Revisiting Noctua’s Best Coolers – NHD15S and U12A 2023 Re-Review

How Much Does it Cost?

D15S – Lowest Stock & OC Load Acoustics

• Noctua NH-D15S – £89.95
• Noctua NH-D15S chromax.black – £109.95

U12A – Highest Stock Cinebench Score

• Noctua NH-U12A – £109.95
• Noctua NH-U12A chromax.black – £119.95

Assassin IV – Lowest Stock CPU Load Temp

• DeepCool ASSASSIN IV – £89.99

MA824 – Lowest Stock & OC CPU Load Temp, Highest OC Cinebench Score

• Cooler Master MasterAir MA824 Stealth – £105.46

Overview

Honestly, the results are pretty shocking, not only because both Cooler Master and DeepCool have clearly got what it takes to compete, but because I’ve only tested a few of these latest generation coolers. I’m not saying some brands stole Noctua’s designs, but I saw a lot of Noctua-like coolers at Computex 2023, from many different brands, that all looked like they could be serious competition.

When it comes to the lowest noise levels, the Noctua NH-D15S is still king, and if you’re not pushing an overclock, or you have a lower TDP CPU than the i9-12900K (not hard, that’s for sure), then it’s going to deliver great performance and be the quietest air cooler you can get your hands on.

When it comes to straight-up performance, the U12A allowed the i9-12900K to hit higher boost clocks for longer, and while its 120mm dual fan design was a bit more audible, we can’t complain about the raw performance it delivered.

The DeepCool Assassin IV delivered the lowest temperatures on a stock CPU, again, a 12900K at stock is still going to hit north of 100c on a budget cooler, it’s no joke to cool this monster, but it delivered just 73c on the Assassin IV, which is exceptional. As a side note, I also feel that the DeepCool Assassin IV has one of the best designs of any CPU cooler, it looks ultra-modern, and that more than adds to the appeal.

Finally, the MasterAir MS824 Stealth is not the best-looking cooler, I’ll be honest, but when it comes to cooling, it’s the best air cooler we’ve tested, with the lowest stock and OC load temperatures, and when overclocked, it also delivered the best Cinebench score too. However, what’s more, shocking is that it came in second place to the D15S for low acoustics too.

Should I Buy One?

Which one would I buy? I’m torn, as the D15S is quietest, U12S is a beast for performance despite being the smallest by far, the Assassin IV looks amazing and competes on temperatures really well, and while it’s ugly as sin, the MS824 is the coolest and very nearly the quietest too…

They’re all pretty amazing, at a pinch, the Cooler Master cooler is looking like the performance leader for those wanting to push their PC, while Noctua still takes the silence crown. DeepCool is somewhere in between, the best of both worlds, but they do win on design.

Come on Noctua, it’s time for the D15S Version 2, let’s get that new fan and cooler design to market!