Noctua NH-D15 CPU Cooler Overview
As I said the NH-D15 is an extremely large cooler, the actual dimensions of the cooler with the fans installed is 165 x 150 x 161 mm (HxWxD). The cooler is quite heavy too weighing in at 1320 g, so make sure you will have room for this cooler in your case / system.
The cooler itself is a dual tower cooler. Each heatsink tower is made up of aluminum fins. Compared to the NH-D14, the NH-D15’s fin-stack has been widened from 140 to 150mm and its heatpipes are now spaced further apart, which allows for a more uniform heat distribution over a larger surface area and thus contributes to the NH-D15’s superior efficiency.
The NH-D15 makes use of two NF-A15 140 mm cooling fans. The front one can be moved to the back if you wish, or you can even add a third fan. Complying with Noctua’s AAO standard and featuring sophisticated aerodynamic design measures such as Flow Acceleration Channels, the NF-A15 has quickly built up a reputation as one of the best 140mm fans on the market.
Looking at the top view of the cooler we can see each heatsink stack has the Noctua logo on the top and we can see the heatpipes sticking out. As compared to conventional single tower heatinks, the NH-D15’s fine-tuned six heatpipe dual tower design provides more surface area, better heat-distribution and superior airflow efficiency in dual fan mode.
From a side view we can see that both heatsink towers are thicker towards the top and at the bottom they are thinner, also the fans extend below the fan stacks. This design will help cool the components around the CPU sockets like your power delivery components and memory. Thanks to its recessed lower fins, the NH-D15 provides 64mm clearance for tall memory heatsinks in single fan mode, making it compatible with most high end RAM modules on the market. In dual fan mode, the NH-D15 should be used with standard height RAM (up to 32mm).
Flipping the NH-D15 over we can see the base and heatpipes. The base of the heatsink is nicely machined and should provide great contact on your CPU. The six copper heatpipes and nickel plated and go into the CPU base and out up into each heatsink tower.
