Match My Noctua NH-D15 Chromax Black Air.

SlicEnDicE · Apr 3, 2024

What comes to cooling, I used to be an extreme overclocker and tests like these were a daily task for me.

As an example, I doubled the speed of my Dual Celeron 366MHz build on an Abit BP6 motherboard all the way to 732MHz. FSB was set to 133MHz from default 66MHz. This was a very long time ago.

Scott · Apr 3, 2024

@Ghot good to know, thanks!

SlicEnDicE · Apr 3, 2024

I rarely have had to do the "End Task" procedure after running Prime95, but yeah I do check and ensure that everything is closed. This stress test sucks the guts out of your system if not careful.

Ghot · Apr 3, 2024

SlicEnDicE said:
I rarely have had to do the "End Task" procedure after running Prime95, but yeah I do check and ensure that everything is closed. This stress test sucks the guts out of your system if not careful.

I just opened Prime 95 to get that screenshot. Then canceled it.
And there it was in the 2nd section, in Task Manager.

pparks1 · Apr 3, 2024

SlicEnDicE said:
Your 125W explains everything. Don't worry, if you're happy the way it is, we're also happy. It's a great cooler and I don't get any overheating issues either on normal load like games or other CPU demanding tasks. Also my rig is dead silent.

Yeah, this is why i try not to obsess over benchmark results. i use them to just ensure that my equipment is roughly in the ballpark that it should be in. If I have a Gen 4 NVMe and it only scores say 2400MB/sec....then I am trying to figure out what's going on. If it gets
over 6000+ than it's about where it should be and my hardware is working as expected.

In the case of this thread, we really cannot compare between each other unless we have a controlled setup. You would need the same case, the same ambient air temps, same fans running at the same speed....and just changing the cooler to see which ones performs better or worse.

As long as you aren't pushing your equipment at just about max temps at all time.....you are well within the designed thermal ranges that it's expected to operate in. You aren't going to see any substantial increase in performance or lifespan if you run at 60C, 55C, or even 52.5C. If you are an enthusiast and just like to tinker (as most of us regulars are here), there is nothing wrong with putting time and effort into these endeavors.....but know going in that it's probably not doing anything really tangible outside of giving you the warm fuzzies.

i have a great airflow case (fractal meshify S2), I have a 12 Core Ryzen 5900X. I too am running an air cooler (Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 4). I value a nearly silent PC. With my current case, I run just the 3 stock fans, 2 x 140mm pulling air in from the front, and 1 x 140mm pushing air out the back. The top of my case is all mesh so heat can just rise out of the case and escape from the top. I'm not a hard core overclocker and will never be pushing my system to the absolute max. My case has the ability to run 9 case fans, but I haven't found any reason to add anything more than what I have. Sure, I could drive down my numbers maybe a few degrees here or there....but in reality that would gain me pretty much nothing tangible. I wouldn't be getting more stability, performance or lifespan out of my PC. More likely I would just be spending more money, adding some more noise with more fans, and give myself more surface area to collect dust.

Marcus Vinicus · Apr 3, 2024

pparks1 said:
In the case of this thread, we really cannot compare between each other unless we have a controlled setup. You would need the same case, the same ambient air temps, same fans running at the same speed....and just changing the cooler to see which ones performs better or worse.

Well said.

Lance1 · Apr 3, 2024

SlicEnDicE said:
Your 125W explains everything. Don't worry, if you're happy the way it is, we're also happy. It's a great cooler and I don't get any overheating issues either on normal load like games or other CPU demanding tasks. Also my rig is dead silent.

I was running my fans at 45% but I thought that was overkill so I brought all fan down to 30% And now my rig is completely silent. And yes! I am happy. I love my build. It cost me enough so I better love it.

hdmi · Apr 3, 2024

Adding more fans while at the same time also lowering the RPM speed of the case fans can, and very often does help to reduce the fan noise while keeping the total amount of airflow the same. RPM stands for revolutions per minute whereas airflow is measured in CFM, or cubic feet per minute. If, for example, you double the number of case fans and at the same time also you lower their RPM such that the CFM of each fan is halved, then the total CFM remains unchanged (at least if we can ignore small differences caused by differences in friction/turbulence, and that both the number of intake fans and the number of exhaust fans are doubled of course), but the noise will generally be less audible, which can be explained from the fact that neither the relationship between the RPM and the sound pressure level nor the relationship between the sound pressure level and the perceived loudness are linear relationships.

Further, 140mm case fans also very often are less noisy than 120mm fans if you only look at the CFM numbers that they produce. The best analogy in this regard is that more cubic feet of water runs through a wide, deep river every minute despite that the water runs at a much slower velocity when compared to a narrow, shallow, vigorous mountain river. Only when it comes to what are the best fans to mount on a radiator of a water cooling system, CFM becomes less important to some certain extent, i.e. due to air presure becoming a significantly more important factor when compared to blowing fresh air inside a case while sucking the warm air out. The Noctua NH-D15 loves spacious interiors with lots and lots of breathing space. Especially when combined with additional case airflow, it does. So heat is allowed to spread out due to having enough room to make this possible, but the resulting warm air gets shoved out of the case, quietly and swiftly through all these additional case fans working in concert with not too much turbulence that would otherwise cause some of warm air to be trapped inside the case for longer by keep going around in circles.

Finally, fans running at lower RPM attract less dust. The primary reason why many believe the NH-D15 is inferior cooling compared to most AIO WCS choices is simply because the NH-D15 only really shines when the importance of all these aforementioned criteria is truly being acknowledged. This is where most online comparison tests/reviews pitfall.

Lance1 · Apr 3, 2024

hdmi said:
Adding more fans while at the same time also lowering the RPM speed of the case fans can, and very often does help to reduce the fan noise while keeping the total amount of airflow the same. RPM stands for revolutions per minute whereas airflow is measured in CFM, or cubic feet per minute. If, for example, you double the number of case fans and at the same time also you lower their RPM such that the CFM of each fan is halved, then the total CFM remains unchanged (at least if we can ignore small differences caused by differences in friction/turbulence, and that both the number of intake fans and the number of exhaust fans are doubled of course), but the noise will generally be less audible, which can be explained from the fact that neither the relationship between the RPM and the sound pressure level nor the relationship between the sound pressure level and the perceived loudness are linear relationships.

Further, 140mm case fans also very often are less noisy than 120mm fans if you only look at the CFM numbers that they produce. The best analogy in this regard is that more cubic feet of water runs through a wide, deep river every minute despite that the water runs at a much slower velocity when compared to a narrow, shallow, vigorous mountain river. Only when it comes to what are the best fans to mount on a radiator of a water cooling system, CFM becomes less important to some certain extent, i.e. due to air presure becoming a significantly more important factor when compared to blowing fresh air inside a case while sucking the warm air out. The Noctua NH-D15 loves spacious interiors with lots and lots of breathing space. Especially when combined with additional case airflow, it does. So heat is allowed to spread out due to having enough room to make this possible, but the resulting warm air gets shoved out of the case, quietly and swiftly through all these additional case fans working in concert with not too much turbulence that would otherwise cause some of warm air to be trapped inside the case for longer by keep going around in circles.

Finally, fans running at lower RPM attract less dust. The primary reason why many believe the NH-D15 is inferior cooling compared to most AIO WCS choices is simply because the NH-D15 only really shines when the importance of all these aforementioned criteria is truly being acknowledged. This is where most online comparison tests/reviews pitfall.

WOW! That's is a lot of jibberjobber. Fact Base as it is and I do appreciate that.. My system "Fan Wise" Has 3 Intake fans from the front. Which my Noctua NH-D15 chromax black Will Push - Pull that fresh air through to the rear exhaust fan causing constant fresh air flowing through the fins of the cooler. And whatever heat is left the top two top fans take care of exhausting that heat. Now is this just simple science or I'm just getting it wrong... You tell me.

Ghot · Apr 3, 2024

Lance1 said:
WOW! That's is a lot of jibberjobber. Fact Base as it is and I do appreciate that.. My system "Fan Wise" Has 3 Intake fans from the front. Which my Noctua NH-D15 chromax black Will Push - Pull that fresh air through to the rear exhaust fan causing constant fresh air flowing through the fins of the cooler. And whatever heat is left the top two top fans take care of exhausting that heat. Now is this just simple science or I'm just getting it wrong... You tell me.

Your air flow directions are fine, excellent in fact.

Also, as @hdmi said...

Higher rpm = more noise.
Bigger fans can move (cfm), more air at lower rpm, so... less noise.

Your case can't handle 230mm fans, so 140mm with decent bearings will be your quietest option. All else being equal.

Not a recommendation, but fun to watch. Delta fans have higher CFM than anything...

Still not a recommendation, but 120mm fan with 252 CFM. (very loud)

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Lance1 · Apr 3, 2024

Ghot said:
Your air flow directions are fine, excellent in fact.

Also, as @hdmi said...

Higher rpm = more noise.
Bigger fans can move (cfm), more air at lower rpm, so... less noise.

Your case can't handle 230mm fans, so 140mm with decent bearings will be your quietest option. All else being equal.

Not a recommendation, but fun to watch. Delta fans have higher CFM than anything...

Still not a recommendation, but 120mm fan with 252 CFM. (very loud)

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I like my fan configuration as it is. I have nothing but respect.

Ghot · Apr 3, 2024

Lance1 said:
I like my fan configuration as it is. I have nothing but respect.

Your fan setup is great!
It's the way it's supposed to be.

Well you have three fans in front, which is even better.

hdmi · Apr 4, 2024

Lance1 said:
WOW! That's is a lot of jibberjobber. Fact Base as it is and I do appreciate that.. My system "Fan Wise" Has 3 Intake fans from the front. Which my Noctua NH-D15 chromax black Will Push - Pull that fresh air through to the rear exhaust fan causing constant fresh air flowing through the fins of the cooler. And whatever heat is left the top two top fans take care of exhausting that heat. Now is this just simple science or I'm just getting it wrong... You tell me.

Just because the case airflow is capable to support a moderate overclock by keeping the temps down low enough to make it possible, doesn't also mean that it will be whisper-quiet while playing some of the most demanding games on it. I know that some people buy a Porsche and do nothing with it except drive to church on Sundays at 30mph, but... your motherboard is designed to overclock, and your CPU is unlocked. I mean, you don't have to overclock it if you don't want. But I know what I would do... lol

hdmi · Apr 4, 2024

Ghot said:
Your case can't handle 230mm fans,

I smell a dremel. (Just kidding...

)

Ghot said:
Not a recommendation, but fun to watch. Delta fans have higher CFM than anything...

Delta also makes fans that run at 48V. But don't forget to put on your Stihl..

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www.amazon.com

Ghot · Apr 4, 2024

hdmi said:
I smell a dremel. (Just kidding... )

Delta also makes fans that run at 48V. But don't forget to put on your Stihl..

Loading…

www.amazon.com

Well that explains why those leaf blowers make such an annoying sound. LOL

ShamrockRig · Apr 4, 2024

Can legit turn my case fans and gpu fans etc etc to 100%, turn on a game and can't hear em LOL, Sitting at desktop doing 0 with them at 100% yes i can hear something going to take off, Its relevant to need, If i NEED to run at 100% to cool whatever it is im doing then i will, if i don't then i wont. If im not playing a game or going to, my Gpu sits turned off fan wise. Gpu under max load is around 70 degrees with fans at 60%. Cpu under normal gaming load is anywhere from 60-75 depending. I might purposely melt this cpu when im done with it, see how hot it can really get

More performance being put out the more cooling it'll need.

hdmi · Apr 5, 2024

Ghot said:
Your fan setup is great!
It's the way it's supposed to be.

View attachment 92469

Well you have three fans in front, which is even better.

pparks1 · Apr 5, 2024

When I'm gaming, my fans ramp up under load and my PC while still relatively quiet, isn't silent as it normally is. But I don't care, because when I game I am wearing a headset listening to the game, so I can no longer hear my PC making any noise.....so i guess it's kinda still silent as far as I am concerned.

Catnip · Apr 5, 2024

I have an NH-D15 (not the black one) and my temps were about 20C higher than the OP's until I discovered that my VCore was insanely high. I had it set to "Auto" in my BIOS. Turning it down, I am now getting much more respectable temperatures. I honestly thought my fans were on the way out.

Lance1 · Apr 5, 2024

hdmi said:
I know that some people buy a Porsche and do nothing with it except drive to church on Sundays at 30mph, but... your motherboard is designed to overclock, and your CPU is unlocked. I mean, you don't have to overclock it if you don't want. But I know what I would do... lol

Ya this kind of sounds like me. But if I had a Porsche! I would be closer to 60 or 70mph.

But with my PC's I've never OC on any of my builds. I know it is designed for OC. I just don't do anything that would require an OC. I guess that makes me kind of boring