Photos and Features
The design of the NH-D15 is based on the NH-D14 Noctua’s previous flagship heatsink. Like the D14 the D15 has a twin tower design that can run a two or three fan push pull setup. For the D15 they increased the size slightly to support larger 140mm fans. The additional surface area and airflow should help increase the already great cooling power.
Unlike a lot of the other manufactures, when it comes to the fins on the heatsink, Notcua has always ran a little thicker gauge metal than most. I don’t know if it helps with the cooling at all, most likely it blocks more airflow and means fewer fins aka less surface area. But even so I love the thicker gauge metal because it gives the heatsink a more solid feel. When handling a Noctua heatsink I never have to worry about bending anything nor do I have to worry about my hands getting cut up. The fin design on the D15 is folded on the ends, this helps push the air through the heatsink to the next fan with less air leaking out of the sides.
The D15 has an impressive 6 heatpipes. Each of the heatpipes runs the full height of both towers and just above the contact area. This design isn’t a direct contact design, but they are damn close and should do a good job of pulling the heat away from the CPU and up into both towers. I am curious if using the same heatpipes across both towers will push head up evenly to both towers, but we will let the testing tell us that later. One issue that I was a little concerned about, at the top of both towers the outside two heatpipes seem to short and don’t contact the last few cooling fins.
With heatsinks the contact surface can sometimes be hit and miss. Some manufactures focus on having a mirror finish while others save money and go with a rougher finish. For Noctua I never feel like they have held back or saved money anywhere on their heatsinks and the D15 is no different. The D15’s surface area has a slight machined finish to it but as you can see below you can still see the detail on a quarter when you hold it up against it. Frankly the finish on the D15 is going to be better than any CPU you attach it too!
