NH-D15 G2 And NH-D15 G2 LBC Review: Noctua Is Back With A Strong Kick

Nauman Siddique

At Tech4Gamers, I take on the role of Hardware Reviewer with pride. My responsibilities involve a thorough examination of essential hardware components like motherboards, graphics cards, processors, PC cases, and CPU coolers, among others, focusing on their complexities and functionalities.

 

 

 

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Hayyan Serwer

As the CPU Cooler and RAM Expert, I test the latest hardware to provide tips for smart purchases. I cover everything from busting myths about CPU coolers to looking into the newest RAM designs, examining various parts of PC hardware.

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Finally, the wait is over as Noctua releases next-generation flagship air coolers named NH-D15 G2. I have been waiting to test these beasts for a while now. It has been over 10 years since the supremacy of the original NH-D15, but the competition finally caught up and offers cost-effective, high-performance air coolers that compete head-to-head against the NH-D15, and many actually show superior performance.

The call for new cooler was in the air and Noctua has been busy doing R&D. They not only wanted to revamp the heatsink design but also needed new fans to provide better cooling performance. Noctua has released three variants; NH-D15 G2, NH-D15 LBC, and NH-D15 HBC. More on this comes later in this article.

These coolers are compatible with Intel LGA 115x / 1200 / 1700 / 1851 and AMD AM4 / AM5 sockets. These retail at around USD 149.62.

Key Takeaways

• The new NH-D15 G2 from Noctua comes in three variants, delivering excellent cooling performance and the same low noise levels as the original, while being compatible with Intel LGA1700 and AMD AM5 sockets.
• You should buy the Noctua NH-D15 G2 if you want top-tier performance out of an air cooler with the best possible noise levels.
• You should not buy the Noctua NH-D15 G2 if you’re on a tight budget or if you’re on the LGA20xx socket.

Here are the key specs:

What Makes The Noctua NH-D15 G2 & LC Different?

The NH-D15 G2 and LBC versions pack a superior performance punch making a strong come back of Noctua as we have a new king of the coolers in the arena. Noctua has revamped the heatsink adding two more heatpipes and 23 more fins while reducing the depth. The salient feature of these coolers is new NF-A14x25r PWM fans that are based on NF-A14 and NF-A12x25 PWM fans. You can get this high performance at a steep price of USD 150.

Packing And Unboxing

Noctua has kept the same packing box as we have seen on the original NH-D15, but the color scheme is different.

The following are provided in the box:

• 1x Heatsink
• 2x NF-A14x25r G2 PWM Fans
• 2x AMD Mounting Brackets
• 4x AMD Spacers
• 4x AMD Screws
• 1x Intel Backplate
• 4x Intel Screws for backplate
• 4x Intel Lockers for backplate
• 2x Intel Mounting Brackets
• 4x Blue Spacers for Intel LGA1700 Socket
• 4x Black Spacers for Intel other sockets
• 4x Thumb Nuts
• 1x Screw Driver
• 1x NT-H2 Thermal Paste
• 1x User Guide
• 1x AMD Thermal Paste Guard
• 1x NA-CW1 Cleaning Wipe
• 1x PWM Y Cable
• 2x Low Noise Adapter Cables
• 4x NM-ISW1 Shim Washers for Intel LGA1700 socket
• 1x Noctua Badge

What’s New In The Heatsink?

The new flagship cooler has a dimension of 168x150x127mm (HxWxD) without fans. This dimension becomes 168x150x152 (HxWxD) with the fans. This cooler weighs 1525 grams. I did not see the Intel LGA20xx standoff screws implying this cooler is not compatible with that socket out of the box.

Noctua has kept the same industrial design as on the original NH-D15. You can see the terminating tips of the heat pipes on the top. There is a Noctua branding on the second tower. The front tower has 5mm less depth compared to the rear tower. Noctua has mentioned that this is done to balance the load between both fans.

The front and rear towers are identical in layout and design except the dimension. Noctua has retained the basic footprint of the original NH-D15 in this layout of G2. The main section of the fins is in straight line with an inset in the middle. The triangle shaped fins are in two columns.

There are 51+8 fins on this heatsink by my count. The fin stack is in stepped layout with 51 fins in the main tower and 8 fins in the stepped or reduced size portion.

Noctua has increased the size of the surface area by 20% by reducing the gap between the fins from 1.9mm to 1.6mm and adding 23 more fins. This means we have a highly dense fin stack for which we need high-performance fans.

Noctua has also reduced the depth of the heatsink/cooler at the same time. How is this possible? The new NF-A14x25r PWM fans are the main reason. These pack high airflow and high air pressure while remaining at the same sound level and also coming in at a reduced size compared to the NF-A15 fans.

The NH-D15 G2 is an offset design meaning the concentration of heat pipes and stepped fins are on one side of the heatsink compared to the opposite end. This gives the utmost clearance for the PCIe slot on the motherboards and also brings clearance for the motherboard’s rear and top area.

This means, there may not be NH-D15S G2 since Noctua has already got it covered in the G2.

The left and right sides of the heatsink are identical in layout and design. You can see that the fins are joined on these ends. I did not see any bend or broken fin unlike the ID-Cooling Frozn A720 cooler.

The insets have the same design as on the original NH-D15, and they catch the hands of the fan clips during the installation of the fan.

Noctua has retained the standard fan mounting design unlike the competition like Corsair A115 and be quiet! Dark Rock Elite.

The NM-SFB4 mounting plate comes pre-installed over the base of the cooler. It has two spring-loaded screws. This is the same as on the original NH-D15. The LBC and HBC versions have model names engraved over the base.

The NH-D15 G2/LBC has 8x nickel plated copper heat pipes whereas the original NH-D15 has 6 heat pipes. Noctua means business and they are serious about it by leaving no corner uncovered. The complete assembly is soldered (fins and heat pipes). This provides a better durability.

The three variants are derived from the NH-D15 G2’s base. The copper base is nickel-plated and measures approximately 44x50mm. It is chrome-finished.

The nickel-plated copper base on the NH-D15 G2 has a medium convexity, whereas the LBC variant has low convexity, and the HBC variant has high convexity. The G2 regular version is suitable for any platform and requirement.

The LBC version suits flat CPUs like AMD AM5 and Intel LGA 20xx. The HBC is suitable for Intel LGA 1700 CPUs which have become deshaped due to ILM pressure. Noctua has also provided washers to provide the same effect as the off-market contact frames for the LGA1700.

NF-A14x25r PWM Fans

NF-A14x25r PWM are the new fans from Noctua, which are a culmination of NF-A14 and NF-A12x25 PWM fans. They are now available in square frame design without the ‘r’ in the model.

These are the salient highlights of the fans:

• Sterrox® LCP
• Progressive-Bend impeller with winglets,
• Flow Acceleration Channels
• Centrifugal Turbulator hub. 0.7mm tip clearance
• Ultra low-loss etaPERF™ motor
• Smooth Commutation Drive 2
• SupraTorque™ feature
• SS02 bearings
• AAO frame
• Flow acceleration channels
• Stepped Inlet design
• Inner Surface Microstructures
• Integrated anti-vibration pads
• Metal Bearing Shell
• Advanced protection features

One side of the frame has arrow markers that show the airflow direction and the blades’ spin direction. The other side of the frame has Noctua branding.

A 4-pin PWM connector powers the fan. These fans feature 0 RPM speed under certain loads provided your motherboard or controller supports this feature. These fans can spin up to 1500 RPM with an offset of ±25 between both fans to reduce the humming.

These fans use Noctua SSO2 bearings and have MTTF of >150,000 hours which is the same as on the original NF-A14 and NF-A15 fans.

Installation

I have tested the NH-D15 G2 and NH-D15 G2 LBC coolers on the GIGABYTE X670E AORUS MASTER motherboard using AMD Ryzen 9 7950X. Here are the installation steps:

• Remove the stock AMD Mounting Brackets
• Place AMD Spacers on the mounting holes
• Place the Noctua Brackets over the spacers and secure these using AMD screws
• -7 marking on the Noctua brackets means -7mm offset for a better cooling performance
• Clean the CPU
• Remove the fans from the heatsink
• Place the cooler over the CPU and secure it using spring-loaded screws
• Install both fans and connect cables. You are done.

Clearance

Cooler Clearance

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The NH-D15 G2/LBC has a 59mm clearance for the RAM from the heatsink. This clearance is 32mm with the front fan fully seated. The height of the front fan is adjustable though it would increase the overall height of the cooler.

There is no clearance issue for the PCIe slot or the motherboard’s rear and top areas. This cooler’s stock height is 168mm, the same as on the original NH-D15. However, you would need a PC Case with a minimum clearance of 170 mm for the air coolers.

Testing

The following test configuration is used for NH-D15 G2 and LBC:

• AMD Ryzen 9 7950X
• GIGABYTE AORUS MASTER X670E
• XPG Lancer RGB 32GB 6000MHz CAS40
• ASRock Radeon RX 7600 Phantom Gaming OC [For Display]
• Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 2TB NVMe SSD [For OS and Data]
• Fractal ION+ 2P 860W PSU
• Praxis WetBench

Here are our test results:

The Noctua NH-D15 G2 and LBC versions show superior cooling performance compared to the original NH-D15 and a few other high-end flagship air coolers. The same sound level on new coolers is equally impressive.

Should You Buy It?

Buy It If

✅You are looking for a premium air cooler: The Noctua NH-D15 G2 and LBC variants have proven their metal in our testing. Noctua is back in the game with a strong performance.

✅You like SecuFirm2+ mounting: These coolers use the Noctua Secu-Firm2+ multi-socket mounting kit, which is Torx-based and comes with a comprehensive package including a cleaning wipe, AMD guard, and a screwdriver.

✅You are after the best noise-to-performance ratio: If you have an OCD for sound output like myself, then these coolers will not disappoint you.

Don’t Buy It If

❌You are on a budget: These coolers come with a steep price of USD 150, which might not be your cup of tea.

❌You are on Intel LGA20xx Socket: This cooler does not support the Intel LGA20xx socket out of the box.

Verdict

I have tested Noctua NH-D15 G2 and NH-D15 G2 LBC (Low Base Convexity) versions in this review. These are Noctua’s next-generation flagship coolers taking over the legacy of NH-D15. The new coolers are available in three variants including the HBC. The new coolers are compatible with Intel LGA115x/1200/1700 and AMD AM4/AM5 sockets.

Noctua has kept the basic design of the original NH-D15 while improvising the heatsink and new fans. The dimension of the cooler is 168x150x152mm (HxWxD).The fin stack provides 20% more surface area which is made possible by reducing the gap between fins from 1.9mm to 1.6mm and adding 23 more fins to the stack. The fins are in a step layout.

The heatsink has an offset design to favor the maximum PCIe clearance while providing the maximum clearance from the top of the motherboard at the same time. This was made possible using NH-D15S which means there may not be any need for S model down the road in new coolers.

Noctua has increased the heat pipes from 6 to 8, which is impressive. At the same time, they have managed to reduce the depth of the cooler compared to the original NH-D15. The front tower is 5mm less thicker than the rear tower. The complete assembly is soldered with nickel plated copper heat pipes and 44x50mm base.

The three variants originate from the base. These are:

• NH-D15 G2 has medium base convexity
• NH-D15 G2 LBC has low base convexity
• NH-D15 G2 HBC has high base convexity

If you are confused about these, just grab the NH-D15 G2, and you will be fine all along.

Noctua uses a SecuFirm2+ Torx-based multi-socket mounting kit with all variants. These are the first Noctua coolers to come with NT-H2, a better thermal paste than the NMT-H1.

The installation is the same as that of the other Noctua coolers. 10 items are required on the AMD platform to install the mounting hardware over the socket, and 19 items on the Intel platform.

Noctua has provided new NF-A14x25r PWM fans with these coolers. These fans are based on the NF-A14 and NF-A12x25 PWM fans. They are rated for a speed of 1500 RPM ±10%. The airflow rating is 155.6 m³/h at 12VDC, and the noise level is 24.8 dBA at 12VDC. These use SSO2 bearings and are rated for >150,000 hours MTTF.

The blades follow progressive bend technology with a winglet design. The tip clearance is 0.7mm. The fans are made of Sterrox LCP, which is the same as on NF-A12x25 PWM fans. These fans operate at an offset speed of ±25 RPM to reduce the humming across the heatsink.

These coolers are listed at USD 149.62 (Standard and LBC versions) and come with a 6-year warranty. Our testing shows that they deliver superior cooling performance with silent operations, but this is coming at a steep price that is not competitive.

Hayyan Serwer

[CPU Coolers & RAM Expert]

Hayyan Serwer is a tech enthusiast, with a love for PC building and article writing. Hayyan specializes in writing about CPU coolers and RAM kits. Hayyan has been familiar with the tech industry for over half a decade now, and has now stepped into providing quality reviews for the latest and greatest tech.
Get In Touch: hayyan@old.tech4gamers.com