I think the question is what noise/cooling it's going to achieve. I believe we are already near the limits of traditional tower cooling.
My speculation other than the new fan design that might decrease few degress at the same noise vs NH-D15. noctua might also focus on the intel ILM, improve the mounting, and could provide direct die support out of the box.
Your guess is as good as anyone else's guess lol. And actually the updated D15 has TWO additional heat pipes, going from 6 to 8 heat pipes, with all 8 pipes essentially covering the entire base. Some of the recent twin-tower coolers that meet or beat the current D15 have 8 heat pipes. I think 8 heat pipes is about the limit that you can squeeze up against the IHS of most CPUs for now... maybe when a budget CPU has 48 cores 10 years from now, the IHS will then be big enough for 10 or 12 heat pipes :-D
The heatsink fin spacing is also reduced from 1.9mm to 1.6mm on the new D15, which may translate to about 20% more surface area. There was never any mention of a 2nd-gen NH-D15S, but supposedly the new D15 also takes into account taller memory, VRM heat sinks, rear I/O shrouds, and nearby SSD heatsinks. The last photos that I remember seeing of the 2nd-gen D15 had one fin tower extending out wider than the other fin tower, but without the recessed fin cutouts that the D15S has to handle tall memory, so that asymmetrical fin stack size on both fin towers presumably gives you freedom to orient in a way to avoid bumping into tall memory, I/O covers, or a tall SSD heatsink.
Having trouble finding a source now, but I believe D15 is the cooler width in cm. I.e. 150mm. The generation before, the NH-D14 was 140mm, hence D14. So, unless they make it 10mm wider, it probably won't be called the NH-D16.
The only thing we do know is that it's not going to be called D16. Noctua doesn't make 16cm (160mm) heatsinks nor do they make those size fans. Noctua products have their description in the SKU. When you see something like XX-Y123 consider the XX the Product Type, and the Y123Z the Product Name where Y is the a descriptor, 123 is the size or generation, and Z is the fan count.
**For Product Type:**
N = Noctua
A = Accessory
F = Fan
H = Heatsink
T = Thermal (paste)
**For Product Name:**
C = C-shape Heatsink
D = Dual Heatsink
FC = Fan Controller
FH = Fan Hub
L = Low Profile Heatsink
P = Passive Cooler
U = Uni Heatsink
**For sizes:**
9 = 9cm (L9)
12 =12cm (U12)
14 = 14cm (U14/D14)
15 = 15cm (D15)
**For fan count:**
S = Single (U12S)
A = Not sure, but so far it's only used with a cooler with two fans, but D15 uses two fans and it's not D15A.
There are a lot more Product Names, I was only doing the main coolers, you can see the other names on the website and see how they correspond to the product, but coolers don't increment their name based on an upgraded version. Otherwise, where are D1-D13 or U1-8, U10, and U11? The only reason it seemed to happen with D14 becoming deprecated for D15 is the actual heatsink size changing and increasing by 1cm, which requires A14 to accommodate, hence A15, which is the same as A14 but with a housing that's 1cm wider.
I know you meant that just too refer to the upgraded D15, but I just wanted to give some insight on the naming convention of the products so it'll be easy to know exactly what the product is just from the name alone.
Back when it was first displayed, they spoke about increased capabilities for modern CPUs which consume more power. They wanted to increase surface area and add an additional heat pipe for more efficient heat transfer.
With a 7600x (for example) most users would likely see little to no difference in temperatures, with potential improvements in sound. Users of CPUs like the 14900KS,l may see decreased full load temperatures and similar sound levels.
I recall some talk about slight design changes to improve compatibility with GPUs on certain motherboards, as well as improved RAM clearance compatibility.
Just speculating, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a larger contact plate. CPU sizes have increased since the NH-D15 was released, and it would make sense to try and increase compatibility by increasing size.
I think they've largely reached the limits of air cooling. They can't get much bigger and they can't cram much more in. They might be able to optimize noise but I don't think that moves the needle for the average consumer. If Noctua wants to really expand they need to go one step further than they did with Chromax and integrate rgb. I know that goes against the 'brand values' but they are becoming less competitive everyday in terms of value proposition, they need another angle.
How tf can WE possibly know that?
We don't, but I was more so interested in speculation from others here on what they think.
I think the question is what noise/cooling it's going to achieve. I believe we are already near the limits of traditional tower cooling. My speculation other than the new fan design that might decrease few degress at the same noise vs NH-D15. noctua might also focus on the intel ILM, improve the mounting, and could provide direct die support out of the box.
Your guess is as good as anyone else's guess lol. And actually the updated D15 has TWO additional heat pipes, going from 6 to 8 heat pipes, with all 8 pipes essentially covering the entire base. Some of the recent twin-tower coolers that meet or beat the current D15 have 8 heat pipes. I think 8 heat pipes is about the limit that you can squeeze up against the IHS of most CPUs for now... maybe when a budget CPU has 48 cores 10 years from now, the IHS will then be big enough for 10 or 12 heat pipes :-D The heatsink fin spacing is also reduced from 1.9mm to 1.6mm on the new D15, which may translate to about 20% more surface area. There was never any mention of a 2nd-gen NH-D15S, but supposedly the new D15 also takes into account taller memory, VRM heat sinks, rear I/O shrouds, and nearby SSD heatsinks. The last photos that I remember seeing of the 2nd-gen D15 had one fin tower extending out wider than the other fin tower, but without the recessed fin cutouts that the D15S has to handle tall memory, so that asymmetrical fin stack size on both fin towers presumably gives you freedom to orient in a way to avoid bumping into tall memory, I/O covers, or a tall SSD heatsink.
It'll be slightly better Only slightly But it'll be enough I'm serious
Having trouble finding a source now, but I believe D15 is the cooler width in cm. I.e. 150mm. The generation before, the NH-D14 was 140mm, hence D14. So, unless they make it 10mm wider, it probably won't be called the NH-D16.
The only thing we do know is that it's not going to be called D16. Noctua doesn't make 16cm (160mm) heatsinks nor do they make those size fans. Noctua products have their description in the SKU. When you see something like XX-Y123 consider the XX the Product Type, and the Y123Z the Product Name where Y is the a descriptor, 123 is the size or generation, and Z is the fan count. **For Product Type:** N = Noctua A = Accessory F = Fan H = Heatsink T = Thermal (paste) **For Product Name:** C = C-shape Heatsink D = Dual Heatsink FC = Fan Controller FH = Fan Hub L = Low Profile Heatsink P = Passive Cooler U = Uni Heatsink **For sizes:** 9 = 9cm (L9) 12 =12cm (U12) 14 = 14cm (U14/D14) 15 = 15cm (D15) **For fan count:** S = Single (U12S) A = Not sure, but so far it's only used with a cooler with two fans, but D15 uses two fans and it's not D15A. There are a lot more Product Names, I was only doing the main coolers, you can see the other names on the website and see how they correspond to the product, but coolers don't increment their name based on an upgraded version. Otherwise, where are D1-D13 or U1-8, U10, and U11? The only reason it seemed to happen with D14 becoming deprecated for D15 is the actual heatsink size changing and increasing by 1cm, which requires A14 to accommodate, hence A15, which is the same as A14 but with a housing that's 1cm wider. I know you meant that just too refer to the upgraded D15, but I just wanted to give some insight on the naming convention of the products so it'll be easy to know exactly what the product is just from the name alone.
“It’ll be THIS good”
Back when it was first displayed, they spoke about increased capabilities for modern CPUs which consume more power. They wanted to increase surface area and add an additional heat pipe for more efficient heat transfer. With a 7600x (for example) most users would likely see little to no difference in temperatures, with potential improvements in sound. Users of CPUs like the 14900KS,l may see decreased full load temperatures and similar sound levels. I recall some talk about slight design changes to improve compatibility with GPUs on certain motherboards, as well as improved RAM clearance compatibility. Just speculating, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a larger contact plate. CPU sizes have increased since the NH-D15 was released, and it would make sense to try and increase compatibility by increasing size.
I think they've largely reached the limits of air cooling. They can't get much bigger and they can't cram much more in. They might be able to optimize noise but I don't think that moves the needle for the average consumer. If Noctua wants to really expand they need to go one step further than they did with Chromax and integrate rgb. I know that goes against the 'brand values' but they are becoming less competitive everyday in terms of value proposition, they need another angle.
Maybe, noctua needs to delve into water cooling