Closer Look / Product Photos
The NH-D15 G2 cooler arrived in a retail package that is perfectly designed, like all Noctua product packages. The exterior tells us everything we may need to know, such as product specifications and features.
The cardboard package is easy to recycle and protects the product well. Anyone who has unpacked even one Noctua cooler knows what I mean when I say that even the package is impressive.
Inside the box, we will find everything required for the installation, including a manual, mounting kits, a Noctua badge, low-noise adaptors, a Y-cable, a screwdriver, a thermal pase guard for AM5 processors, an NT-H2 thermal compound, and cleaning wipes. The cooler isn’t cheap, but we can’t complain about what we get.
New coolers have a modified CPU mounting bracket for AM5 processors. We can install the cooler in a regular placement or with an offset. This is because of the chiplet design and the fact that the hot spot is not in the center of the CPU but slightly lower (in a typical vertical motherboard orientation). The offset is a great option for the standard NH-D15 G2 cooler version. If we decide on the LBC version, then the large and flat base covers the whole IHS and has the same contact on most of the surface, so there is a chance we won’t see any difference. Noctua suggests that the temperature because of the offset mount with the LBC cooler version is slightly better, but we probably won’t see more than a 1°C improvement. Interestingly, in our tests, we could see a 1°C better CPU temperature without the offset. It can be caused by the CPU, which has seen many other coolers before.
As always, Noctua’s cooler is of top quality. Everything was perfect, and the installation was straightforward. Anyone who has installed an AM3/AM4/AM5 cooler will know what to do. If it’s the first time, the manual easily describes the process.
Below are additional photos of the NH-D15 G2 installed on the Gigabyte B650E Master motherboard. As you can see, tall motherboard heatsinks, quite tall Kingston Renegade RAM, or an M.2 SSD heatsink are no problem.
We will show you how the NH-D15 G2 performs with the Ryzen 9 7950X processor on the next page.
