Will a Noctua NH-D15 fit in my case

keineheldenmehr · 25 Sep 2020 at 01:04

So 10 years ago I bought am Intel 10100i configurator gaming pc from this site. I've tried to look for/check my invoices on the case model but seemed to have lost it. The case has barcode: x45ub11020220549

Fast Forward to today I finally switched on my gaming pc and I've noticed that the CPU Fan seems to not work. The CPU Fan was a corsair water cooler cwch60, it seems to have dried out due to inactivity.

Now I've been looking at pure fan based solutions and the first suggestions suggest the Noctua NH-D15 which looks massive and I fear that it won't fit in my case depth wise. the case is about 19cms deep (that's the left wall of the tower to right).

also a 19cm tall gap from my GPU to the power supply.

I am also concerned that it might touch my GPU - an XFX-Radeon-480 as I think i understand that heat from the GPU to this fan generally better to have some space between them.

Here's an image to maybe help paint a better picture.

https://pasteboard.co/JsDqpwk.jpg

If there's any questions of my motherboard it's a GigaByte GA-Z68A-D3-B3
The CPU itself I think is a 2nd generation i5.

Are there any other suggestions for suitable replacements.
Thanks

JohnG7 · 25 Sep 2020 at 01:06

Not sure as due to age but the Noctua site will tell you if it fits your case/mobo etc.

keineheldenmehr · 25 Sep 2020 at 01:19

JohnG7 said:
Not sure as due to age but the Noctua site will tell you if it fits your case/mobo etc.

i just checked seems to be around 17cm cubed fan. (rounded up)

what are your thoughts on it potentially touching my gpu

was watching this. particularly 7:41 onwards
https://youtu.be/QtYMX73XsDw

bremen1874 · 25 Sep 2020 at 01:24

Noctua's site says it'll fit the board. If it was going to block a slot their information would say so.

As you have the existing cooler off you should be able to easily measure the available height for a cooler.

JohnG7 · 25 Sep 2020 at 01:25

The D15S is designed to give more top PCI-E slot and Ram clearance but your PSU is close and none are at top these days.

keineheldenmehr · 25 Sep 2020 at 01:56

bremen1874 said:
Noctua's site says it'll fit the board. If it was going to block a slot their information would say so.

As you have the existing cooler off you should be able to easily measure the available height for a cooler.

Yeah measuring it seems to fit, just seems a really tight fit potential of a 19cm cube case containment, for a 17cm cubed fan.

JohnG7 said:
The D15S is designed to give more top PCI-E slot and Ram clearance but your PSU is close and none are at top these days.

I do want the advantages of the 2nd fan of the D15, how would the positioning of my PSU affect the potential installation of the D15? Would that top area just be really hot? Am I better of looking for something smaller and similar to alleviate that space?

JohnG7 · 25 Sep 2020 at 02:19

Better of with a new case TBH, the D15S comes with one fan in the middle.

doyll · 26 Sep 2020 at 14:33

Your Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3-B3 motherboard has plenty of clearance for D15.
That said, The difference in performance between 2x fans and single middle fan is none to maybe 1-2c. Even if it is slightly better it's no better at same noise levels. 2x fans make about 3db more noise than 1 at same speeds, so if and if single fan is ran faster so it's at same noise level cooling becomes equal. The only time you might get the 1-2c max better cooling is fans at full speed, and that's assuming temp would actually be better.

Another thing to consider here is NH-D15 is higher priced than other coolers that perform just as well, some even a little better. Only thing we get buying Noctua is their extremely good customer support. Some buyers feel it's worth paying extra for.