Noctua NH-D9 DX-3647 4U (LGA3647) CPU Cooler Review

A Closer Look

For the most part, this cooler will be familiar to most people reading this review. The difference to the previous NH-D9 models is the baseplate and mounting system. Still, it’s worth checking in on all the details.

With the Fans Installed

With the fans installed, the NH-D9 looks beastly. The size of the two heatsink towers and the fans are in symmetry which makes the whole thing look complete. However, when we look from the side, you get the idea why I call it a beast. It looks aggressive. But don’t be fooled by that. This is still a Noctua cooler which means that low noise generation is a given. That said, we’re dealing with 92mm fans here which will be a little louder than 120mm or larger fans.

One of the big advantages of this CPU cooler is the complete clearance around it. It takes up about as much space as the CPU socket which means that multi-socket systems aren’t an issue.

The rear side isn’t really interesting to look at, but I took the photo. So why not add it too? at the very least, we can see the four heat pipes entering the base from the fin stack.

Just the Heatsink

While we have it here and before I mount and test it, let us have a look at the heatsink without fans. It’s a little beauty! A perfectly crafted CPU cooler capable of cooling high-end processors.

Looking from the side and we get a great view of the two towers almost hovering over the ground. The battle for Helm’s Deep is over, the battle for Middle-Earth is about to begin. Oh no, wait, that’s the wrong two towers.

At last, we should also take a look at the heatsink from the top. This is where the four heat pipes end in a beautiful finished finstack.

Into the Details

The NH-D9 DX-3647 4U has four heat pipes connecting the fins with the contact surface. The all go up through both of the two fin stacks.

Noctua pre-applies NT-H1 thermal paste, making the installation a breeze. Naturally, you can opt to remove it and add your own favourite kind. But it does a wonderful job, so why? I will remove it for my tests though as we want all our cooler reviews to feature the same methodology.

The large 70 x 56mm copper contact surface is more than double the size of the standard model. It is tailored to fit the enormous integrated heat-spreaders (IHS) of Intel’s LGA3647-based processors. A customised design like this allows for optimal heat flow from the CPU over the base to the heat pipes and on to the cooling fins.

Installation

The LGA3647 installation is quite a bit different than your average desktop processor. It might seem odd in the beginning, but once you’ve done it a few times, you’ll wonder why all sockets aren’t made like this.

First, you mount either the narrow or square side brackets. Next, you secure the CPU in the plastic retention bracket.

Then you snap the CPU onto the heatsink and install the whole shebang into the CPU socket.