NH-D15 G2 LBC
Low-base convexity variant
Second generation
Further improved second generation of the iconic NH-D15
Superior performance
8 heatpipes & 20% more surface area for higher heat-loads
State-of-the-art fans
Dual NF-A14x25r G2 PWM fans with speed-offset
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Credit to Noctua, all three coolers I’ve tested demonstrate the ability to tame Ryzen 7 9800X3D. You can’t go wrong pairing these models with any AMD CPU with a TDP of ≤120W for that matter. Cool stuff, literally.
Opting for higher-end options will afford you greater headroom and control over temperatures as well as noise, but I’m glad to see you don’t have to break the bank to cool what is and will be the most-desirable gaming processor for the foreseeable future.
NH-D15 G2 LBC is the obvious choice for those wanting as much thermal headroom as possible. I still can’t believe just how much cooler my Ryzen 7 9800X3D was relative to the others, particularly at lower RPMs. While absolute noise levels are higher, you don’t need to crank the fans as much as you do on siblings to hit target temperatures, resulting in a build that’s chiller to the ear and touch.
The NH-U12A is no slouch, of course, but if budget is no issue, it’s difficult to ignore how much more performance NH-D15 G2 LBC offers. Nevertheless, the smaller NH-U12A does a stellar job of presenting top-notch Noctua build quality in a more compact factor.
What continues to surprise me most, though, is how competitive NH-U12S Redux is. I actually went back and retested both that cooler and NH-U12A as a sanity check. This is a proper budget champion, punching well above its weight in terms of performance for knockout value.