Performance
The NH-U9S chromax.black performance has been tested on AMD Ryzen 5 4650G, a six-core processor, and AMD Ryzen 9 5900X, a twelve-core processor. In both cases, there were no problems with stability or temperatures. Also, both processors were tested with one and two fans. Results made on Ryzen 5 4650G are marked in blue, while those made on Ryzen 9 5900X are marked in red.
The test platform also includes the ASUS Strix B550I-Gaming motherboard, 32GB Crucial Ballistix DDR4-4400 memory kit, Crucial P5 500GB M.2 SSD, and Corsair SF600 80+ Platinum PSU.
Our comparison includes three tests. The idle mode is a PC left without any load besides standard Windows services running in the background. The mixed-mode base on a PCMark 10 extended test that uses popular applications and simple games. The max load is a CPU+FPU AIDA64 stability test. Shows about maximum CPU load during the most demanding work on all CPU cores.
Let’s take a look at our results.
As you can see, the 4650G processor isn’t demanding, and the NH-D15S had no problems to keep it at lower temperatures. As I mentioned during the NH-U9S cooler review, the main difference between both coolers is that the NH-D15S is able to keep the CPU up to 70°C at around 900 RPM while the NH-U9S requires over 1700 RPM and still gives about 6-8°C higher temperatures. Of course, it affects the noise, but both coolers are quiet in this case. The NH-D15S isn’t going past 32dB room noise, so it’s impossible to say how loud it works directly. In short, you won’t hear the difference if it’s working or not.
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X surprised me as the specification says that the Tj is up to 90°C. However, our processor is keeping temperatures at about 80°C and not much more. The difference between single and dual fan mode wasn’t visible.
You may wonder why under maximum load and during mixed load tests, our temperatures are the same. The main reason is mentioned CPU behavior so that the CPU is keeping the temperature around 80°C. Depends on load, power, and thermal limits, it adjusts voltages and frequency to keep the mentioned 80°C. However, during mixed load tests, the CPU goes as high as up to 4.95GHz, while during maximum load tests with AVX2 instructions, it stays at about 4.2GHz.
During the maximum load tests, the cooler was quiet. Registered noise was about 1-2dB higher than the room’s noise, so around 33-34dB. Simultaneously, the cooler wasn’t working at its maximum potential as the fan was spinning at about 1300 RPM. On the other hand, when we added a second fan, then it didn’t change anything, so we assume that the CPU and cooler adjusted optimal settings for their work.
Overclocking of our processors wasn’t possible. Ryzen 5 4650G is not overclocking at all and at automatic settings is already reaching its maximum frequency, while Ryzen 9 5900X at all cores can reach about 4.5GHz. Results are similar to that of AIO water cooling.
I’m sure that anyone who decides on the NH-D15S chromax.black cooler will be satisfied. It’s hard to find any better option on the market as most large coolers perform worse or cause more noise during work.
