Unboxing & Review: Noctua NH-D15s 1
I don’t remember CPU coolers being updated this fast before but here with me is a Noctua NH-D15s. An updated version of the newly crowned “King of Air Coolers”, the NH-D15 (you could check that article out HERE). Of course, it’s always nice to see something new from manufacturers, especially if is from one such as Noctua. This one is dubbed as the single fan version of the original NH-D15 though. Rather than wondering why this has come about so, let’s get onto the unboxing and review of this baby. 
Mighty thanks to Noctua for sending this to us. A quick scan of the price for this model goes for about RM350 and above depending on where you get it from, but it should be slightly cheaper to the original NH-D15 as it comes with two instead of just one NF-A15 PWM fan.

Specifications

Socket compatibilityIntel LGA2011-0 & LGA2011-3 (Square ILM), LGA1156, LGA1155, LGA1151, LGA1150 & AMD AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, FM1, FM2, FM2+ (backplate required)
Height (without fan)160 mm
Width (without fan)150 mm
Depth (without fan)135 mm
Height (with fan)165 mm
Width (with fan)150 mm
Depth (with fan)135 mm
Weight (without fan)980 g
Weight (with fan)1150 g
MaterialCopper (base and heat-pipes), aluminium (cooling fins), soldered joints & nickel plating
Fan compatibility140x150x25 (with 120mm mounting holes), 140x140x25 (with 120mm mounting holes), 120x120x25
Scope of Delivery1x NF-A15 PWM premium fan
Low-Noise Adaptor (L.N.A.)
Fan clips for second fan
NT-H1 high-grade thermal compound
SecuFirm2™ Mounting Kit
Noctua Metal Case-Badge
Warranty6 Years

Nothing has changed much in terms of specifications except for the fan depth. Obviously, because there is only one of it this time so essentially you’re getting the same heatsink, minus one NF-A15.

Packaging

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Similar to the NH-D15, the front of the box has a pleasantly clean style to it with the model number and features on top of Noctua’s white-brown accents.

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The back follows the same style with a multi-lingual description of the product.

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Key features are highlighted on one side

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And the specifications are not forgotten as well

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Always nice to see soft foam as protection inside.

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The packaging is more simplified with the accessories and the heatsink in two separate boxes compared to the original NH-D15 that has several more.

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Here is the accessories box up close. Note that both mounting accessories for AMD and Intel are all inside the same box this time around.

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Hopping to the larger box, we have the heatsink and fan all packed snugly inside.

The Product

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As mentioned before, it is still the same heatsink, still looks great, though.

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The view from the front…

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And the side. It’s symmetrical considering that the NH-D15S is supposed to give maximum RAM clearance for even on an X99 platform.

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The ever shiny nickle plated base is still a marvel to look at.

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The top of the twin stacks has that clean solder to the heatpipes, the etched Noctua branding looks great.

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The mounting mechanism remains unchanged. Nice to know that I’ll not lose these screws.

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Super clean crimps that connect the fins together as well as direct airflow from the fan.

Installation

Since the SecureFirmII mounting mechanism remains unchanged from the previous Noctua NH-C14 cooler tested, I didn’t have to swap it out to mount the new NH-D15S. All I did was cleaned the old TIM, squeeze a new pea-sized amount of new TIM and secure the new cooler right onto the ol’ Intel i7 4770-K CPU.

In case you still need a thorough guide to how the actual mounting is done, here is the link to the previous Noctua NH-C14s review done a while ago.

Testing

Test Bench Configuration
CPU Cooler
Noctua NH-D15s
CPU
Intel Core i7 4770k @ 4.2GHz
Graphics Card
Sapphire HD7850 2GB
Memory
Kingston Value RAM 8GHz
Primary Hard Drive
Plextor M6E 256GB PCI-E SSD 
Power Supply
FSP Aurum CM 650W
Chassis
Vector Bench Case

We tested the NH-D15s on our trusty Intel platform with the core i7-4770K overclocked slightly to 4.2GHz. We then fired up the usual Prime95 with the option ‘In-place large FFTs’ for maximum heat output, under room temperature of about 28ºC.

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The results were as expected as it is the same NH-D15 heatsink, still edging the NH-D14 and AIO liquid solutions at a respective 79°C on load temperatures. I don’t think I need to describe how the NF-A15 fan sounds like as it’s fairly difficult to even hear it on the test bench.

Conclusion

The Noctua NH-D15s is a choice for users over the first NH-D15 mainly for tall RAM compatibility or just in case one doesn’t need the dual fans configuration. It is still essentially the same cooler and it performs very much the same.

Pros

  • Slightly improved and secure packaging
  • Ultimate air cooler solution
  • High quality heatsink and fan
  • Quiet operation
  • Better compatibility with tall RAMs
  • 6 year warranty

Cons

  • Big and heavy
  • Only one NF-A15 fan
  • Fan colour may not be everyone’s taste

As this is still essentially the king of air coolers, we’re giving the Noctua NH-D15s the Tech-Critter Gold and Recommended Badge.

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