Without wasting a moment, lets get started.
Well look into that in detail later on.
For now, lets take a closer look at the speciations of the NH-D15 chromax black.
Source: Clicksmashstuff
rotational speed (+/- 10%): 1500 RPMMax.
rotational speed with L.N.A.
(+/- 10%): 1200 RPMMin.
rotational speed @ 20% PWM (+/-20%): 300 RPMMax.
airflow: 140,2 m3/hMax.
acoustical noise: 24.6 dB(A)Max.
Source: Clicksmashstuff
acoustical noise with L.N.A.
Opening the coolers box, theAccessoriespack greets us with the fresh scent of electronics.
The printing on this cardboard box eloquently describes whats inside.
Source: Clicksmashstuff
Moving it aside, we come across an EPE foam cover.
This facilitates the coolers protection from external force or drop.
Now, its time to unbox these boxes.
Source: Clicksmashstuff
The bigger box holds the actual heat sink wrapped with more cardboard.
The baseplate is covered with protective plastic.
Boy, is it hefty!
Source: Clicksmashstuff
The second thin packet presents anNF A15 140mmChromax Black fan.
For your convenience, Ive listed all the contents inside the box.
That implies the gigantic dimension this cooler has with its stunning appearance.
Source: Noctua
The well-spoken, sleek, black finish covers the entire heat sink.
Attention to detail is top-notch.
Six nickel-plated copper heat pipes run through the aluminum fins from the baseplate of the NH-D15 Chromax Black.
Source: Noctua
These protrude at the top of both the fin stacks.
Each fin stack tower has Noctua branding on them.
Speaking of the cold plate, we measured nickel plated3839mmsurface area.
Source: Clicksmashstuff
This makes the NH-D15 Chromax black compatible with all mainstream CPUs in the market.
It sports an asymmetrical dual-tower design.
At the bottom, each fin tower has a cutout to accommodate the memory modules.
Credit: Noctua
That said, with everything coming in black, it rejuvenates the design better than we expected.
It should be a painless sail when installing the cooler.
Installing the NH-D15 Chromax Black is as easy as it gets.
Before you get down to the process, read the instruction manual first.
Once you know what to do, you cant really go wrong with the cooler mounting procedure.
Kick things off with the included backplate for the Intel platform.
Insert the long stand-off screws through the four holes of each corner.
Place the four spacers (Blue for LGA 1200, Black for others) through the protruding stand-offs.
Place the SecuFirm 2 brackets on top and tighten with the thumbscrews.
you could do this either horizontally or vertically.
On the AMD side of things, it is even easier.
No need to remove the stock backplate.
Simply remove the two plastic brackets and install Noctuas AMD brackets.
The rest of the process is identical.
Next thing to do is, apply some thermal paste on the CPU IHS.
Place the NH-D15 Chromax black on top and secure it with the included screwdriver.
Finally, finish things off by securing theNF A15 140mmfans.
One in the middle of the two towers and the other at the front facing the DIMM slots.
Connect all the cables to the same fan header using the included PWM splitter.
Its a solid 5 out of 5 experience.
Not every case iscompatiblewith this unit, especially most Micro ATX and Mini ITX PC chassis.
The good news is that youll find a rife collection of RAM modules that cause no compatibility issues whatsoever.
On account of compatibility, the Noctua NH-D15 Chromax Black can be mounted on any mainstream socket.
HEDT platforms such asAMD Threadripper&Intel Sapphire Rapidsare incompatible, nevertheless.
To seek the answer, we put it against Intels latest, greatest, and hottest Core i9 13900K.
We also tested our trusty old NH-D15.
We ran several benchmarks at different power levels to push the Chromax Black NH-D15 to the edge.
For a better viewpoint, we also included two more coolers.
With all the power limits lifted, we ran several games, and the results were fantastic.
The i9 13900K peaked at 70 degrees Celsius when paired with the NH-D15 Chromax Black.
Great start for our Noctua bad boy.
The graph below shows how the Noctua NH-D15 Chromax Black stacks up against other coolers in our list.
Taking things up a notch, we set the power limit at 180W for Intels best CPU.
Launched a Blender cycle test, and NH-D15 Chromax Black lives up to its name.
The i9-13900K peaked at 72 degrees Celsius, retaining 4.8GHz on all core.
Also, we experienced zero thermal throttling.
This result is in line with most of the 240mm AIOs in the market, if not much better.
PL2 is where most of the air coolers have a hard time chilling down the i9-13900K.
This monster heats up like a monkey climbs up a tree at 253W power.
Anyway, the Noctua NH-D15 Chromax Black does an exceptional job of keeping the CPU cool.
Above all, thei9-13900Kretained5.23GHzon all cores.
Testing with our dBA meter, we measured the intensity of the sound that this cooler produces.
FYI, the NF A15 140mm fans run at a maximum of1500 RPM.
Analyzing the results, the Noctua NH-D15 Chromax.black remained dead silent at 25% and 50% fan speed.
Ramping up the fan speed along with the CPU load, the noise level scaled up pretty well.
At 100% load,43 dBAis an impressive result, isnt it?
So, the Noctua NH-D15 is a true champ in terms of noise levels.
It also goes head-to-head with more expensive 240 mm closed-loop liquid coolers.
As it happens, this cooler carries the legacy of the vanilla NH-D15 flawlessly.
But is it all cloud nine for the NH-D15 Chromax Black?
Not really; like every other cooler, caveats can get in the way of this cooler as well.
Lets quickly go through all the pros & cons of the Noctua NH-D15 Chromax Black.
Does Noctua NH-D15 Chromax Black Worth Your Attention?
This cooler can handle high TDP CPUs well enough, dodging thermal throttling.
Though, we do not recommend this cooler for any CPU that chugs more than260 watts.
In an ATX and EATX build, this cooler is a perfect fit.
Some selective mATX cases, however, house this cooler perfectly fine.
Youre paying extra dollars for a namesake brand, superior build quality, and amazing after-sales service.
Its asolid 8 out of 10.
