Noctua nh-d15 vs custom water cooling

Ars Praefectus

Registered: Jan 29, 2001

Posts: 3366

I'm building a PC for my son and the CPU of choice is Intel i7-10700K that I scored on one of Black Friday flash deals here, in Poland. (almost -50% off RRP!)
Now I have built custom water loops in the past but for this build I want to keep it simple, so a big air cooler like the Noctua or an all in once cooler.
As Noctua is quite pricey, it means I could get a 280 or 360mm AIO at a similar price, but not too convinced that it will give better OC or lower noise.
Looks like the CPU is a bit of a power hog with 125WTDP:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/in ... pu-review/
so maybe AIO is worth it for this particular CPU?

I don't plan to run it all turbo, all time, just let the usual Turbo Boost do its work, so I'm still not sure...

Last edited by elh on Mon Nov 30, 2020 2:47 pm

Ars Praefectus

Registered: Jan 29, 2001

Posts: 3366

Oh no... another rabbit hole - looks like there's so many of these similarly designed and similarly performing coolers nowadays - Corsair A500, Scythe ninja 5, BeQuiet, ArcticFreezer. SO stuck right now..

Ars Praefectus

Registered: Jan 29, 2001

Posts: 3366

The more I read about all-in one solutions, the less I see the point:
https://www.techpowerup.com/review/ek-a ... ler/6.html

Even a VERY expensive ($200+ currently) 360mm cooling loop from EKWB cools a 120W CPU just a few degrees less.
The noise levels are similar, there is no OC gain. What's the point, what am I missing?
The AIO solutions priced closer to air coolers (240 and 280mm ones) often perform worse than aircoolers.
Again, what's the point?

Registered: Jul 1, 1999

Posts: 91918

Which case are you building this system in?

Is your goal a maximum overclock, is it silence, is it low noise (which isn't as demanding as "silence")? Some combination of two?

As far as heatsinks, the NH-D15, NH-D15S (with a 2nd fan), and Zalmon CNPS20x seem to be tops. The Ninja 5 and a bunch of others are not quite tops, especially if noise is a consideration (looking at you, Corsair A500).

If you do choose to go AIO, grab at least a 280mm unit. Smaller than that isn't worth the hassle in my (admittedly limited) experience.

Ars Legatus Legionis

Registered: Dec 7, 2000

Posts: 19080

I'd go air cooling. It works just as well as water cooling, is much less of a hassle to install and has less potential failure points (no pump).

The worse that can happen to an aircooler is the fan dies, which for quite a few design like the Noctua just means a 30 second replacement.

I installed my NH-D15S 4 years ago and it still works perfectly today. I'm replacing the motherboard and CPU this week and the Noctua will just be migrated onto the new system. Noctua even sent me a free adapter to make it work on the AM4 motherboard I bought. I can't say anything about the competitors but I can heartily recommend the Noctua one. Just make sure your case has enough room to fit it. It's a big boy.

Ars Praefectus

Registered: Jan 29, 2001

Posts: 3366

Which case are you building this system in?

Is your goal a maximum overclock, is it silence, is it low noise (which isn't as demanding as "silence")? Some combination of two?

As far as heatsinks, the NH-D15, NH-D15S (with a 2nd fan), and Zalmon CNPS20x seem to be tops. The Ninja 5 and a bunch o of others are not quite tops, especially if noise is a consideration (looking at you, Corsair A500).

If you do choose to go AIO, grab at least a 280mm unit. Smaller than that isn't worth the hassle in my (admittedly limited) experience.

This is the case:
https://www.x-kom.pl/p/547682-obudowa-do-komputera-silentiumpc-signum-sg1v-evo-tg-argb.html
so plenty of airflow, fans and hey ARGB, because why the heck not - it's for my kid.
Not really planning on OC, maybe just a few tweaks to voltage and whatever else is allowed on modern K processors - higher boost?
And yeah - low noise is the goal.
For now I've ordered Noctua and Mugen 5 and will post results - the only reasonably cheap place I could get the Black Noctua was straight from Noctua Austria so it might be a few days to arrive. If I have everything else in place I might not way for Noctua and build with Mugen instead.

I still expect the main source of the noise to be the GPU - most likely some variant of GTX3070.

"Brain Damaged"
Ars Legatus Legionis
et Subscriptor

Tribus: DFW, TX

Registered: Jan 22, 2004

Posts: 54640

Noctua is the right choice unless there's a compelling reason why you need something else.

I think the basic rule of thumb should be air cool in most cases, AIO if you need it for space constraints (like a mITX build), and custom loop if you need better cooling performance (heavy overclocking, machine learning rig with quad GPUs, etc.).

Ars Praefectus

Tribus: Mancunium, Britannia Major

Registered: Jun 18, 2004

Posts: 4163

You'll likely lose a bit of performance if the CPU is turboing hard up to PL2 (229W for the 10700k, which the D15 will struggle with).

That said, for most uses, most of the time, the D15 will be fine.

Ars Scholae Palatinae
et Subscriptor

Tribus: 18TWL4

Registered: Feb 26, 2014

Posts: 962

The Dark Rock Pro 4 should be on your list, and it's been on sale a few times recently.
https://www.bequiet.com/en/cpucooler/1378

And yeah, i'm a vote for air. I ticked the Noctua in the poll.

Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius

Registered: Jun 14, 2000

Posts: 6980

I really don't like those giant air coolers dumping all the CPU exhaust heat into the case. I also don't like how they look in my windowed Corsair Clear 400C case and how they can limit memory choices. There's little point to overclocking these days says someone who was overclocking everything since 1998. I ran my last overclocked setup, a delidded i7-8700K @ 5 GHz, cooled by a Corsair 240mm H100i AIO and am cooling my current Ryzen 9 3900K with a Cooler Master 240mm AIO. Both cost me under $80 (the Corsair was used), are very easy to install, and both were run with the fan speed limited. Recently Newegg had my Cooler Master 240mm AIO on sale for $50 after $10 MIR. They were setup to exhaust the CPU heat out of the case. So no added heat buildup for my RX 5700 XT GPU or the motherboard VRMs, and no need for a bunch of high-speed noisy case fans to get all that combined CPU and GPU heat out of the case. Neither was noisy, both cool the CPU just fine and with a glass window, much nicer for viewing pleasure. Just my opinion, everyone else is certainly entitled to their opinions also.

I ticked nothing in the poll, because the 360mm AIO and most of those air coolers cost more than I would ever pay.

Ars Legatus Legionis

Tribus: Canada

Registered: Jun 17, 2005

Posts: 13526

IMO, just get a Noctua D15/D15S unless you hate Air cooling for some reason, or you are building in an ITX case where it won't fit.

Air cooling is cheaper, and more durable, and can be quieter as well.

Ars Praefectus

Registered: Jan 29, 2001

Posts: 3366

I really don't like those giant air coolers dumping all the CPU exhaust heat into the case. I also don't like how they look in my windowed Corsair Clear 400C case and how they can limit memory choices. There's little point to overclocking these days says someone who was overclocking everything since 1998. I ran my last overclocked setup, a delidded i7-8700K @ 5 GHz, cooled by a Corsair 240mm H100i AIO and am cooling my current Ryzen 9 3900K with a Cooler Master 240mm AIO. Both cost me under $80 (the Corsair was used), are very easy to install, and both were run with the fan speed limited. Recently Newegg had my Cooler Master 240mm AIO on sale for $50 after $10 MIR. They were setup to exhaust the CPU heat out of the case. So no added heat buildup for my RX 5700 XT GPU or the motherboard VRMs, and no need for a bunch of high-speed noisy case fans to get all that combined CPU and GPU heat out of the case. Neither was noisy, both cool the CPU just fine and with a glass window, much nicer for viewing pleasure. Just my opinion, everyone else is certainly entitled to their opinions also.

I ticked nothing in the poll, because the 360mm AIO and most of those air coolers cost more than I would ever pay.

Thanks for the pictures, but it looks like your case fan (near the mobo) is also set to exhaust which results in negative pressure inside the case.
This is bad as it results in worse airflow (around motherboard VRMs for example), but the main problem is it will suck dust through every hole possible.
Where is the air coming in to your case?
How are things work out for you dust-wise?

Ars Praefectus

Tribus: Mancunium, Britannia Major

Registered: Jun 18, 2004

Posts: 4163

I'm seeing two intake fans at the front of the case, at least in the second, more recent picture.

Ars Legatus Legionis

Registered: Mar 18, 2000

Posts: 34322

Quote:

Not really planning on OC, maybe just a few tweaks to voltage and whatever else is allowed on modern K processors - higher boost?

Both a D15 or AIO are overkill in the real world (e.g. not running prime95 w/ small AVX ffts all day). I'd look one step down, something like a D14 or U14 class from Noctua or equivalent. That last couple percent performance doesn't matter at stock and you pay a lot for it. Plus cheaper AIOs are mostly worse than aircooling.

Ars Legatus Legionis

Tribus: Canada

Registered: Jun 17, 2005

Posts: 13526

Quote:

Not really planning on OC, maybe just a few tweaks to voltage and whatever else is allowed on modern K processors - higher boost?

Both a D15 or AIO are overkill in the real world (e.g. not running prime95 w/ small AVX ffts all day). I'd look one step down, something like a D14 or U14 class from Noctua or equivalent. That last couple percent performance doesn't matter at stock and you pay a lot for it. Plus cheaper AIOs are mostly worse than aircooling.

I wouldn't consider D15 overkill for 10700K overclocking at all.

D14 is just the old discontinued version of the D15. U14s (Current) is just as tall and as expensive as the D15, with worse performance.

If you want to go slightly lower in the Noctua Line, I would recommend the D15s. Its the single fan, high compatibility version.

I wouldn't recommend going lower than that unless the D15s won't fit as lower than that price/performance gets worse.

IMO D15s is the sweet spot of the Noctua lineup. Only 160mm tall, with excellent RAM and PCIe slot clearance, and relatively decent price.

Ars Legatus Legionis

Registered: Mar 18, 2000

Posts: 34322

Quote:

Not really planning on OC, maybe just a few tweaks to voltage and whatever else is allowed on modern K processors - higher boost?

Both a D15 or AIO are overkill in the real world (e.g. not running prime95 w/ small AVX ffts all day). I'd look one step down, something like a D14 or U14 class from Noctua or equivalent. That last couple percent performance doesn't matter at stock and you pay a lot for it. Plus cheaper AIOs are mostly worse than aircooling.

I wouldn't consider D15 overkill for 10700K overclocking at all.

For overclocking, definitely get the D15. But he is running at or about stock, so much lower power. A 90 dollar heatsink is overkill.

D14 is just the old discontinued version of the D15. U14s (Current) is just as tall and as expensive as the D15, with worse performance.

Just checked and prices have changed since I built last year. Used to be you could get the D14 for 20 less than the D15, which was a pretty solid deal since it had almost the same performance. Looks like they finally sold out their stock of older models.

Ars Praefectus

Tribus: Mancunium, Britannia Major

Registered: Jun 18, 2004

Posts: 4163

Overkill cooling = quiet cooling, even in warm weather. Of course, it depends how much quietness is worth to you, but the fact a CPU at max power isn't pushing your heatsink to the redline isn't necessarily a problem.

Ars Legatus Legionis

Tribus: Canada

Registered: Jun 17, 2005

Posts: 13526

D15s then? It's what I was going with if I was going to get something like a 10700K.

It's $99 CDN or $79 USD.

In Canada at least, performance drops a LOT below that price point, such that the D15s was the only cooler I was considering if I went that high up the CPU food chain.

In the end I decided to aim lower and picked up a Deepcool Gammaxx 400 on sale for $26 Canadian. Still not sure which CPU (5600 non X if AMD doesn't cripple it) I will get but the Intel 10700K is definitely off the table with this cooler.

There is actually nothing I was considering in between the Gammaxx and the the D15s. You have to spend so much more than the Gammaxx price here to beat it, that you may as well go straight to the D15s.

Ars Praefectus

Registered: Jan 29, 2001

Posts: 3366

I'm seeing two intake fans at the front of the case, at least in the second, more recent picture.

Yup 2 in, 3 out. As Archer would say, that's how you get

dust.
Noctua D15 in black is already on the way.
It might be an interesting future project if I find the noise or perf unsatisfactory, I might upgrade proper watercooling or something.
In the meantime I might drop the temps by a degree a two as I also ordered thermal grizzly kryonaut.
Yeah I'm a sucker for these products but hey it was cheap.

Ars Praefectus

Tribus: Mancunium, Britannia Major

Registered: Jun 18, 2004

Posts: 4163

I'm seeing two intake fans at the front of the case, at least in the second, more recent picture.

Yup 2 in, 3 out. As Archer would say, that's how you get

dust.
Noctua D15 in black is already on the way.
It might be an interesting future project if I find the noise or perf unsatisfactory, I might upgrade proper watercooling or something.
In the meantime I might drop the temps by a degree a two as I also ordered thermal grizzly kryonaut.
Yeah I'm a sucker for these products but hey it was cheap.

It's not as simple as the number of fans.... The ones on the radiator are having to push air through it, so will only achieve a fraction of the airflow they would in free air.