Noctua's progression, development of their fan over the last 8 years

[SpyderTracks]

This is quite interesting, how much effort goes into their designs is quite incredible.

There's a valid reason they're the best in the air cooler market

 

[HomerJ]

This is quite interesting, how much effort goes into their designs is quite incredible.

There's a valid reason they're the best in the air cooler market

whats better, an aio from a good brand i.e. corsair or an air cooler from say noctua?

I ask as this video seems to suggest noctua air cooler keeps up with an aio

 

[SpyderTracks]

whats better, an aio from a good brand i.e. corsair or an air cooler from say noctua?

I ask as this video seems to suggest noctua air cooler keeps up with an aio

I was looking into this after @sck451 corrected me a few months back

The Noctua NH-D15 is roughly on par with a premium 360mm Radiator which is quite incredible, and not something I expected, I expected it would be able to cool, but at higher temps, but no, it really does keep up with the biggest AIOs on the market.

It's a miraculous achievement. And now they've release the second one (which is the one I believe Linus is showing in that video), and they have their direct die solution with DerBauer, that's only going to improve

 

[sck451]

I was looking into this after @sck451 corrected me a few months back

The Noctua NH-D15 is roughly on par with a premium 360mm Radiator which is quite incredible, and not something I expected, I expected it would be able to cool, but at higher temps, but no, it really does keep up with the biggest AIOs on the market.

It's a miraculous achievement. And now they've release the second one (which is the one I believe Linus is showing in that video), and they have their direct die solution with DerBauer, that's only going to improve

Pretty sure that's the old NH-D15, as it has six heatpipes rather than the eight that will come with the newer version. (Personally I have the NH-D15S, the high-compatibility, single-fan version. I love it very much.)

I also own their t-shirt, hoodie and screwdriver. (Not that I'm a fan or anything...) Everything they make is superb.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Pretty sure that's the old NH-D15, as it has six heatpipes rather than the eight that will come with the newer version.

Yeah, you're absolutely right. I was getting confused by the fans, not looking at the heatpipes.

The design of the fans looks more like the newer ones, but perhaps they're more similar than I first thought.

 

[HomerJ]

Pretty sure that's the old NH-D15, as it has six heatpipes rather than the eight that will come with the newer version. (Personally I have the NH-D15S, the high-compatibility, single-fan version. I love it very much.)

I also own their t-shirt, hoodie and screwdriver. (Not that I'm a fan or anything...) Everything they make is superb.

hows the noise level of the noctua? as a comment under the linus video suggested AIO are able to cool with less noise then the noctua.

 

[sck451]

hows the noise level of the noctua? as a comment under the linus video suggested AIO are able to cool with less noise then the noctua.

It's very quiet. On the occasions I game, my graphics card (3060 Ti FE) is way louder than the CPU cooler or the case fans. In day to day use, it's silent. When rendering videos (5900X, FWIW), you can hear it, but it's not ridiculous at all.

 

[HomerJ]

It's very quiet. On the occasions I game, my graphics card (3060 Ti FE) is way louder than the CPU cooler or the case fans. In day to day use, it's silent. When rendering videos (5900X, FWIW), you can hear it, but it's not ridiculous at all.

i may need to rethink this whole cooler business, I always assumed AIO were better

 

[SpyderTracks]

i may need to rethink this whole cooler business, I always assumed AIO were better

Same with me up until very recently

 

[sck451]

i may need to rethink this whole cooler business, I always assumed AIO were better

The performance at the top end is very, very close. What AIOs are is tidier. An NH-D15 is a big chunk of metal taking up a fair bit of your case. I'm fine with this as I like the aesthetic (in face, this DIY Perks video was my introduction to the NH-D15, so I've always thought it looks great). It's a bit fiddly if I ever need to change components as there's not a lot of space and it's quite sharp, and it's very easy to leave fingerprints.

For me the massive downside of an AIO is that it's not as reliable. Not because modern AIOs aren't very reliable: they are. But there's basically no way my cooler can go wrong. Even if the fan dies, I can just stick another one on it (even a case fan will do in a pinch) and keep going. No pump failures, no leaks, no evaporation.

A good air cooler is also significantly cheaper than its equivalent AIO...

 

[Scott]

The key is to consider your situation. Every situation can be maxed with an AIO, not all situations can with an air cooler. Air coolers are massively impacted with the environment (case, air temperature, airflow, etc). AIOs take most of that out of the equation as they create their own airflow. When I'm speccing a system I typically go for AIO as you can't go wrong, the airflow considerations are for the GPU & VRMs etc. The aesthetic is a personal thing for me as well as the air coolers are very ugly to my eye.

I would disagree on pricing though. If you're sticking with Corsair then I could see that being the case but I got a 360mm DeepCool RGB AIO for £115 delivered. The high end Noctua's aren't far off that and to get one at that level of cooling would cost more. Ironically, given my build setup, an air cooler would have fit the bill quite nicely as I have an open bench setup, so the AIO has no real impact other than aesthetics.

 

[HomerJ]

talking of air coolers, interesting article, this deepcool is on pcs white builds

DeepCool AK500 Review: Big Air, Incredible Value

Strong, Silent Performance, with full DRAM compatibility that pairs well with Alder Lake CPUs

www.tomshardware.com

 

[sck451]

This article from Noctua is really interesting on their product development process, how they get such solid products, etc:

Noctua at Computex 2023

Designed in Austria, Noctua's premium cooling components are renowned for their superb quietness, exceptional performance and thoroughgoing quality.

noctua.at