Noctua vs budget cooler?
- Thread starter Ice Tea
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Noctua coolers are always going to look like poor value against the competition. You're paying for the brand name and to an extent the very high quality fans.
I think they're one of the few brands where their name really is synonymous with quality - they quite rightly so well out of that. Logitech have my loyalty for their quality and particularly their customer service, even though at times I night get lighter better vfm elsewhere.
That's it. I wouldn't recommend a £20 cooler if you have serious cooling requirements, but a £40 Peerless Assassin or whatever will do just fine against a £110 NH-U12A, and 90% of people wouldn't see a difference with a £130 NH-D15 either.
Would the Noctuas last as long as 3 Peerless Assassins? Probably not, but the peace of mind is nice.
@mark 11:11 has had Noctua fans fail, twice IIRC? Right Mark?
So it would appear that they're not as bulletproof, as people claim QC wise.
However, their customer service was decent, but you expect that, at that price.
So it would appear that they're not as bulletproof, as people claim QC wise.
However, their customer service was decent, but you expect that, at that price.
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both were rather old and abused though lol one died on arrival but was cheap and probably very old the other was probably my fault lol
noctua have also replaced things that they were clearly not obliged to [ie well out of warranty and second hand and user error] without
any hint of being asked to was just mentioned in passing whilst talking about a different thing i was asking about. so yeah the customer
support and knowledge base etc but yeah is it worth 3 or 4 times as much.... depends lol
for most people not lol for me it was worth it but i think most people probably not lol
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Not really surprising really. The only real reason you'd want the Noctua D15 G2 is if you're running a high end chip (9950x3D) and don't want to use water/exotic for cooling whilst keeping it at a certain noise level. So it sits in a very specialised use case (as GN puts it the only air cooler that was able to run their benchmark test suite and not throttle the chip).
Personally, I've just been waiting on their Thermosiphon and got the D15G2 in the mean time because I needed a new cooler for the new chip and because I have a set of systems that can use a hand-me-down on the coolers (D15G2 -> U12A -> Arctic One* removing this last one) where I also have a tendency to run the rigs at low noise so needed high soak coolers. And can of course keep reusing later down the line in all likelihood later as backup replacements. But that's just me.
Personally, I've just been waiting on their Thermosiphon and got the D15G2 in the mean time because I needed a new cooler for the new chip and because I have a set of systems that can use a hand-me-down on the coolers (D15G2 -> U12A -> Arctic One* removing this last one) where I also have a tendency to run the rigs at low noise so needed high soak coolers. And can of course keep reusing later down the line in all likelihood later as backup replacements. But that's just me.
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i dont have a high end chip [im about to move on to a 7800x3d not really a high end hot running chip tbh] and i do want the nhd15g2 [currently using the g1]
im very much liking the idea of the thermosiphon whever it will ever see the light of day as a purchasable product is another matter but yes i like the idea a lot
i am a niche use case though as it is mostly music production that drives my cooling requirements and liquid cooling for me is a big no no, pump noise, gurgling
leaking theres a few reasons id rather avoid liquid at all costs.
theres also the whole easier to get an aircooled build back up and running vs a aio dying or a custom loop and having to mess about with pumps etc.
if my air cooler dies its either a dead fan which you can relatively easily swap out or some kind of physical mechanical impact or such in which case you probably
need to replace the tower cooler but with an aio it would be the same just with the added bonus of now having a pc filled with liquid.... which i imagine is somewhat
less than optimal to say the least
Indeed, there are several Thermalright coolers that cool well within margin of error as NH=D15 / NH-D15 G2 for 1/3rd-ish as much money.
As for quality control and product, Noctua is hard to beat, but in Thermalright's defence they've had very few quality issues .. a couple of fan issues soon resolved.
Main difference to me is Noctua mounts and fan clips are much nicer / easier to use, but Thermalright are not that hard to use either. I've found an old chopstick or similar often comes in handy to spring Thermalright fan clips onto cooler fins. I file a catch notch on stick to pull fan clip onto fins.
As for quality control and product, Noctua is hard to beat, but in Thermalright's defence they've had very few quality issues .. a couple of fan issues soon resolved.
Main difference to me is Noctua mounts and fan clips are much nicer / easier to use, but Thermalright are not that hard to use either. I've found an old chopstick or similar often comes in handy to spring Thermalright fan clips onto cooler fins. I file a catch notch on stick to pull fan clip onto fins.