Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black Unboxing Review: Triple Fan Test, AM5 Temperature Performance and Cooling Analysis

The Owl Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black, using Ø 6 mm eight heatpipes, reflow soldered recessed fins dual tower, NF-A14x25r G2 dual fan configuration, with chromax.black high thermal conductivity coating exterior design, so that the powerful cooling performance and stylish low-profile appearance fusion together. It comes standard with NT-H2 thermal paste and AM5 -7 mm offset grommets, and is backed by a six-year warranty. This time, a third fan will be installed to create a giant tower for the Owl cult for real-world testing!

Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black Twin-tower air-cooledSpecifications:

Compatible Intel pins: LGA 1954 / 1851 / 1700 / 1200 / 1156 / 1155 / 1151 / 1150
Compatible with AMD Pin: AM5 / AM4
Size: 150 x 152 x 168 mm
Weight: 1525 g
Number of heat pipes: Ø 6 mm x 8
Copper base contact surface: Nickel-plated copper base
Thermal Design Power (TDP): ? W
Fan used: Two Noctua NF-A14x25r G2 PWM chromax.black fans (NF-A14x25r G2 PWM Sx2-PP chromax.black)
Fan size: 140 x 140 x 25 mm
Maximum fan speed: 1500 ±10% RPM
Maximum fan airflow: 91.58 CFM
Maximum fan pressure: 2.56 mmH₂O
Fan Power Supply: PWM 4-Pin
Includes a tube of Noctua NT-H2 thermal paste.
Warranty: six years

Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black Unboxing & Specification

Since August 10th, 2019, Noctua has launched the first generation of chromax.black CPU cooler series, including the chromax.black versions of the NH-D15, NH-U12S and NH-L9i CPU coolers. chromax.black version continues the successful design of the original models with a black fan and black coated fins, while maintaining the original quiet cooling performance and adding a low-profile, stylish look. The chromax.black version continues the successful design of the original model by utilizing a black fan and black coated fins, which maintains the original quiet cooling performance while adding an understated and stylish look.

And now, six years later, on November 19, 2025, Noctua has released the second generation of the all-black chromax series version of its flagship G2 model: the NH-D15 G2 CPU cooler and the NF-A14x25 G2 140mm fan, which is a relatively short update compared to the ten years it took to update the classic silent brown series from the first-generation NH-D15 (2014/4/8) to the second-generation NH- D15 G2 (2024/7/2), which is the second-generation NH-D15 G2 (2024/7/2). D15 G2 (2024/7/2), the operation time of the Pure Black update is relatively short.

I am not a believer of Noctua, and I have never bought any Noctua related products before, so I will look at this product from an outsider's point of view. However, according to my personal preference, I would prefer the chromax.black version over the original Noctua Classic Silent Brown series.

In addition to unboxing the Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black Black, I also prepared an extra NF-A14x25r G2 PWM chromax.black fan and applied for an extra SFC-24-BK fan clip. I personally wanted to see how much of a difference it would be to go from dual fans to triple fans with the eight heatpipes and dual towers. I personally wanted to see how much of a difference it would make to go from dual fans to triple fans with an eight heatpipe, dual tower case, but the official Noctua recommendation is to just use the stock dual fans.

△ This unboxing stuff.

△ Although a third fan is prepared for expansion, it is actually not officially recommended because officials say that it usually brings only a slight performance boost but a significant increase in noise, so unless users are more concerned about cooling performance than noise control, adding a third fan is not recommended.

△ Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black The dimensions of the tower itself.

 

The Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black (standard) sells for $5,600 on Shrimp Skin's “Noctua Taiwan Original｜Kolink Gongxu Industrial”, but Gongxu's abbreviation of "Noctua NH-D15 G2 CH.BK" in the product name is about $300 more expensive than the original Classic Silent Brown series, which comes with a six-year warranty. BK", which is about $300 more than the original Classic Silent Brown series, and comes with a six-year warranty.

It supports Intel LGA 1954 / 1851 / 1700 / 1200 / 1156 / 1155 / 1151 / 1150 and AMD AM5 / AM4 platforms.

While the original NH-D15 cooler dominated the market for a decade, the G2 model takes performance and technology to the next level. Almost everything has been further improved, from the cooling tower, to the fan, to the mounting method, to the cooling paste and the accessory kit. Thanks to the new NF-A14x25r G2 fan, with a higher density of cooling fins and an asymmetric fin stack and a slightly smaller stack gap, the G2 version offers increased performance with a slightly smaller size than the original NH-D15 (tower depth reduced by 9 mm). The G2 version is also slightly smaller than the original NH-D15 (9 mm less tower depth).

△ Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black has a six-year warranty.

△ The basic features of the product.

△ Product Main Copy.

△ Product specifications.

 

The NH-D15 G2 takes the targeted optimization of different platform foot mounts to a whole new level. The NH-D15 G2 is available in the conventional medium base camber "Standard", low base camber (LBC), and high base camber (HBC) versions simultaneously.

In general, the shape of the heatsink and processor contact surface top IHS (Integrated Heat Spreader) should fit as precisely as possible to achieve good contact heat transfer. Therefore, a relatively flat heatsink base is best suited for CPUs with relatively flat IHS (e.g. AMD AM5 and AM4 or Intel LGA2066), while a highly raised heatsink base needs to fit perfectly with highly recessed CPUs (e.g. Intel LGA1700 with full ILM compression).A slightly raised IHS (e.g. Intel LGA1851 with RL-ILM) is also required. IHS slightly raised CPUs (e.g. Intel LGA1851 with RL-ILM or LGA1700 with reduced ILM pressure) are suitable for a moderately raised heatsink base.

Based on internal testing results, Noctua recommends by default the purchase of the Standard Edition with medium chassis camber, as it provides optimal performance on LGA1851 (RL-ILM), AMD AM5 with offset mounting, and Intel LGA1700 platforms with included 1mm spacers, unless the CPU is permanently deformed due to prolonged exposure to ILM full voltage. Even when the CPU is permanently deformed, such as when subjected to ILM full voltage on Intel LGA1700 CPUs, or on AMD AM5 platforms without offset mounting, the Standard Edition is guaranteed to provide stable performance.

However, in these and other applications, the dedicated LBC and HBC versions offer an additional 1-2°C temperature control advantage, making them an attractive option for customers who want the best possible results in these specific configurations and don't mind sacrificing some versatility for the sake of it. In contrast, the standard medium convex base versions are the most versatile.

As for which version is sold in Taiwan, it is recommended that you check with the store before purchasing. The boxed set that I have in my hand does not specifically indicate LBC or HBC, so I guess mine should be the “NH-D15 G2 chromax.black (standard)” standard version, right? I see that the original Vintage Silent Brown series has LBC or HBC written on the front of the box in the lower left corner.

△ Comparison of different versions of NH-D15 G2.

△ Matching installation suggestions for different versions.

 

Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black Boxed accessories include: 2 x NA-RC16 fan speed reduction cables (fan max speed reduced from 1500 rpm to 1250 rpm), 1 x NA-YC1 4-Pin PWM Tap Cable, NT-H2 Thermal Grease, NA-TPG1 AM5 Thermal Grease Spill Guard, NA-CW1 Cleaning Wipes, NM-SD1 Torx T20 Screwdriver, Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax. Protective Cover, NA-CW1 Cleaning Wipes, Black SecuFirm2+ Multi-Pin Mounting System Buckle Set, NM-SD1 Torx T20 Screwdriver, Noctua Metal Faith Badge.

What is more special is that NH-D15 G2 chromax.black directly in the accessories, attached with "Noctua AMD offset mounting bars explained(NM-AMB12) -7 mm offset fastener", before the author in theAMD Ryzen 9 7950X AM5 processor open-cover cooling performance test / air-cooled, integrated water-cooling, liquid metal and moreAs mentioned in the article, the NM-AMB12 was an additional item that needed to be purchased, but the NH-D15 G2 chromax.black came directly as a standard item.

△ Accessory contents labeling.

△ List of accessory contents.

△ Directly standardized with Noctua AMD offset mounting bars explained(NM-AMB12) -7 mm offset fastener, but it seems to be renamed as NM-AMB14a in the accessory, but the function is the same.

△ NT-H2 Heat dissipating cream.

△ NM-SD1 Torx T20 star screwdriver.

△ On the left is 1 NA-YC1 4-Pin PWM tap wire; on the right are 2 NA-RC16 fan speed reduction wires (which will limit the maximum fan speed).

 

The Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black dual-tower air-cooling dimensions are 150 x 152 x 168 mm, which means that the height of the air-cooled cooler that will be used inside the chassis is 168 mm, so make sure that the chassis you're going to install it in is compatible with this height. If the fan is going to be mounted a little further up to avoid the memory or the motherboard's VRM heat sink, the height will increase. If the fan is to be mounted a little higher to avoid memory or motherboard VRM heatsinks, the height of the fan will be increased.

The air-cooled body and the fan have been installed at the factory, but when installing the motherboard mounting fastener, you still need to temporarily remove the fan in the middle of the dual-tower in order to use the star driver to fix it, and the other two fans have a paper ring to protect the fan from the factory, so remember to remove the paper ring before powering on the fan.

There is an offset design throughout the tower, the NH-D15 G2 in a standard installation has the tower offset towards the top edge of the motherboard to increase the distance to the graphics card PCIe slots, in this way it tries to avoid the first slot PCIe x16 slot on most mainstream motherboards.

The NH-D15 G2's carefully optimized asymmetric fin design takes full advantage of the new NF-A14x25r G2 fan's superior airflow and pressure performance. As a result of the fan's improved performance, the cooling fin spacing has been reduced from 1.9 mm to 1.6 mm, which allows for the addition of 26 extra cooling fins, increasing the total surface area of the fins by 20 1TP3 T. At the same time, the width of the cooling fins in the front has been reduced by 5 mm, allowing for a more balanced load between the two fans. At the same time, the width of the front cooling fin set has been reduced by 5 mm, resulting in a more balanced load between the two fans.

△ Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black Pre-installed fans.

The cooling tower dispersion height is 168 mm.

△ The fan is fixed with wire.

I like Noctua's fixing wire, when removing the fan, the wire will still be fixed on the fan and won't keep running around.

The cooling fins and heatpipes have a blacked out design, and brand new fans will have a white paper circle protector that should be removed.

 

The Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black utilizes two NF-A14x25r G2 fans (140 mm fan), featuring an average operating noise level of less than 24.8 dB(A), fan speeds of 0 ~ 1500 RPM ± 10% with Smart Stop support, and maximum airflow and pressure of 91.58 CFM and 2.56 mmH₂O. The fans themselves are 25 mm thick, with vibration damping pads on all four corners in contact with the tower, as well as speed shifting to avoid resonance issues. Maximum airflow and pressure are 91.58 CFM and 2.56 mmH₂O. The fan itself is 25 mm thick, with vibration-dampening pads at the corners of the tower to avoid resonance problems by means of speed shifting, and the two fans are powered by a 4-Pin PWM.

△ Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black uses two NF-A14x25r G2 fans.

△ The fan speed of Smart Stop function is 0 ~ 1500 RPM.

Each of the two fans requires a 4-Pin PWM power supply.

 

This time Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black has been upgraded to eight Ø 6 mm heatpipes, featuring additional heatpipes for higher heat dissipation capacity, which is especially important under extreme thermal loads of 250W and above, where the performance improvement over the original NH-D15 (with six heatpipes) is most significant.

The heatpipes and cooling fins are soldered together to ensure excellent thermal performance, and the official labeling is that even after years of use, there will be no degradation of performance, so it is assumed that reflow soldering should have been used, but it is a pity that there is no decorative treatment at the top to cover the heatpipes, which might not be so acceptable to gamers' preference nowadays.

△ Heat pipe details.

 

Eight black-plated copper tubes with soldered copper backing are used on the processor contact surfaces to contact the CPU IHS for heat transfer. The heat sink contact surfaces are nickel-plated, while the heat pipe surfaces are coated with a black high-conductivity coating, which prevents oxidization of the copper tubes after prolonged use and maintains the appearance of the scores for a longer period of time.

Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black supports Intel LGA 1954 / 1851 / 1700 / 1200 / 1156 / 1155 / 1151 / 1150 platforms, and AMD's AM4 / AM5 platforms, and is compatible with both newer and older processors and platforms.

Thanks to Noctua's SecuFirm product ecosystem, the NH-D15 G2 chromax.black heatsink is compatible with legacy LGA20xx (LGA2066, LGA2011-0, and LGA2011-3 square ILM6), LGA1375 175, and LGA1375 175 through a free installation kit available upon request on Noctua's website. square slots. If technically feasible, Noctua will also offer upgrade kits for future slots, making this cooler a solid long-term investment.

△ Nickel-plated copper bottom contact surface.

 

Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black Installation Tutorial and Memory Compatibility Analysis

Then we will install it on the X870E platform and show you how it works.

△ Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black Installation, using Noctua's own SecuFirm2 installation system, must be fixed with a Torx screwdriver, if the included screwdriver is lost, it will be a bit troublesome.

△ Mounted with -7 mm offset fastener NM-AMB14a and applied thermal paste as recommended by Noctua, but I didn't use it with NA-TPG1 AM5 Thermal Paste Spill Guard.

△ The author is using a 47.3 mm high Origin code vortex DDR5 48 GB (24 GBx2) For memory, the front PPA fan needs to be raised a bit to be compatible.

△ Due to the recessed cooling fins design, the NH-D15 G2 can provide at least 59 mm of mounting space for memory heatsinks in single fan mounting mode, and the NH-D15 G2 should be used with standard-height memory (up to 32 mm) in dual fan mounting mode; or in chassis with CPU cooler mounting heights over 168 mm, the front PPA fan can be moved upwards to make more mounting space for memory modules with heights over 32 mm. Alternatively, in cases where the CPU cooler is mounted at a height of more than 168 mm, the front PPA fan can be moved upwards to make more room for memory modules that are taller than 32 mm.

 

NF-A14x25r G2 PWM chromax.black Fan Unboxing and Triple Fan Configuration Description

Because the author is personally curious, Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black in the dual tower and eight heat pipe specifications, and then apply for a third set of fan clips with Noctua, so as to become a triple-fan installation effect in the end how?

It is officially recommended that if you really want to add a third fan, you need to prepare an extra NF-A14x25r G2 PWM chromax.black fan on your own, as it makes the lowest noise when used with the stock PPB/PPA fan.

In terms of specifications, the NF-A14x25r G2 PWM chromax.black fan purchased separately will be basically the same as the one that comes with the Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black, so I won't go into that again.

As for the extra fan clip, the carton says “SFC-24-BK”, I'm not sure if this is the internal product code, but it's the same as the fixing wire on the Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black, for your reference.

△ SFC-24-BK fan clip, with the third NF-A14x25r G2 PWM chromax.black fan to be expanded.

△ Retail version of the NF-A14x25r G2 PWM chromax.black fan.

△ Product Features.

△ Fan specifications.

△ Fan package contents.

 

Extra accessories included in the contents of the fan package sold separately are: fan short screws, four NA-SAV2 chromax.black shock mounts, NA-YC1 4-Pin PWM y-tap cable, one NA-RC16 fan speed reduction cable, and one NA-EC1 fan extension cable.

△ Overview of the entire contents.

△ Attached is a list of cables.

 

Next, Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black installs three NF-A14x25r G2 PWM chromax.black fans and shows them for your reference.

△ Normal installation angle, the memory and motherboard basically can't see any decoration.

△ The three-fan pagoda.

△ Wire fixed display.

The twin towers have three panels.

 

Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black Thermal Test: AM5 Platform Temperature and Power Consumption Measurement

The Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black dual-tower air cooler was installed on a bare-bones test platform with the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Processor and ASRock X870E Taichi OCF The motherboard, during the test, the fan slot speed is set to full speed in the motherboard BIOS, only the memory profile is turned on and the rest is kept by default, no additional overclocking of the processor, the test scene is a closed room in Taipei at 26 °C for the actual test, due to the difficulty of controlling the ambient temperature in a normal room, so it is only for reference.

We used AIDA64 FPU to simulate the temperature data under extreme load conditions, while HWiNFO64 was used to collect and record the maximum temperature and power consumption of the CPU, and the thermal paste included in the kit was used without replacement.

Testing Platform

Processor:AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black (full speed)
Cooling cream: Cooling cream included with the accessory
Motherboard:ASRock X870E Taichi OCF (BIOS version: 4.03 )
Memory:Origin code vortex DDR5 48 GB (24 GBx2) 8000 MT/s CL36-47-47-108 1.45V
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Founders Edition 8GB
Operating System: Windows 11 Professional 24H2
System disk: Kingston NV3 2TB
Power supply:FSP Hydro PTM PRO ATX3.0 (PCIe5.0) 1200W
Case: STREACOM BC1 Benchtable V2

 

I updated the BIOS version of the motherboard to version 4.03 and tested it with the default settings of this motherboard, the remaining settings are: memory profile_on, fan speed_full, and the test scene is a closed room at 26°C for actual testing, which is just for reference as the ambient temperature in a normal room is difficult to control.

With the processor overclocking setting set to AUTO.AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D In a thirty-minute AIDA64 FPU, the CPU (Tctl/Tdie) temperature peaked at 76.5 °C; the CPU Package power consumption was 174.3 W, and the CPU temperature peaked at 61 °C without triggering the overheat protection mechanism.

(△) The test is conducted with the default dual fans.

△ Test screenshot.

 

Then we tested it with three fans.AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D In a thirty-minute AIDA64 FPU, the CPU (Tctl/Tdie) temperature peaked at 87.1 °C; the CPU Package power consumption was 178.4 W, and the CPU temperature peaked at 60 °C without triggering the overheat protection mechanism.

△ Then expand the fan into three fans for the actual test.

△ Test screenshot.

 

Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black Review Summary and Buying Recommendation

The Noctua NH-D15 G2 chromax.black is priced at NT$5600 in Taiwan, which is about the same price as many 360 AIO water coolers. Looking at the product itself, the details are quite impressive, and the chromax.black design can really motivate more gamers to buy the product, the cooling fins don't cut into your hands during the disassembly and installation process and the fan fixing wire doesn't bend the cooling fins and cause deformation, the overall installation experience is quite good, but since the price is higher than other air coolers, it's not that bad. The cooling fins don't cut into your hands during multiple disassembly and installation, and they don't get deformed due to the wire installation, and the fan fixing wire is also fixed on the fan during disassembly and installation and won't come loose all the time, so the overall installation experience is quite good, but since the price is higher than other air coolers, I think these are the basic conditions that should be in place.

NH-D15 G2 chromax.black upgraded to eight heatpipes, with optimized cooling fin towers, and two NF-A14x25r G2 PWM fans with speed offset planning, the author paired it with 1500 RPM at full speed. AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Processor and ASRock X870E Taichi OCF The motherboard was tested and the maximum CPU temperature was 61 °C. The cooling performance is quite good.

The SecuFirm2+ Torx Multi-functional Installation System requires the Torx screwdriver included in the kit for installation. This screwdriver must be kept in a safe place to avoid having no tools at hand to disassemble the thermal paste when it's time to replace it in the future, and the standard -7 mm offset grommets are featured as an official feature that can make the cooling performance of the AM5 platform one step forward, or at least, not at the expense of an additional purchase.

For some Taiwanese Noctua players, maintaining the "original classic mute brown color" is the main goal of their faith, but chromax.black is very suitable for all-black installations, and easily blends in with other color schemes, and for most people the appearance acceptance is really better than the classic mute brown color, but if the fan mounting method can be further evolved from wire (many competitors now make it easier), and the heat pipe can have a decorative cover on the top to optimize the appearance score, then I think the NH-D15 G2 chromax.black will be even better. However, if the fan mounting method can be further evolved from wire (many competitors have made more convenient mounting methods), and the top of the heatpipe can have a decorative cover to optimize the appearance of the score, then I think the NH-D15 G2 chromax.black will be even more perfect.

 

Extending the third fan for real-world testing, the sound noise is not too different by the author's personal ear (maybe the machine test value will be more accurate), in terms of temperature performance, the maximum CPU (Tctl/Tdie) temperature is higher than the dual fans, but at the same time the CPU Package power consumption is also higher, related to the processor and motherboard operation mechanism, but the maximum CPU temperature is lower by 1°C. As to whether it is worth expanding, it depends on your preference. However, the maximum CPU temperature is 1°C lower. Whether it's worth expanding depends on your preference.

This is the first time I have come across an unboxing of a Noctua product, and I have to say that in terms of product website information, blog content, professional knowledge sharing, and technical support planning, Noctua is the best brand I have seen, especially in terms of specifications and knowledge sharing, all of which are well reasoned. As a PC DIY player, I can understand why this brand has gained so many fans.