AK620 performs better than NHD15s in the 5800X3D.
AK620 performs better than NHD15s in the 5800X3D.
He and I both own the 5800X3D, but his system runs at a slightly higher voltage and frequency (50mhz) stock-wise, likely due to a BIOS variation. His cooler handles heat well, maintaining around 73–74°C in Cinebench R23 multi. Mine stays near 80°C on a D15S chromax, dropping to about 81°C under similar conditions. Both coolers kick in hard at 70–80°C. I've swapped my cooler a few times and tested both NT H1 and Deepcool Z10 pastes, but results haven't changed much. Ambient temps were roughly 18–19°C during testing. These mid-tower cases have solid airflow.
I believe our spaces were very close in atmosphere. My setup reaches 85°C with a cinebench if I raise the room temperature to 23-24°C and run the NHD15s fan at 1450rpm. I'm trying to understand what might have gone wrong. He's also running about 10°C cooler, though I've set the cooler to spin the fan at 400rpm on low settings, so it's hard to say for sure. Usually I attribute this to needing a repaste, but I've done it many times before.
It remains suitable for use, certainly. Significantly improved over my Hyper 212 Black, which featured direct heat pipe contact to the IHS.
I haven't tried the A14 and A15 yet, but their static pressure isn't very strong at low speeds. I own two of them, and when you load them with a high impedance they stop working well without much higher RPM or noise. I've added an IceGALE Xtra 140mm in the top of my case for better performance even at the same noise levels. Among all the Noctua fans I've used, the A14 is the least satisfying, the new version won't arrive soon. If OP is using their D15 at 400 RPM, that's likely the cooling problem—needs more speed to push air through the fins and overcome fluid resistance. The 120mm models work fine for low speeds, but the 140mm A14s fall short.
He uses a deepcool CL500 while I have a Phanteks P300A mesh front panel featuring Noctua and be quiet fans. All slots include deepcool fans.
Well, here we go—this two-part issue is a completely separate matter. Although the P300A mesh builds on the Eclipse model with a solid front panel, this particular component remains a significant limitation in practice.