current best air coolers

polonyc2 said:
seems like most people dislike Noctua because of their pricing and the giant size of their CPU coolers...to me the performance is the most important thing...I'm fine with paying a bit more for quality...plus it's not like I'm changing out CPU coolers every year...they also make one of the best thermal pastes as well (Noctua NT-H2)

the NH-D15 G2 was supposed to come out years ago but their quality control and engineering is so good that they don't release products until they are sure of its quality
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Like I said they have waited to long to release anything new. Many companies now make cheaper and better coolers then noctua does now. The NH-D15 was great when it came out and pretty well beat everything, it was still very good when I bought one for my current AM4 system almost 5 years ago. Now there is a lot more choice, with much lower prices.
 
Starfalcon said:
Like I said they have waited to long to release anything new. Many companies now make cheaper and better coolers then noctua does now. The NH-D15 was great when it came out and pretty well beat everything, it was still very good when I bought one for my current AM4 system almost 5 years ago. Now there is a lot more choice, with much lower prices.
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Nah, spend more money on equal at best performance to show how baller you are :D
 
NightReaver said:
Nah, spend more money on equal at best performance to show how baller you are :D
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Thats working out real well for EK right now :) Im sure all their customers want to buy $1k waterblocks and other overpriced watercooling gear.
 
I might have to look into the Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 EVO or Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 for my next build...I didn't realize Noctua was no longer king...I wonder if the new Noctua NH-D15 G2 will help them regain their crown?
 
polonyc2 said:
I might have to look into the Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 EVO or Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 for my next build...I didn't realize Noctua was no longer king...I wonder if the new Noctua NH-D15 G2 will help them regain their crown?
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I have several noctua coolers, but I recommend thermal right for friends. The prices are cray cray for noctua now
 
Randall Stephens said:
I have several noctua coolers, but I recommend thermal right for friends. The prices are cray cray for noctua now
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the Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 EVO sounds like an excellent overall cooler in terms of temps and price...still lacks a bit behind Noctua in terms of noise levels/fan quality
 
There is no reason to pay the Noctua tax anymore. The new fans look interesting but they are going to be like $45 each. There are so many options that are comparable or better for significantly less now.
 
Noctua are for those that like to flex. For everyone else common sense prevails and we'll choose better value and get nearly same performance.
 
I'll never buy them again, but I have a bit of a different perspective now having years of Noctua products and in the last 2 years, a number of Deepcool and Thermalright designs. Straight up, you're getting a physically better built and finished product with Noctua. There simply is no denying this. From the packaging to the construction of the product itself to the included accessories. After sales support is also a key factor for some people.

I'm pretty experienced with customer computers and the like so none of that stuff interests me which is why I'm all for what Thermalright is doing, but I'm also not blind in thinking you're getting the same thing.

Its just comes down to how much you value all the "other stuff" over the raw output in the end.
 
I couldn't care less about customer service tbh. I have never had to contact service over a fan or an air cooler. And I've bought a very large quantity of fans over the years from many different makes and models.

I bet most people buy Noctua still because "it's the name brand" and don't consider "build quality" or "service".
 
criccio said:
Straight up, you're getting a physically better built and finished product with Noctua. There simply is no denying this.
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This is 100% false for the heatsinks. If you're talking about the fan plastic quality then you would be right there but not the heatsink itself. (I haven't had any problems myself but the fan frames are a bit flimsier and may be an issue if you overtighten your fans)

NightReaver said:
I couldn't care less about customer service tbh. I have never had to contact service over a fan or an air cooler. And I've bought a very large quantity of fans over the years from many different makes and models.

I bet most people buy Noctua still because "it's the name brand" and don't consider "build quality" or "service".
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We had to deal with nan's for CS in the US in the past and they were garbage but supposedly TR themselves are fine for CS.
 
Chances are the people who love Noctua do so because it is their first taste of a quality cooler. I guess their fans are ok, but the only ones that interested me were their iPPC fans.

I don’t care about absolute silence, if I want absolute silence, I can literally do it without Noctuas help.
 
Agreed on the industrial fans. Only interested in their 3k model. The other noctua fans are whatever. Plenty of fish in the sea.

I do like their 5v fans for rpi/ 3d printer projects.
 
D-EJ915 said:
If you're talking about the fan plastic quality
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I'm not talking about material properties at all, i'm talking about the product as a whole. Unbox an NH-U12A and an AK-400 Plus and the difference is stark. I'd still buy the Deepcool, and have on performance chops, but i'm not going to say its the same quality experience.
 
criccio said:
I'm not talking about material properties at all, i'm talking about the product as a whole. Unbox an NH-U12A and an AK-400 Plus and the difference is stark. I'd still buy the Deepcool, and have on performance chops, but i'm not going to say its the same quality experience.
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a fancy box isnt worth the cost to most...
 
criccio said:
And it shouldn't be. (that's also not all I mentioned above)

I think the point i'm making might be being misunderstood.
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No, your point is understood. It's people buying a nicer box and some accessories for 3x the price that doesn't make sense.

Is there a "premium experience" worth money in life? Yes.

But for PC fans? Lmao, no.
 
I see some of those high end Thermalright coolers (Phantom Spirit EVO, Peerless Assassin) have Noctua beat in terms of temps...but they don't beat them in terms of fan DBA and that's a pretty important feature as well when talking about cooling...I could buy some cheap 140mm fans which cool decently but are loud as hell...if anything if I bought the Thermalright CPU cooler I would switch out the included fans for Noctua...and doing that increases the overall cost so it might be better to go with the DH-15 G2 from the start
 
The Phantom Spirit I installed a couple weeks ago is somewhat quieter than the previous Noctua HSF I had.
 
Silence has no place in high performance computing. Noctua has no place in high performance computing. They used to, until the squandered it. There is no coming back lol. Noctua isn’t the only company to make quiet fans. Also, 60cfm is hardly anything to be impressed about, that is why they are quiet.
 
I have a noctua nh-u12s, it's not for top processors, but it's good for midrange, I've had all kinds before, but noctua is still the top, I don't know if what's changed.
Who wants a top quality air cooler can hardly go wrong with the nh d14,d15 and this new d15 g2 also seems very good.
I also had Thermalright, thermalright venomous x, it's also good, but I think noctua is better, better quality, the box and packaging and how it's all arranged is really top.
As for the fans, they are also the top. I don't know if anyone came close because I don't follow it anymore, you put a noctua cooler and that's it. However, one of their fans failed me.
 
Strange bird said:
I have a noctua nh-u12s, it's not for top processors, but it's good for midrange, I've had all kinds before, but noctua is still the top, I don't know if what's changed.
Who wants a top quality air cooler can hardly go wrong with the nh d14,d15 and this new d15 g2 also seems very good.
I also had Thermalright, thermalright venomous x, it's also good, but I think noctua is better, better quality, the box and packaging and how it's all arranged is really top.
As for the fans, they are also the top. I don't know if anyone came close because I don't follow it anymore, you put a noctua cooler and that's it. However, one of their fans failed me.
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The game has changed. But if you just want to stick with what you're used to, fair enough.
 
Strange bird said:
So what is the current best air cooler? Any model from thermalright?
Noctua has always tried to get the best ratio of cooling and fan noise.
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You may want to review the last few pages of this thread. They have a lot of models that have different names but are very similar but the most discussed and reviewed is the Peerless Assassin 120 (and its variants).
 
criccio said:
You may want to review the last few pages of this thread. They have a lot of models that have different names but are very similar but the most discussed and reviewed is the Peerless Assassin 120 (and its variants).
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I saw that a bit in the thread, it seems good.It is 65 euros with me(Peerless Assassin 120)
 
criccio said:
Hard disagree but "high performance computing" is a very subjective term.
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I mean things like WCG, Rosetta, F@H, and then there is the professional side of things I guess.. but my 5900X will do the full 260w with all cores running at ~4600MHz.
 
freeagentt said:
I mean things like WCG, Rosetta, F@H, and then there is the professional side of things I guess.. but my 5900X will do the full 260w with all cores running at ~4600MHz.
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Ok, but are we talking about people's desktop PC's at their homes or essentially dedicated workstations that just run one task. The coolers being discussed are primarily used in the context of the former.

You can do all the things and not have your room sound like a data center.
 
criccio said:
You can do all the things and not have your room sound like a data center
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You can, but if you are running at or near stock power limits, you really are no where near what the CPU can actually do.

When you see CPU reviews done, they are always at their stock power limits.. pretty sucky for performance, since you can do way better.
 
freeagentt said:
You can, but if you are running at or near stock power limits, you really are no where near what the CPU can actually do.

When you see CPU reviews done, they are always at their stock power limits.. pretty sucky for performance, since you can do way better.
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For benchmarks and bragging rights, maybe. Real world, doubtful. I don't need to be deafened just so I can finish a normally 15 minute render in 14 minutes and 15 seconds.
 
criccio said:
For benchmarks and bragging rights, maybe. Real world, doubtful. I don't need to be deafened just so I can finish a normally 15 minute render in 14 minutes and 15 seconds.
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That's because neither of you're CPU's would be good for it.
 
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