INTRODUCTION

   For as long as i can remember consumers had but one issue with CPU coolers made by Noctua and that was the somewhat unique brown and beige color theme of their fans. Noctua's original goal of course was for their products to stand out from everything else in the market and aside their excellent build quality and cooling performance the color theme of their fans was a good way to accomplish that. Regardless of worldwide consumer pressure however it actually took Noctua roughly 10 years to also include black fans and accessories (Chromax line) in their product lines and even though that move was a step towards the right direction by that time something else was missing from the mix. Fast forward almost 4 years later and Noctua just recently released their very first all-black CPU coolers starting with their flagship NH-D15 chromax.black model which is here with us today.

   Designed in Austria, Noctua’s premium cooling components are internationally renowned for their superb quietness, exceptional performance and thoroughgoing quality. Having received more than 6000 awards and recommendations from leading hardware websites and magazines, Noctua’s fans and heatsinks are serving hundreds of thousands of satisfied customers around the globe.

   Just like the original NH-D15 released back in 2014 (review here) the brand new chromax.black is a massive dual-tower heatsink model ("sandwich" type/6 all copper heatpipes/160x150x135mm in size with a weight of 980g) which Noctua has paired with two of their latest NF-A15 140mm chromax.black fans (same however as the "regular" NF-A15 in terms of specifications) which can achieve speeds of up to 1500RPM to produce up to 68.98CFM of airflow with 1.51mmH2O of air pressure and up to just 19.2dBA of noise (with both fans installed the cooler measures 165x150x161mm and weighs 1320g). Basically the sole difference between the "original" NH-D15 and the NH-D15 chromax.black is none other than the rather unique black paint used to coat the entire cooler (both heatsinks and all 6 heatpipes/even the fan clips) which according what we hear took a long time for Noctua to develop in order for it to have no negative effect on cooling efficiency. So, let's see exactly what you can expect from the new back to black.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

As expected the NH-D15 chromax.black gets shipped inside a large black box that has an equally large product picture at the front right beneath the product name and above the product line name and the company logo.

The specifications of the product are listed on the left side of the box while on the right side we see a few words about the original NH-D15 and a partial product picture.

Listed at the rear of the box are all the product features and the other half of the product picture seen on the right side.

Packaging is once again great with the bundle placed on top of the box in its own cardboard box and the cooler placed in another cardboard box beneath it.

As always Noctua is very generous with their bundle so aside the NH-D15 chromax.black and its two NF-A15 chromax.black fans you're also getting 2 fan clips, 2 low-noise fan adapters (L.N.A.), 4pin PWM Y-cable, NT-H1 thermal paste tube, Noctua metal case badge, installation instructions for both Intel and AMD systems and all the necessary mounting hardware to install the cooler on Intel LGA 1150/1151/1155/1156/2011/2011-3/2066 and AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3+/AM4/FM1/FM2/FM2+ mainboards.

THE NH-D15 CHROMAX.BLACK

The massive body of the NH-D15 chromax.black stands 160mm tall, 150mm wide and 135mm long and weighs 1150g with one of the two NF-A15 chromax.black fans already mounted.

Each of the two heatsinks has a total of 45 aluminum fins 7 of which are reduced in height to allow for tall memory modules (especially in single fan mode).

All of the fins are bend inwards on the sides to keep air coming from the fans from exiting left and right.

The six 6mm all-copper heatpipes of the NH-D15 chromax.black are also painted black (and they look great if i might add).

Once again at the base of the cooler we find the all-copper nickel-plated base which is also the only part of the NH-D15 chromax.black without the new black paint.

Exactly like every other fan by Noctua the NF-A15 chromax.black fans feature their self-stabilising oil-pressure bearing (SSO2) which gives them an MTTF (mean time to failure) of over 150.000 hours.

These fans are also equipped with black anti-vibration pads which you can replace for different colored ones available by Noctua.

With the front fan mounted the NH-D15 chromax.black is now 165mm tall, 150mm wide and 161mm long with a weight of 1320g.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   We always take things quite seriously when it comes to work so just like with the previous LGA1366 database we will not be testing each CPU Cooler on its own and with different ambient temperature levels and thus we can actually have yet another valid CPU Cooler database. Testing a CPU Cooler automatically means that you need to know where it stands against the immediate competition and to accomplish that we have spent both money and time through the years, something that we plan to continue to do so in order to get the most accurate results for the end consumers who read these lines. Every CPU cooler in this database is tested with the bundled 140mm/120mm/92mm/80mm fans while working at both idle speed and 100% of their speeds for all the temperature tests. CPU Coolers that do not come bundled with a fan/s are measured using a Noctua fan (size dependent on the model) to test for the temperature tests but due to the lack of a stock fan dBA level tests are obviously skipped. Single (120/140mm) watercooling solutions are tested with the radiator mounted at the rear of our test rig while dual/triple/quad (240/260/280/360/420/480/560mm) solutions with the radiator mounted at the top. For the dBA tests every cooler in the database was measured both while on idle mode or with the fan controller in the minimum setting and while on extreme load or with the fan controller all the way to the highest possible setting (PWM fans do that on their own without our intervention). Every single test takes place in a temperature controlled room of 23 degrees Celsius Ambient Temp with the help of two AC units placed diagonally inside the room. The Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste is used with every CPU Cooler in our latest LGA2011 database (although initially this was not the plan, we had to change things to get the most accurate results). Finally, it's very important to point out that just because a CPU Cooler is better than another when tested with our test rig that does not necessarily mean that the same performance differences will apply 100% for other CPU models and in other situations (such as different ambient temps and system configurations).

     To successfully record the load temperatures, we use the latest OCCT application for around 6-10 minutes to push the processor to its limits and after that is done and the temperatures are recorded, we wait for about 10-20 minutes for the CPU to cool down and record the idle temperatures. This is done to allow time for the thermal conductive material to achieve the optimal performance level. Same procedure is then repeated with the Passmark BurnIn Test as a failsafe just in case the OCCT results are wrong. This procedure is more time consuming than the usual peltier/thermometer tests but this way not only can we deliver real world results to our readers based on real CPUs but we can also triple check the results using a variety of programs. Last but not least the temperatures were recorded using both the latest versions of AIDA64 and RealTemp while the noise level tests are performed using a high precision ExTech HD600 Decibel Meter placed about 10-15cm above the CPU Cooler. Still although the same testing procedure applies to all units do take into consideration that unlike the official numbers which are measured in special noise isolated labs with just the fans here, we also have both the rest of the cooler and the rest of the system (although all system fans are turned off when recording noise levels).

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

   When Noctua announced the new line of Chromax.black CPU coolers we were worried that the black coating would reduce cooling efficiency (even by just a little) but as you can see from our charts between the original NH-D15 and the NH-D15 chromax.black we recorded 0.6 degrees Celsius difference, a number which is well within the margin of error. Of course the same was expected from the two NF-A15 chromax.black fans since they are identical in specifications with the “regular” NF-A15 ones. As also mentioned in the introduction page we’re perfectly aware that the new NH-D15 chromax.black is just an all-black (much better looking) version of the “original” NH-D15 but we had to check things for ourselves, just in case (and we’ll be doing the same thing with other Chromax.black models as well).

   The NH-D15 chromax.black CPU cooler by Noctua currently retails for USD99.95 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 99.90Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) a price tag which puts it roughly USD10/10Euros over the “regular” NH-D15 model. With that in mind (and also with the fact that at launch the NH-D15 did cost the same as the Chromax.black version) if a black CPU cooler is a must for you then we all think that the extra cost is negligible. Looks, excellent build quality, top cooling efficiency, rich bundle and a 6-year limited warranty is what you’re getting with the brand new Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black CPU cooler, winner of our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Excellent Build Quality
- Limited RAM Clearance Issues
- Superior Cooling Efficiency
- Black Coating
- Dual 140mm 1500RPM Fans
- Ability to Add An 3rd Fan
- Noise Levels
- 6 Year Limited Warranty

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- Size (Not For All Cases)