such as the NF-F12) for improving performance while maintaining compatibility with RAM modules of up to 45 mm height. 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.