Noctua U12A Vs D15 - Cooling - Linus Tech Tips

• RusselTheMuscle

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I'm planning to buy a CPU cooler for my PC. My PC currently has an i5 4460 but I am planning on upgrading it to a Ryzen 3800X. I'm choosing between the Noctua U12A and D15.

I like the U12A because it offers more compatibility but the D15 offers more cooling.

Which cooler is more "future proof" so that I can use for years to come?

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• Skiiwee29

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D15 is pound for pound the best air cooler on the market, so it would be the most "future proof". 

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• RusselTheMuscle
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• Jurrunio

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If you dont care about RAM clearance (dont use tall sticks or dont care if memory sticks arent shown), D15 is better.

CPU: i7-2600K 4751MHz 1.44V (software) --> 1.47V at the back of the socket Motherboard:Asrock Z77 Extreme4 (BCLK: 103.3MHz) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 RAM: Adata XPG 2x8GB DDR3 (XMP: 2133MHz 10-11-11-30 CR2, custom: 2203MHz 10-11-10-26 CR1 tRFC:230 tREFI:14000) GPU: Asus GTX 1070 Dual (Super Jetstream vbios, +70(2025-2088MHz)/+400(8.8Gbps)) SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB (main boot drive), Transcend SSD370 128GB PSU: Seasonic X-660 80+ Gold Case: Antec P110 Silent, 5 intakes 1 exhaust Monitor: AOC G2460PF 1080p 144Hz (150Hz max w/ DP, 121Hz max w/ HDMI) TN panel Keyboard: Logitech G610 Orion (Cherry MX Blue) with SteelSeries Apex M260 keycaps Mouse: BenQ Zowie FK1

Model: HP Omen 17 17-an110ca CPU: i7-8750H (0.125V core & cache, 50mV SA undervolt) GPU: GTX 1060 6GB Mobile (+80/+450, 1650MHz~1750MHz 0.78V~0.85V) RAM: 8+8GB DDR4-2400 18-17-17-39 2T Storage: HP EX920 1TB PCIe x4 M.2 SSD + Crucial MX500 1TB 2.5" SATA SSD, 128GB Toshiba PCIe x2 M.2 SSD(KBG30ZMV128G) gone cooking externally, 1TB Seagate 7200RPM 2.5" HDD (ST1000LM049-2GH172) left outside Monitor: 1080p 126Hz IPS G-sync

Desktop benching:

Cinebench R15 Single thread:168 Multi-thread: 833 

SuperPi (v1.5 from Techpowerup, PI value output) 16K: 0.100s 1M: 8.255s 32M: 7m 45.93s

• RusselTheMuscle
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• LogicalDrm

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U12A would be the more future proof. Yes, D15 is one for more performance, but like said, its not better compatibility wise. Who knows, maybe you turn out like me and after 12 years on ATX want to go smaller size. And because of CPU cooler being too big, that really means full new system.

^^^^ That's my post ^^^^ <-- This is me --- That's your scrollbar --> vvvv Who's there? vvvv

• WoodenMarker and RusselTheMuscle
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• Jeppes

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3900x + stock cooler > 3800x with any cooler. It makes no sense to invest a lot of money on coolers if you dont get a fast cpu first.

• RusselTheMuscle
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• Trentonxx

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4 hours ago, Jeppes said:

3900x + stock cooler > 3800x with any cooler. It makes no sense to invest a lot of money on coolers if you dont get a fast cpu first.

My 3800x stock cooler is annoyingly loud

2020 AMD Build:

Ryzen 3800x - Asus TUF x570 - Crucial Ballistix 16GB 3600cl16 - ROG StrixGTX1070 OC 8G - EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W - Sabrent Rocket 1TB

2012 Intel Build:

Intel i5-3570k @4.0Ghz - Asus Maximus V Formula - Corsair Vengeance 8GB 1866 - XFX HD7970 GHz - Enermax Revolution87+ 650w - Crucial MX500 500GB

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• Jeppes

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41 minutes ago, Trentonxx said:

My 3800x stock cooler is annoyingly loud

Well get a decent 20-30€ tower cooler for it or google how to under-volt it.

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• freeagent

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14 hours ago, Skiiwee29 said:

D15 is pound for pound the best air cooler on the market, so it would be the most "future proof". 

It’s not the best cooler pound for pound. There are many coolers just as good, if not slightly better. They are the most popular though.

AMD R9 9900X @ 310/210/240 | Thermalright FW Pro Black, 3x TL-B12E | Asus Strix X670E -F | 4x 16GB G.Skill @ 6000 26-36-36-96 1.45v Zotac 4070 Ti Trinity OC @ 3015/1500 | Creative AE5 Plus | WD SN850, SN850X, 2x SN770 | Seasonic Vertex GX-1000 | ProArt PA602 Adcom GFP-345, GFA-535II, Marantz DV9600, NAD 4150, SMSL PS100, Cerwin-Vega! CLSC-15, Def Tech PF700, Monitor Audio FB-210

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• Skiiwee29

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1 hour ago, freeagent said:

It’s not the best cooler pound for pound. There are many coolers just as good, if not slightly better. They are the most popular though.

for air coolers, it is the best one. Its the top dog for air cooling. 

Community Standards

Please make sure to Quote me or @ me to see your reply!

Just because I am a Moderator does not mean I am always right. Please fact check me and verify my answer. 

"Beast Mode"

Ryzen 7 9800x3d | Arctic Liquid Freeze 3 Pro 360 | MSI X870 Tomahawk Wi-Fi | MSI RTX 5080 Gaming Trio OC | Gskill Flare X5 6000MT/s CL30

1tb WD Black SN850x NVMe | 4tb WD SN850x NVMe | Antec Flux Pro | Be Quiet Pure Power 13 M 1000w | OWC 10gb NIC

Dedicated Streaming Rig

 Ryzen 7 3700x | Asus B450-F Strix | 32gb Gskill Flare X 3200mhz | Corsair RM550x PSU | MSI Ventus 3060 12gb | 250gb 860 Evo m.2

Phanteks P300A |  Elgato HD60 Pro | Avermedia Live Gamer Duo | Avermedia 4k GC573 Capture Card

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• freeagent

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52 minutes ago, Skiiwee29 said:

for air coolers, it is the best one. Its the top dog for air cooling. 

Oh, ok.

Well, here’s one review that shows it’s not.

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/thermalright-le-grand-macho/6.html

AMD R9 9900X @ 310/210/240 | Thermalright FW Pro Black, 3x TL-B12E | Asus Strix X670E -F | 4x 16GB G.Skill @ 6000 26-36-36-96 1.45v Zotac 4070 Ti Trinity OC @ 3015/1500 | Creative AE5 Plus | WD SN850, SN850X, 2x SN770 | Seasonic Vertex GX-1000 | ProArt PA602 Adcom GFP-345, GFA-535II, Marantz DV9600, NAD 4150, SMSL PS100, Cerwin-Vega! CLSC-15, Def Tech PF700, Monitor Audio FB-210

• MrBrightSyde
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• Algebruh

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On 5/5/2020 at 5:44 AM, freeagent said:

Oh, ok.

 

Well, here’s one review that shows it’s not.

 

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/thermalright-le-grand-macho/6.html

The site also shows that U12S is same as U12A, which is questionable.

Also there are some cases report that le grand macho can't effectively cool zen 2 chips due to its convex copper base.

Intel I7-10700KF stock - Noctua NH-D15 - A15+A12x25 

Micron Ballistix Sport LT 4133MHz CL17-21-21-40 @1.45v

GIGABYTE AORUS 3090 Xtreme [email protected]/[email protected] +900/750 memory clock

Seasonic PX-1000

Lian-Li Lancool II Mesh 

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• freeagent

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I don't know, the review is from 2016, maybe it was added later, who knows.

As for convexity, its really not that bad. I'm not going to pull my cooler and take a pic with a straight edge. But I can say it is no worse than my old D14. Because you already know every top end Intel cooler made over the late decade or more has a little convexity to it. So maybe it was a user issue? Lots of noobs out there. Not pointing fingers or anything.. but you know who you are.. Shit even Im a noob to modern hardware, all my stuff is ancient. For Intel its a solid cooler. I will let you know how it works on AMD when I get one. Hopefully I wont have to do any lapping. 

AMD R9 9900X @ 310/210/240 | Thermalright FW Pro Black, 3x TL-B12E | Asus Strix X670E -F | 4x 16GB G.Skill @ 6000 26-36-36-96 1.45v Zotac 4070 Ti Trinity OC @ 3015/1500 | Creative AE5 Plus | WD SN850, SN850X, 2x SN770 | Seasonic Vertex GX-1000 | ProArt PA602 Adcom GFP-345, GFA-535II, Marantz DV9600, NAD 4150, SMSL PS100, Cerwin-Vega! CLSC-15, Def Tech PF700, Monitor Audio FB-210

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