Noctua Finally Did It | NH-D15 G2 Launching, Thermosiphon, & Fans

[@GamersNexus]

If you like our engineering discussion with Jakob in this one, check out the video we did with him last year! All still relevant and explains the engineering of fans: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bmOvi56dobOch5I Watch our coldplate design problems video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bXOwiqaDfNWsfLs

[@petesomeguy]

Already looking forward to your review of these new coolers!

[@adriankoch964]

Did the term "diminishing return/dollar" come up in that discussion? :)

[@Foxmonsieur]

Thanks Steve for saying "Don't go, it's not 2023", I almost closed it to check on the page ahahahah.

[@burnsyd17]

Very cool detailed dive, I just wonder how much it matters with Intel moving off LGA 1700 this fall. You have to HOPE Intel learned a lesson from the crappy 12/13/14 gen ILM.

[@evo0074]

"promising for dates ..... the liquid..." XDD the bot will love that again right

[@robsdeviceunknown]

That young man you were speaking with deserves an award. It's super rare to have a rep who KNOWS what he is talking about, is well spoken, has the answers and delivers. Just .. dang good job on him. Noctua better take care of that man.

[@Williazzzz]

He is great, no other way of putting it, a true fan design professional, any video with him is an instant watch.

[@valentin3186]

It's Noctua. Quality comes first

[@FatHead1979]

@@valentin3186 100% agree, nothing seems to come between Noctua and the quality of the solution

[@NonLegitNation2]

so in stupid Gen-Z speak, "We must protect this man at all costs"

[@FatHead1979]

@@NonLegitNation2 Absolutely!

[@redfinewine]

it's been 80 years...

[@99mage99]

Are you quoting Titanic?

[@CaptAj]

And I can still smell the fresh (brown) paint

[@smashed_penguin]

It's been so long my original D15 has turned brown... Oh wait.

[@robertobokarev439]

84

[@wololo10]

84*

[@ffwast]

In another 5 to 20 years it might come in black too.

[@arturovidal5306]

For the low, low price of $250!

[@marks9233]

🤣

[@TheJttv]

They mentioned/claimed in 2023 that it isn't as simple as adding dye to it. They have you change multiple things about the resin or you ruin the stiffness/structure of the blades. Noctua all about deep sciences.

[@ItsHaldun]

They'd need to run thermal and pressure analysis and conduct year long research on the acoustics of black paint first!

[@RuyGedares_GuyRedares]

Dat super poop science :) ​@@TheJttv

[@marcel1416]

I mean... you could argue the price or the stylistic choices made by Noctua. But you for sure cannot argue the quality of their products. I have bought a NH-D14 in my teens when I did my first self build PC... I am 33 now... I have been using my D14 for around 10-15 years now, brought it over from build to build over the years, still use the fans that it shipped with. I remember getting a new mounting kit for free by contacting their support a couple of years in when I was changing sockets. A company these days, that cares about producing thoroughly tested, long-life products with amazing support, huge compatibility lists and continous support for older products deserves my fullest support. Just my opinion though...

[@covante4822]

I bought my d15 with a 6700k, it was one of the things that survived when my 3700x build fell off my desk and I'm using it on a 13600k now and it's still going great and it'll probably go on the next upgrade too.

[@cwill2127]

No doubt impressive with the fans, but the rest of it is to be expected. Heatsinks are hunks of metal with approximately 0 moving parts. Short of an explosion there’s not much to go wrong

[@jubuttib]

For me the biggest tell, aside from their willingness to give new mounting hardware free of charge, has always been their really relaxed pace of releasing new products. In many points during their existence they could have had quick wins by doing small variations to their products and selling them, but instead they've kept the attitude of "unless we can make a clear, significant improvement, we're not releasing anything".

[@AndresUffert2]

Agreed bought D15 like 7 years ago i think, it still works just like the day i bought it, all original fans, and i have rest of the fans also noctua so i mean, i am willing to buy good things if they last, price is not that important all the time. so yea.

[@MaximumCarnage-]

I agree. My first couple pc's were built by a friend of mine and he recommended Noctua for the case/CPU even though they cost a bit more. Used those fans for well over a decade and zero issues. I built my first PC last year and got D15. I'm definitely sticking with them.

[@stefanoalves8862]

Props to Noctua for sticking to their branding so much that not only they still haven't released a RGB fan (even though it would probably be a money printer for them), but not even showing off a Chromax version of their new flagship product. They live and die by the chocolate and cream.

[@Demon09-_-]

That's because chromax will take another 5-10 years for the new gen 2 fans 😂

[@jubuttib]

Why get RGB, when you can get BB? =) Yeah, many would likely argue that they "should" have focused on making the black one first, then the BBs for the diehards. But I'm glad they're sticking to their guns, because I for one like seeing them and instantly knowing what's going on. Some of my amateur racing acquaintances seem to have the same kind of fondness for seeing specific "iconic" colored shock absorbers or brake calipers etc. parts on a car in the pits and knowing they put in good parts just from that.

[@agafaba]

@@jubuttib We need a noctua fan with beige leds

[@Prophes0r]

It isn't just aesthetics. It requires REAL engineering to do something as simple as changing the coloring additives in their plastic. The color of the end product is almost literally meaningless. It makes just as much sense to tare about the color of a fan as it does to care about the color of the pants a roofer is wearing. This should literally never even be a discussion.

[@teresashinkansen9402]

I don't get the appeal of RGB, reminds me of ricer cars.

[@DustinHarms]

Noctua is so cool man. They're talking about engineering their fans to last 6, 8, or more years at top performance. I don't feel like anyone else even gives a shit about that stuff. Any company that engineers their products with the long-term in mind has my vote and my money.

[@Rose.Of.Hizaki]

Well, Noctua is in the business of making cooling stuff, So one would hope the brand would cool.

[@DustinHarms]

@@Rose.Of.Hizaki I appreciate you taking the time to reply with this, lol

[@Ecalypse]

I'm running NH-D15 right now. It's been more than 7 years since I bought it and I think I'll be using it for a really long time. A while back I wanted to try some other 140 mm fans on it, so I got in touch with their support and they sent me some brackets to fit it for free. I want to smash the like and subscribe button on Noctua's support.

[@thestoicwhinger]

​@angleisthebest👏👏👏 love it

[@LowKeyContender]

@angleisthebest nothing better than a good huffing of farts in the morning. dont knock it till u try it. MOVE OVER FOLGERS!!!!

[@hellowill]

I am running 3 in my house lol. One going after 9 years now.

[@jamesm568]

​​@angleisthebestThere's a lot of high quality air coolers out there as everybody has their own favorite brands. To most people price is irrelevant when they want their favorite brands. You really can't go wrong with what brand you pick for air coolers these days. Noctua Is the gold standard as everyone else is an alternative.

[@schwubbi]

@angleisthebest Noctua sends you free mounting kits for decade old coolers...i think that makes it much easier to pay a high price. i mean, some brands would struggle to give you a mounting kit for a 5 year old cooler, and then you have to pay for it, if they even have it.

[@billcipher1212]

honestly this video makes me like noctua more bcs they sent someone to the show who seems to genuinely know and care about what hes talking about and imo when you have someone who seems (to me at least) like he genuinely knows and cares endorsing a product (even from the company he works at) it makes me trust it more than some outside marketing firm telling me that i should buy something

[@arthurmoore9488]

Watch last years video. He was the one explaining why things were delayed, and gave more technical details. Communication about why something is hard is key.

[@DontEatCream]

The three most impactful moments of my life 1. Reaching financial independence 2. Watching my child be born 3. Noctua releasing the D15G2

[@georgemorley1029]

If that’s in descending order then have a word with yourself.

[@laggmonstret]

@@georgemorley1029 Why should he?

[@Its-Just-Zip]

​@@laggmonstretobviously the d15 G2 is the most impactful moment in anybody's life

[@Cook_A_Burra]

@@georgemorley1029 Opposed to ascending order, which is perfectly reasonable.

[@brofenix]

Haha, on your heels working towards financial independence :) I'm grateful I discovered the concept and plans other people have explained to reach it!

[@zeemon9623]

GN: Let's put together the nerdiest cooler testing suite. Noctua: Halte mein Bier.

[@AlpineTheHusky]

Hoit mei Bier

[@woswasdenni1914]

@@AlpineTheHusky hoit my hülsn

[@arthurmoore9488]

On the other hand, as mentioned, they're able to leverage GN's video for customer education.

[@zeemon9623]

@@arthurmoore9488 Yeah, it would be weird for industry and media to actually compete.

[@hananas2]

They probably prefer Almdudlers so they can keep thinking straight

[@vr0k3n]

Jakob is so incredibly knowledgable and smart when explaining his shit. You can see he clearly is a professional and always look forwards to this video every year 👏👌

[@singular9]

Planned obsolescence: exists Noctua: Hold my fan for 10 years

[@gloeckle]

I am like # 70. I hesitated...

[@dgkimpton]

Seriously. I did a double take when he said that. I mean, I absolutely want my fans to last a decade or more, but I never expected they actually would. Bravo Noctua - huge selling point.

[@FM-kl7oc]

Noctua operates on geological timescales, that includes their planned obsolescence.

[@Real_MisterSir]

cheap proven tech and plastic parts that tends to last 10 years anyways: exists Nocuta: 150 dollarz take or leave

[@vongdong10]

Yeah but better fans exist now.

[@dangingerich2559]

"Assume a spherical, frictionless cow" sounds like my old physics classes.

[@Its-Just-Zip]

You forgot that the cow was also of uniform density and we are ignoring air resistance

[@EhNothing]

"...aka, OP's mom...."

[@Prophes0r]

Physics classes get more fun when the cow is a point mass, with a known location, in a volume of flat spacetime.

[@IMelkor42]

It's a 'Brief history of Time' reference

[@khulhucthulhu9952]

@@Its-Just-Zip it's frictionless, so we were already ignoring air resistance, but uniform density is a good point!

[@tomhollins5303]

I'm an engineer and suffer a little from an engineer's ego (the "I know better" feeling when I see companies explaining things.). Happy to say its not an issue listening to what Jacob has to say in his interviews with GN. So entertaining listening to someone who is so clearly an expert who deeply understand's their field. Top quality interview.

[@Prophes0r]

There are so many people commenting about "Wow, that rep seems to actually know technical details" here instead of "Wow, that engineer is actually good at talking to people" like you and I have been. I know plenty of engineers who will willingly and passionately talk your ear off about stuff...if they believe you are "worth" talking to. It is MUCH more rare to find one who can do it while talking to "the unwashed masses".

[@802Garage]

When you let the engineer explain the product instead of some marketer who doesn't actually understand what they are saying. 😁

[@Odder-Being]

It's not all that hard to understand but what surprised me was that .2nm torque equals a compressive load of 30kg.

[@pfmcdermott1]

I love the guy you interviewed! The caveat in the graph, that he gave a torque spec for the mounting screws…he’s our kind of guy.

[@arthurmoore9488]

I especially love the part where he mentions how lubricants affect torque vs mounting pressure.

[@impendingdescent2]

I am still running my NH-D14 I bought in 2010, original fans and all!

[@EdNarculus]

Me too!

[@garyharris8082]

me three

[@stysner4580]

I have a U14S from 2016. Nice to know I'm probably fine for another 6 years :D

[@YesItsRickySpanish]

Me waiting for Steve to approach the EK booth.... 😂

[@Shreyas-S]

He said he’s going to the ASUS booth instead

[@JjJetplan]

They have one this year? Zero shame. Have to say tho...really really like my ek360 dark nucleus..if I'm not mistaken it's still one of the best 360 aio's on the market.

[@MandoArtsudios]

​@JjJetplan I mean they're good but the artic liquid freezer III Series does even better and are about on par with deepcool's AIO stack

[@sammiller6631]

@@JjJetplan I wonder if any channel who interviews EK at Computex will be bombed with negative comments.

[@DragonKingGaav]

I wonder what's going to happen Steve sees Linus!

[@ghjong001]

Yes, $150 is expensive, but I really appreciate Jakob's explanations of exactly what they were working on, why it was delayed, their design decisions, and the detailed explanations of where their data comes from. I totally understand the diminishing returns on high end coolers, and not everyone has the cash to spare, but I respect their engineering approach, and I'm perfectly willing to throw money their way.

[@InnocentiusLacrimosa]

Noctua coolers also last for ages. You can move it from build to build as long as you want.

[@MacCosmic]

I agree, feels like they are pricing to keep profits but then I have no problem paying for quality and that includes maximizing the life vs designing obsolescence into the product. My noctua air cooler out lasted my AIO cooler and keeps the CPU cooler. Guess what I paid for my AIO cooler? Time will tell if Noctua is becoming a trusted name or a china product living off the name till it's dead to us. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

[@lil----lil]

Agreed.

[@vitinvaldez4927]

Noctua are better than a lot of liquid cooler

[@arthurmoore9488]

That "what state is it really in" is something most companies don't let us talk about. Especially with the whole, "we could do X, but it would raise the price." I also completely love the part about adding reinforcement so being able to use cheaper materials. It's obvious in hindsight, but whoever came up with that deserves a pat on the back.* * I don't say bonus because that should be company wide. Otherwise you get toxic behavior.

[@bowi1332]

You know Noctua is a serious company when they teach Steve about how GN's test might need to be updated because of how the unit/CPU bends over time. 😅

[@arthurmoore9488]

You could tell they just shoved a boat load of work on his plate. Especially since GN may have to re-examine all their intel cooler results. This might even lead to a review or two being retracted if their CPU turns out to have a massively different curvature.

[@GamersNexus]

@@arthurmoore9488 No re-examination needed. We mostly use AMD, so it's fine. Intel we only just started.

[@maskharat]

​@@GamersNexus at some point after your Intel benches had their time to warp, revisits would be a nice feature, though.

[@Lemard77]

@@GamersNexus One thing about the deformation changing over time I didn't quite get, would it be after multiple installations (like a test system) or does it also happen for a single mount CPU while it's clamped down (typical customer use of installing once and keeping it there for years)?

[@gpuwiz]

@@Lemard77 It's likely due to the heat cycles when a user has it installed for a long period of time.

[@BjørjaBear]

Bought a U9F back in 2008. I still use it, and the same fan is still going. They've sent me two mounting kits for free over the years. Great product and a great company.

[@dntkatz]

As someone that worked in the Plastic production side of things Black is the worst color to make. When black is done you are adding Carbon for color (at least in the process that I worked with) this changes the hardness of the plastic. To much will make it brittle. We did hourly testing to insure carbon levels in our production because once it hit a high enough level it will shatter. There may be newer ways to do it now but that is how it was. Even added recycled plastic is a very complex process as the structure changes greatly.

[@jordanhendricks3307]

I know absolutely nothing, is there a "perfect" color for plastic? That either doesn't effect hardness or even strengthens it?

[@arthurmoore9488]

@@jordanhendricks3307 Not knowing about plastics in particular, in general mixing all colors gives... brown! A shade surprisingly similar to Noctua brown at that.

[@TheBackyardChemist]

Probably whatever the natural colour of the polymer is, so typically yellowish white.

[@openwoundproductions1662]

Very interesting. In vinyl record production carbon is also used for the standard black LP. Makes it last more spins without degrading :)

[@Nandrith]

@@jordanhendricks3307 There are many different types of plastics, all with their own strengths and weaknesses - and natural color(s). Nylons (yes, even nylon is not a single plastic, but a subgroup of a subgroup), for example, have a somewhere between translucent to milky white color, depending on which exact type of nylon you have. And while nylons are easy to color, other types of plastics are not. So the short answer to your first question is "it depends". To your second question: Leaving all the different kinds of plastics and ways to color them aside, hardness is not the only property you have to look at. Even if you have a very hard plastic, it might still be a bad choice if it warps easily, degrades over time, is brittle, very expensive or just really hard to work with. All the factors are extremely complicated, which is why Noctua deserves recognition as one of the few companies that does not stop at "meh, good enough" but goes deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole to produce the best product they can, even if it sells at a premium and by that considerably narrows down their customer range.

[@FrietjeOorlog]

You're welcome! I bought the D14 and right after they released the D15. Now I've just bought a D15, so this makes perfect sense!

[@sammiller6631]

Computex is full of surprises. Glad to see Noctua has a booth with new stuff, but what I REALLY want to know is if EK Waterblocks has a booth there? Is anyone going to interview EK there? KitGuru's recent interviews with EK were brutal. I don't think BBC HARDtalk could have done better.

[@Ash-Col]

EK is there, waiting for Steve to pay them a visit

[@adriankoch964]

​@@Ash-Colall the reps are carrying knives, bats and polonium candy at their booth located between the 4th floor window & unsupervised stairway.

[@gamingmarcus]

My NH-D14 is still running flawlessly since 2014 and I got two platform upgrades for free. Noctua is also an investment in longevity and waste reduction.

[@Odder-Being]

" Noctua is also an investment in longevity and waste reduction " This is exactly what we need and more companies should take this stand. Planned Obsolescence is so not done if we look at the world pollution rate.

[@phyde1885]

I'm Still runn'n my NH-D15 SE AM4 since it's launch in 2017 on my RYZEN 1800X, Smooth as BUTTER !! And QUIET !!

[@MirelRC]

My friend's Noctua fans from more than 10yrs ago are still up and running verry strong. I have a huge respect for Noctua.

[@SnowBob302]

It’s amazing that Noctua is willing to share this detailed level of their testing with consumers. I’m glad there is a still a company that will peruse performance above all even if it introduces additional complexity for the buyer. I hope customers will reward them for taking this risk and believing that the users will put in the extra effort to understand the results. Kudos!

[@HackoDis]

I bought one of these used, didn't have the brackets for AM4, a few emails back and forth, they sent me a kit for free. Great to see they're finally upgrading the unit :D

[@DZ-og7pm]

Your engineering discussions with Jacob are my personal highlight of every Computex covering you did and do - it‘s that interesting and fascinating to deep dive into pc technology as well as engineering. Please keep this coming up the years to come 🫶🏻 Big hugs from Germany 🤗

[@Chaosbreak1]

The way they presented the cooler types was the closest i've seen to a custom solution to solve a problem that many don't know they have. The designs and how its made to get top performance out of the many different situations is just amazing.

[@JTCF]

It's incredible that they do think of how their product will perform in 6-8 years, very rare to see these days. Good job Noctua!

[@stysner4580]

I can't get over this feeling they're shooting themselves in the foot though, like Sennheiser did. Make too robust of a product and people will buy one and have no need for another one for 10+ years. That's great for consumers but a very bad business model.

[@FaySmash]

Trust me, it won't. Two noctua fans died on me after a year

[@RubMySweatyThighs]

@@stysner4580 Ehhh I think they get recommended just based on the good rep they get on their products

[@covante4822]

@@stysner4580 Making shitty stuff that breaks before it should is not a good plan to attract repeat business.

[@stysner4580]

@@covante4822 No but there has to be some goldilocks zone. Because once your customer count stabilizes there's no real income anymore. It's the reason why there is no "buy to own" software anymore. People will just stay on older versions and you can't change the price according to inflation later.

[@JohnWalker-j7t]

I remember back in ‘Nam the only thing that got us through was that we knew if we made it back the new nh-d15 would finally be available.

[@mirr1984]

I bought a NH-D15 a few months back to cool my 7800X3D. Works like a dream, and it's very quiet.

[@gambaownsus]

I have an 7800X3D and that's an overkill cooler you have

[@tyler6602]

@gambaownsus no such thing

[@ambidexmed]

I went for the same combo. Very happy!

[@JohnCena-um5uo]

There is such thing as an over kill cooler especially when it comes to am5 ryzens​@@tyler6602

[@thebcwonder4850]

@@tyler6602the CPU will go boom boom if it takes that much power

[@rodrimora]

It's so cool that they have an actual engineer instead of a marketing person there.

[@S.ASmith]

Been using a NH-D15 with the original 140mm fans since 2019. Still performs flawlessly, have used it on a R5 1600, R7 2700X and now R7 3700X. They sent me out a AMD mounting solution for free when I got in touch with them, as I only got the intel bracket when I brought it used off of Ebay. This is what happens when you have a company run by Engineers, not designers & accountants. I always point people to their fans as a result. A good product with human customer service & the data to back this up. Gute Arbeit Noctua

[@TheArthias]

For many years, I have always liked to see Jakob! Amazingly informative!

[@unclerubo]

I always enjoy watching Steve nerding out with the technical people from the companies...

[@benfoster93]

Noctua really seems like a excellent company

[@solominded]

I honestly cannot believe how knowledgeable that noctua engineer is. Absolutely incredible. I genuinely did not think about all the tiny issues you can have with coolers, even just 10 microns can make the difference between good and bad cooling. Thank you noctua for being so awesome. I see why their stuff costs so much more than the competitors, you really are buying quality.

[@sharkhealgaming9557]

Really loved this video and how we got in detail. The explanation from the man or noctua staff was impeccable, you could actually feel how much passionate he was about the topic

[@JJssss]

I was there, 3000 years ago when they launched the NHD15...

[@pdrey100]

Wolverine?

[@AlfaPro1337]

@@pdrey100 LoTR

[@delayed_control]

@@AlfaPro1337 Guide: "I was there Gandalf, 3000 years ago" Elrond, Lord of the Rings "Floette, it's been 3000 years" AZ, Pokemon X&Y "It's been 84 years" Rose, Titanic

[@zivzulander]

​@@delayed_control Do not cite the references to me, witch, I was there when they were written 🙃

[@ulagatin]

@@zivzulander Narnia!

[@6.6.69]

The Noctua guy seems really passionate!

[@Tomazack]

Thermosiphon sounds incredibly interesting as the biggest drawback with AIO coolers is the pump failing in spectacular ways.

[@concinnus]

The failure modes that have come up have been running dry due to orientation and recalls/scandals due to fluid/solder contamination. I wouldn't call either spectacular.

[@Joel-st5uw]

The Noctua engineering talks are my absolute fav. Jakob is the best and I could listen to he and Steve discuss air cooling for days. Bringing the Noctua talk early in the Computex lineup has me stoked for the remaining GN coverage!

[@lordneol]

This is why Noctua has loyal customers for their pricey coolers and fans. A company that keeps innovating and doesn't sell out to the masses by adding leds to their fans and having all the colours of the rainbow. I still have the original NF-S/P12 fans and they've outlived all my components multiple times over. And thats why I chose the best.

[@dead-claudia]

also on the business and server side, people value longevity more. i'm more surprised they haven't tried to expand their presence in that market with stuff like industrial 40mm and 80mm fans. i personally have an interest in a middle ground with 40mm fans that have half to 2/3 of the performance but don't sound like a literal jet engine, bc my server runs too hot for their quiet variants, but too cold to even remotely merit the almost 90 dba fans (per my measuremements via my phone next to it) it came with. fortunately, those fans only hit that during boot, and normally hum around 40-50 dba idle, but i'd rather that be the peak.

[@jubuttib]

@@dead-claudia "i'm more surprised they haven't tried to expand their presence in that market with stuff like industrial 40mm and 80mm fans." What do you mean, they do have plenty of 40-60-80-92mm fan products available for exactly that crowd, though admittedly they're not necessarily using the IndustrialPPC branding (those are only 120-140mm). All the smaller fans come in 5V and 12V versions, the 40mm also in 24V, with or without PWM control, etc. We used plenty of 40-60-80mm Noctuas at work when I was building industrial computers. Admittedly they have clearly drawn a line in the sand, their specialty area is performance & noise combined. They're not sticking their noses into the ultra high airflow, noise be damned market that Delta etc. dominate.

[@Magnosummit]

​@@jubuttib I mistakenly bought their 140mm industrial PPC fans and decided I would just use a custom fan curve so they don't run at the full 3000 RPM or whatever crazy high speed they could maintain. The motors whirred/hummed constantly and it sounded like my PC was an airplane turbine spooling up for takeoff whenever I turned it on. I could feel air blasting out the top of it like 4 feet away from the fans. Needless to say, I went and bought the regular 140mm fans to replace them shortly after, and it's been great since 2019. Quiet build with plenty of airflow.

[@jubuttib]

@@Magnosummit Yeah I have a couple of those as well, but never intended to use them for computer cooling, rather they're for "personal cooling", hehe, i.e. they're fans for long racing sessions. They're definitely not optimized for the same noise range as the normal Noctua fans are, BUT I'll also say that they're by no means as loud as some of the industrial Delta fans I've dealt with that put out about the same amount of airflow. So they're still a "lower" noise option compared to those, at much higher airflow ranges than their normal fans.

[@lunawense6288]

​@Magnosummit Yeahh lol industrial fans are optimized for pure performance and that's about it 😂 Even turned down industrial fans aren't meant to be in the same room as people.

[@evilleader1991]

Thanks for properly covering Computex, it is interesting to see each vendors booth.

[@TheBrowncoat1]

we love jakob. I subscribed to the noctua news letter and it's very authentically engineer which is the same impression I get from this interview. Love supporting people making something the best they can because they know we care

[@keithlewis1739]

Incredible engineer. Man did an excellent job explaining every graph, data point etc..

[@Dygear]

Wooo, the concavity expands over time is a nuts bit of detail on the Intel side. That's going to be such a pain in the ass to do pref testing on. Great work by the Noctua team to figure that out.

[@haukionkannel]

It may be one reason why Intel cpus are failing after long enough usage along the insane electricity usage!

[@lexzbuddy]

I have noctua fans & CPU coolers that are 10 years old & going strong. I actually just bought a new CPU cooler for a second PC. Replaced old failing fans from another manufacturer with noctua as I am now confident their parts will out perform & out last everything else out there. My original CPU has actually had brackets changed 3 times to move between multiple CPU platforms. Just phenomenal.

[@SuspiciousPixels]

The only GN video I don't skip through. Jacob's knowledge must be harnessed at all costs.

[@9.5.9.5]

TikTok attention span

[@Trasselkalle]

Jakob's pure engineering mindset makes me want Noctua fans. Always has, always will. I don't like the default color, but I would hate it if Noctua didn't stick to their guns on that. If anything, brown first helps me chill and wait for independent reviews to come in before buying...

[@PrintedDan]

If Noctua aren't already planning it, I would like to see them implement a chart/ graph for users to compare each SKU of the D15 G2, where a user could input their current CPU, CPU cooler, how long it's been installed for, their use case, (maybe also if it's been reinstalled multiple times with different coolers?), users could then be 'guided' towards the best/ ideal D15 G2 SKU for their use case. I know they have their current cooler comparison chart, but this could be tailored specifically for the D15 G2, alongside their current tool.

[@devonmoreau]

Thank you for doing a dedicated Noctua video! You have to be impressed with their in depth engineering and expecting a product lifespan of 10+ years.

[@Jamesbaker123]

Its so cool to see two knowledgeable and passionate people discussing and explaining this type of stuff - great content as always!

[@SWEJmeister]

I love the talks with Jakob, very educational and interesting. Even though the new D15 is quite expensive i'm considering it. The NF-A12x25 is my favorite fan of all time and the thought of a bigger version with better performance and similar acoustics is very enticing.

[@Galardomond]

Jakob is such a nice guy. Enjoyed hearing you two talk.

[@AlpineTheHusky]

I love how both instantly realised they can fully geek out

[@mordentus]

The lake joke got me. Thanks, Steve!

[@l.d.leiter8038]

Great video! As an engineer, I love hearing from the engineers who are passionate about the products they've built.

[@coolcat23]

Always a delight to have Jakob explain the technology! I'll happily pay the prices they demand, because of their perfectionist approach.

[@dannyvanlaarhoven]

I've being running the NH-D15 for ages now on most builds, now on a 7800XD3 and before on the 10900K (still on) it is a great cooler.

[@syncmonism]

I'd love to see graphics card makers agree on some standardized replacement fan specifications. They could just make more coolers which use standard 120mm or standard 92mm PWM case fans, and then add some additional recommended specifications to ensure that the fan will provide enough airflow and static pressure. I was apprehensive to buy Noctua products because of price, but eventually bought a Noctua CPU cooler when it was discounted. I have become a huge fan of Noctua fans and coolers, though I generally only buy their cheapest products, like Redux branded fans. I was extremely impressed when I realized that they would send me a CPU cooler mounting conversion kit, completely free of charge, which would allow my old CPU cooler to work with my AM4 system after upgrading from AM3. I've been using my Noctua CPU cooler for about 9 years (it's an 11 year old model), and I have used it pretty heavily over that time period, though usually not with the fan speed anywhere near 100%. After 9 years of use, the fans still sound the same as when they were new, as far as I can tell.

[@MrFatpenguin]

it's like GPU makers expect you to throw away a 1000$ card when a fan dies... not to mention many of those fans from GPUs are just bullshit

[@soarcheetah]

​@@MrFatpenguinOh my God don't get me started on GPU fans. Graphics cards are the most expensive component in the majority of PC builds and companies can't be bothered to spend more than a couple dollars on fans. The fans on my 2070 Super started making weird rattling sounds last year so I replaced them. The replacements started making noises within a couple months. It's maddening.

[@VictorRomano]

I love those more in depth discussions and I appreciate a lot the effort Noctua put into their products.

[@n00blike]

So happy some companies take technical people to these events that Steve can have a great discussion with!

[@markh4750]

At $150 I just don't see how any performance increase could justify the price. Obviously we'll have to wait and see the test results, but the quality of the air coolers on market for a third of the price makes this a hard sell unless you're just a Noctua enthusiast.

[@GamersNexus]

Looking forward to testing it in our benches! We have all 3 IHS styles running now, so should be good!

[@volvo09]

Yeah that's a very steep price.

[@BobbinMcferry]

noctua ftw though

[@redwolf48845]

Wait, what? This has to be the most expensive air cooler I've ever seen!

[@Sacrede1]

Yeah starting to feel like a "Lian-Li" esk thing. You can just as pretty visuals on other LED but its Lian-Li. So guess we got the Ferrari of air coolers now. Just don't forget, the Nissan/Honda of air coolers still work just as fine, last just as long, and are usually half the price lol

[@BurntFaceMan]

A company that cares this much about their product is AMAZING. Thinking that its not acceptable for their fan to last only 6-8 years or more in todays modern "throw-away" world.. I truly value this attitude. Charge whatever you like for your fans boys, I'd be happy to pay for the R&D that put that much effort into making something of such high quality. Please can you help other companies learn to be more like this.

[@profosist]

wait that how intel gets more money, you need to buy a new cpu each time for testing :P

[@alt5494]

A zero dye translucent fan line would be incredible from noctua, & likely much easier than white fans.

[@AlfaPro1337]

It will be perceived as 'cheap' or back to the early 2000 with colourless translucent cooler.

[@adriankoch964]

Translucent plastic tends to be either super brittle or floppy. Not good for fans. :(

[@zivzulander]

The raw LCP plastic would be closer to an off-white. Presumably they'd need to use a different material for translucent fans, and that may not be as good a choice for performance or longevity.

[@AlpineTheHusky]

Translucent plastics are often way more UV reactive and brittle

[@alt5494]

To those misunderstanding. Translucent does not mean clear or even tinted/smoked. A pink salt block used in lamps for instance is translucent. Many polymers & oxides are translucent allowing light to pass though in interesting ways. Ultra violet light resistants is not required as the glass in windows & cases block UV rays. Also running UV lights inside your rig is going to damage more than fans.

[@Grumps5]

What a wonderful interaction. Both of you guys nailed it.

[@rehtsch]

You immediately realize where noctua's priorities lie when he says that they have struggled for many years with a problem that some fans only lasted 6-8 years under certain circumstances and their goal were actually 10 years minimum. My great praise to this company.

[@VladimirStanchev-h5h]

Awesome interview! Thanks for sharing this!

[@Stevo_1998]

19:45 "It's like a lake" You could even say, it's like a... Raptor Lake 😎

[@ArayaRetta]

boo

[@WRo1901]

It's not a lake, it's an ocean *Herald of Darkness starts playing*

‼‼HOLY FUCKING SHIT‼‼‼‼ IS THAT A MOTHERFUCKING ALAN WAKE 2 REFERENCE??????!!!!!!!!!!11!1!1!1!1!1!1! 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱 ALAN WAKE 2 IS THE BEST FUCKING GAME🔥🔥🔥🔥💯💯💯💯 ALAN IS SO BADASSSSS 😎😎😎😎😎😎😎👊👊👊👊👊 ITS NOT A LAKE ITS AN OCEAN ITS NOT A LAKE ITS AN OCEAN 😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩 😩😩😩😩 ITS NOT A LOOP ITS A SPIRAL ITS NOT A LOOP ITS A SPIRAL ITS NOT A LOOP ITS A SPIRAL ITS NOT A LOOP ITS A SPIRAL ITS NOT A LOOP ITS A SPIRAL 🤬😡🤬😡🤬😡🤬🤬😡🤬🤬😡WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY Im a writer goddamnit!Im a writer goddamnit!🗿 🗿 Im a writer goddamnit!🗿 🗿 Im a writer goddamnit! Im a writer goddamnit!🗿 Im a writer goddamnit! 🗿 Im a writer goddamnit!🗿 🗿 Im a writer goddamnit! 🗿 🗿 🗿 🗿 🗿 🗿 Im a writer goddamnit!Im a writer goddamnit!Im a writer goddamnit! Im a writer goddamnit!Im a writer goddamnit!Im a writer goddamnit! Im a writer goddamnit!🗿 Im a writer goddamnit! 🗿 Im a writer goddamnit!Im a writer goddamnit!🗿 🗿 Im a writer goddamnit! 🗿 🗿 🗿 🗿 🗿 🗿 Im a writer goddamnit! 🗿 Im a writer goddamnit! 🗿 Im a writer goddamnit!🗿 🗿 🗿 🗿 Im a writer goddamnit! 🗿 🗿 Im a writer goddamnit!🗿 Im a writer goddamnit! 🗿 🗿 Im a writer goddamnit!🗿 🗿 Im a writer goddamnit! 🗿 Im a writer goddamnit!Im a writer goddamnit! 🗿 🗿 🗿 🗿 🗿 🗿 🗿 Im a writer goddamnit!🗿 🗿 🗿 Im a writer goddamnit!🗿 🗿 🗿 🗿 Im a writer goddamnit! 🗿 Im a writer goddamnit! Im a writer goddamnit!Im a writer goddamnit!Im a writer goddamnit! Im a writer goddamnit! 🗿 🗿 🗿 🗿 🗿 🗿 Did you write my family into the horror story❓❓❓❓❓❓❓❓❓❓But it was me, Scratch‼‼‼‼‼‼‼‼‼‼😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣😂😂

[@OMN1N]

it's not a sam lake it's a sam ocean

@@OMN1N my reply is removed lmaoo

[@Bayofthe91st]

Lord of the Bearings: The Return of the King

[@zivzulander]

ah yes, sequel to The Dual Towers

[@richwhilecooper]

I love how absolutely knowledgeable these guys are.

[@LucasCarter2]

There's always something really relaxing about hearing someone who knows what they're talking about explaining complex things off the top of their head smoothly.

[@zector4583]

Nice to see Noctua still rocking the fugly colors.

[@xninefoxx8874]

150 is kinda hefty

[@adriancandelario2902]

Extremely hefty

[@Simon-tr9hv]

Isn't normal d15 120 or something? I think I saw them at 80 dollars on sale

[@IdiotRace]

I don't need one but still the fact that Noctua are great with socket compatibility down the line it will potentially last you through multiple builds. I don't need it because I've already got one D15 and a D15S in my secondary system

[@zCaptainz]

It's ridiculous

[@grasgruen84]

@@Simon-tr9hv lets be honest, bought it for 80 non sale years ago, they even went for below that. now the prices are just inflated. cost did never rise by 50% during this time!

[@QuantumS1ngularity]

What i took from that video - Intel makes life hard not only for motherboard manufacturers and their customers, but for cooler manufacturers as well... Basically they make like hell for everyone involved with their CPUs.

[@dead-claudia]

amd's extremely flat ihs doesn't help matters either and brings its own challenges, bc coolers' contact plates would have to be very slightly concave to match it

[@Graham_Shaw]

Love the NH-D15. I have used one in every new build over the last 6 years and they are all great performers and still going strong.

[@andrewmeyering7343]

This is why we love Steve. Noctua found something that happens over time with the Intel CPUs and Steve IMMEDIATELY deploys testing to get some findings on what would happen with said issue. Steve, I don't really comment on videos. But this is why I've been subbed for all these years. ❤️

[@no-trick-pony]

I am not really the target audience of Noctua. But I hugely respect their integrity, their perfectionism and how they really just try to make a long-lasting product. ~~fuck their desk fan though XD~~

[@michaelstaruszkiewicz8798]

So the Gen2 Cooler is priced like an IceGiant Thermosiphon Cooler & they are exploring a less bulky thermosiphon Solution...Nice😊

[@roo1538]

the noctua rep is genuinely awesome

[@miniman3112]

I bought a ~70€ NH-D15 as B-stock directly from Noctua some ages ago. The sent me free upgrade kits for every new socket I switched to so far. I plan to use it for as long as desktop computers will exist as a concept (or beyond).

[@GickelsGaming]

im glad steve finds fascination and happiness when discussing flatness and warpage and the temps that follow

[@yavormoskov]

Just after 24 minutes there are already 203 comments. Just WOW. This proves gamers nexus is the most prominent tech channel. And it is well deserved 🙂.

[@FatHead1979]

It also shows how highly regarded Noctua are by the 'tech' community i.e. us regular people that love our tech

[@talhahussain3820]

I was -69 when the NH-D15 first launched. Now im 24.6. After 93.6 years they've finally done it 👏😯. I'm so happy I'm alive to witness this spectacular moment!

[@friedzombie4]

honestly, the only way for me to even consider paying $150 for an air cooler would be for a "drop" in replacement GPU Block/Fans with beefy 8mm thermal pads for all the major ICs.

[@john_in_phoenix]

Nice, I look forward to your review since I am in the market for a new cooler and really prefer Noctua. I am really impressed with the details of the interview, great job!

[@cosminmilitaru9920]

He was not just casually talking about keeping the fans running 6-8 years, I indeed have NH-D14 from 2011 with it's 2 fans still running as new, some other fans from then and more recent, all running like champs with no sings of wear or giving up. Their thermal paste is also the only one I trust working for years not needing changed. (except on GPUs, nothing's good anymore for those...)

[@Pocahonkers]

Damn it Jakob, now I need another torque wrench for my case fans!

[@profosist]

Yeah where's the Noctua torque screwdriver!

[@wildgg]

This might be a bit of a unpopular take but even though I do think 150$ is a hard sell even for noctua, I think the pricing on their products is fair considering their outstanding quality, warranty and mainly upgrade kits for future sockets that you can request for free many years down the line. Yes it's 150$ but as shown with the Original D15, you can use it for a very, very long time. Personally I see it as a long term deal/investment.

[@magnusred2945]

My 10+ year old computer is still running good with my noctua I'm happy to pay for it

[@Nicholas_Steel]

I still use a Noctua NH D14 I got not long after getting a brand new Intel i7 920 CPU (so around 2010/2011), original fans still work. I really hated the push pin system Intel had changed to. I finally upgraded my CPU to a Ryzen 3600 in 2020 and was able to get a X570 motherboard compatibility kit for free from Noctua (I believe shipping is also free).

[@MrFatpenguin]

It is a hard sell, and probably only those who want the "best of the best (money not an issue)" will buy. I hope they aren't too slow at releasing more cost effective versions of the improved tech...

[@FieryMeltman]

It's not an investment. It's a waste. You could buy three Phantom Spirit 120's and have money to spare, or even buy a Phantom Spirit and replace its fans with Noctua's if you really care about noise that much. Noctua is not special in terms of performance anymore, especially in the air cooler space. Even this new model cannot possibly be good enough to warrant being 3x the price.

[@magnusred2945]

@@FieryMeltman it's special in terms of reliability

[@Elc22]

$40 USD for a single fan... as much as I like the performance, that is an eye-watering pricetag.

[@Gizfreek]

Always my Computex highlight when Steve meets Jakob in the Noctua booth, there's not always a new exciting product to show off but you learn about their way of designing their products and why it takes so long for something like the D15 G2 or chromax variants to be released. I'm gladly willing to be spending more for that type of quality, the durability and the support that comes with their products.

[@harktischris]

frankly just impressive that the rep could talk so fluently with such detail about the technical details of CPU cooling and fans. i only vaguely know about noctua's premium price and products, but after watching this video and how confidence-inducing this rep is, i have to say i'm actually quite interested in seeing how this fan reviews and getting it for my gaming build. Noctua should pay this rep a bonus.

[@JellyLancelot]

Boy howdy, do Noctua ever bring the data and the research. Their stuff may be pricy, but they sure do know their stuff.

[@ulamss5]

bro really about to sell $50 fan gaskets justified by "oh but we spent 50 bajillion years engineering this" like that's a flex

[@BuzzKiller23]

I love noctua, but there's no way I'm paying $150 for a d15 when I could get something like the peerless assassin for $40

[@Tomatenmark-Mark]

Fantastic coverage! Also you're a great interviewer, Steve!

[@stevetheripper]

Love these interviews with engineers, especially from a company like Noctua who clearly take their trade very seriously.

[@l0y0la]

When my yet another AIO died right after the warranty expired I decided to go for classic cooler instead this time. So I was gathering info about NH-D15, because initially I wanted to buy it. But when I almost convinced myself to order NH-D15 I realized, that thing is HUGE, it is enormous. I won't be able to remove the graphics card from the PCIE slot because that huge cooler blocks access to PCIE slot latch which holds the graphic card in the slot. So I ordered NH-U12A instead. Slightly less performance but fits perfectly and doesn't interfere with other devices in my case. Performs very well on my undervolted 12700k.

[@TheShortStory]

Also ended up with the same cooler for space reasons. Yes, there are cheaper coolers on the market that outperform it, but they’re just too big

[@FieryMeltman]

​​@@TheShortStory Thermalright has plenty of great options with comparable or superior performance.

[@TheShortStory]

@@FieryMeltman perhaps they do now. Edit: and perhaps they did a year ago. Part of the problem is that there are so many coolers on the market it’s impossible to know about and compare them all. I’m only really aware of what a collection of reviews features

[@haukionkannel]

NH-U12A is super nice cooler! I have it in my rig, not even use thermal paste. I have thermal pad, newer need to replace and still cpu runs cool with noctua cooler. Super happy with result!