Among many other products, Noctua has unveiled the highly-anticipated 2nd Generation NH-D15 CPU air cooler at Computex. The new cooler provides a much-needed update to the NH-D15, which launched in 2014 as the successor to the legendary NH-D14 and used to be one of the best CPU coolers on the market.
The second-generation NH-D15 doesn't deviate from the dual tower design characteristic of Noctua's previous installments. However, Noctua made multiple improvements to the design that may not be visible at first glance. First, the company has optimized the tailored fin stacks on the cooler by reducing the fin pitch. As a result, the second-generation NH-D15 has a fin pitch of 1.6mm instead of 1.9mm, equivalent to 20% more surface area for improved heat dissipation.
Besides the compact fin pitch, the second-generation NH-D15 has more heat pipes. It's a welcome upgrade since the transition from the NH-D14 to the NH-D15 saw the same six-heat pipe layout. However, Noctua has implemented two more heat pipes on the second-generation NH-D15, bolstering the number of heat pipes to eight to enhance the cooler's thermal performance further.
Despite being a big cooler, the NH-D15 was compatible with many motherboard configurations. Noctua continues to improve compatibility, which is good since graphics cards are becoming overly thicker and more intrusive. The second-generation NH-D15 has an offset design to offer better clearance space with the primary PCIe expansion slots on motherboards. According to Noctua, the design allows for 9mm less overall depth.
The second-generation NH-D15 will leverage a pair of next-gen Noctua 140mm cooling fans that flaunt an optimized pressure/airflow (P/Q) curve. In addition, the cooler retains the Torx-based SecuFirm2+ mounting system, which is easy and quick to install. Noctua will include the company's latest offset mounting system for the AMD AM5 socket with the second-generation NH-D15. The 7mm offsets slightly move the heatsink over the chip's hotspot to provide better contact with the Core Compute Dies (CCDs), resulting in a more uniform heat distribution. According to Noctua's tests, it could help lower temperatures by up to three degrees Celsius. The offset mounting system is available separately for $3.90 via Noctua or $4.90 on Amazon.
The cooler is compatible with Noctua's new direct die mounting kit, which the vendor has launched for those brave AMD owners that have de-lidded their Ryzen 7000 chips. Consumers can use the direct die mounting kit with the offset mounting system for even more gains. The direct die mounting kit works with most Noctua coolers since 2005 and will retail for $4.90 on Noctua starting June 2023.
The second-generation NH-D15 includes a tube of Noctua's NT-H2 thermal compound, an NM-SD1 Torx T20 head screwdriver, and an NA-TPG1 thermal paste guard for AM5 processors.
Barring any setbacks, Noctua plans to launch the second-generation NH-D15 in the second quarter of 2024. However, the company didn't reveal the pricing of the cooler. Previous editions, such as the NH-D14 and NH-D15, retailed for $89 and $99; therefore, the second-generation NH-D15 could debut with a similar price tag.
