Noctua eliminates 'Rattlegate' on the NH-D15 G2 — CPU cooler no longer makes rattling noises during operation
Posted by imaginary_num6er@reddit | hardware | View on Reddit | 65 comments
imaginary_num6er@reddit (OP)
myfakesecretaccount@reddit
I’m well aware that I “overpaid” for my NH-U12A, but this kind of customer service is the reason why. In a day and age where things break because of defects and the manufacturer instead tries to hide or mitigate the issue instead of taking responsibility for them, I’ll pay the premium to know I’ll get this kind of service.
Exist50@reddit
Huh? This is the bare minimum. You could rightfully return any such cooler as defective with this issue. And you pay 3-4x for a Noctua. Shouldn't have these quality problems to begin with.
Skellicious@reddit
and 90% of manufacturers would not even make a public statement about an issue like this.
gusthenewkid@reddit
They have to do this as their cooler is significantly more expensive than the competition.
Azzcrakbandit@reddit
I don't know why you're being downvoted. Noctua is seen as a more premium option. You don't pay those prices unless expecting significantly better performance or excellent customer service.
etfvidal@reddit
Noctua is seen as a waste of $$$ in my eyes. Spending $60-$120 for the same performance as something $20-$35!
TotalWarspammer@reddit
Higher prices are definitely NOT a universal sign of better customer service or quality within the PC hardware industry.
Azzcrakbandit@reddit
Not prices exclusively, but it still applies to noctua. Their products are only marginally better than the competition, so it makes sense for them to provide good customer service.
Exist50@reddit
Maybe, maybe not. Regardless, people would just return it anyway. The public statement doesn't change the outlook for those affected.
anival024@reddit
No, the bare minimum is jerking you around for hours and lying to you about RMA status and charging you for shipping and never sending you a fixed product, or worse, charging you full price for cross shipping and then claiming they never received your return so you never get the charge removed and you essentially paid full retail for a new unit (that likely actually just came in from someone else's RMA), etc.
So many electronics companies have that level of "support" today.
Strazdas1@reddit
Thats why the sane part of the world returns it to the retailer and let retailer jerk it out with manufacturer. Retailer has a lo more strings to pull than a customer.
spicesucker@reddit
You’re right that ease of RMA is a big factor when it comes to considering similar cost purchases.
The issue with this is the Noctua NH-D15 G2 is literally 2.85x the cost of an equivalent performance Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 EVO cooler, and ~2x the cost of the ID-Cooling A720.
If you buy the Thermalright cooler and it develops a fault you could throw it in the trash, buy another working one and still be up nearly the cost of a third cooler in comparison to buying the Noctua cooler.
The sole benefit from paying so over the odds for a Noctua product is meant to be that it’s so over-engineered that you shouldn’t have to ever worry about dealing with an RMA process in the first place.
How bad Noctua’s competitors’ RMA processes or how good Noctua’s is are beyond the pale when for the effort of RMAing a Noctua cooler you could just go “fuck it” and order a replacement if you bought anything else.
It doesn’t matter how good Noctua’s RMA process is, they’re so much more than the competition for the negligible gain you get that you shouldn’t ever need to use it.
kikimaru024@reddit
PS120 EVO is $43-50, so that's 3-3.49x the cost.
150 / 70 = 2.14x
Shadow647@reddit
Aren't AM4/AM5 coolers technically using same hole spacing as Socket AM2/AM2+/939 before them, so more like 2 decades?
Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit
In my country we just return the product and get a refund no fucking about with RMA's.
RedditAdmnsSkDk@reddit
No you couldn't.
Exist50@reddit
Amazon and Newegg both allow returns no questions asked. And a rattling from a CPU cooler would be a compelling enough justification for others.
RedditAdmnsSkDk@reddit
So that justification means anything can be returned as defective.
again, no it wouldn't.
Exist50@reddit
Yes. Same result. Even easier, actually.
And you say this based on...?
RedditAdmnsSkDk@reddit
Based on the very same thing you based your claim on.
Exist50@reddit
Lol, so I point to actual policies, and you make shit up in response. Why? That hard to accept Noctua isn't doing anything exceptional?
RedditAdmnsSkDk@reddit
Yeah, you pointed to policies that are irrelevant. If everything is a defect by those policies why even write that it totally counts as one, quite worthless to write it then, init?
Exist50@reddit
So let me get this straight. You don't understand how return policies are relevant to companies selling defective goods?
Yes. Like I said, this isn't anything exceptional at all.
RedditAdmnsSkDk@reddit
No, you got that wrong. I understand that very well. The point is that a "no questions asked" policy has absolutely no say what so ever to the question whether something qualifies as defective. Why? Because as you said, no questions asked so it by definition cant apply to that question.
idgaf about exceptionality, you said it counts as defective, that's what I challenged, not whether it's ordinary or whatever.
Exist50@reddit
So Noctua's just telling people they can do something they've always been able to do.
Because it does. If articles are being written about a defect in your product, it's completely fair game for returns regardless of what you say. And if Noctua claimed it isn't a defect, it would go even worse for them.
RedditAdmnsSkDk@reddit
Again, it's about your claim and not what Noctua does.
I mean, if you say so it must be true, you would never ever write something that's wrong. You? NEVER!
Exist50@reddit
Because it is. Not sure why you deny the obvious.
Most of the time, yes it does. Where that's not the case, the company usually has an explicit written policy. And just like I said above, people would return it anyway.
RedditAdmnsSkDk@reddit
Of course it is. You said it so it's law now.
If you say so, it must be true. You never write something wrong. We've already established that.
Exist50@reddit
I observed common sense and the definition of words, yes. If you're just trolling, find somewhere else.
RedditAdmnsSkDk@reddit
Even better than common sense, you are the holder of ultimate truth as what you say is true no matter what.
Btw, your butthurt downvotes are very cute, lol.
Exist50@reddit
Ah, just looked at your profile. Should have known this was a troll account.
imaginary_num6er@reddit (OP)
If anything, it took Noctua 10 years to develop and they still have quality issues
Scrimps@reddit
So you will pay 150 percent markup because they released a broken product and will fix it for you, after you overpaid.
Delusion is crazy.
My Phantom EVO could break four times and I could buy a replacement each time and I would still have paid less for essentially they same performance.
Luckly, they don't break.....Unlike recent Noctua products.
Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit
I mean this is the basic requirement under law in most western countries.
CrankedOnDaPerc30@reddit
If my thermalright fan did this today I could refund it. If it does it years from now I've paid 20$ for those fans (20$ for the heatsink) and can now replace them with better fans for 20$.
That's 60$. Not even half of what these noctuas cost these days and that's for 4 fans.
rustydingdong5@reddit
Or You could just buy a $40 thermalright cooler and never have this problem. lol
🤦♀️
myfakesecretaccount@reddit
I mean, I don’t have any problems with my current cooler as I don’t have the one with the issue.
While there’s plenty of stuff I wouldn’t spend extra on, cooling is a big deal as I live in a warmer climate. I’m happy, and if that means paying a premium I’m fine with it as everything else in my rig was bought at a discount.
zexton@reddit
they replaced a part for free i broke because a human error.
noctua is top class
pcssh@reddit
BeQuiet does the same type of customer service. Their fans are pricey but I love em and how they look
WhoTheHeckKnowsWhy@reddit
I overpaid for my U12A because back in 2019 there was nothing else aircooling at all sold in Australia; that both meaningfully outperformed a plain U12s, and fit in my case without messing with something else. Scythe had some coolers that fit that bill with way cheaper msrp, But they had ZERO straya market presence back then, so $80+ overseas shipping from EU/Japan made it rediculous to import.
U12A is a good cooler though, and everyone ones its the fans that makes it such a pricey offering. Noctua seems to have hit a breaking point with much of the community though with the D15 G2 though.
WhoTheHeckKnowsWhy@reddit
I overpaid for my U12A because back in 2019 there was nothing else aircooling at all sold in Australia that meaningfully outperformed a plain U12s and fit in my case without messing with something else.
Back then Scythe had some good coolers that would have worked at half the price; but then they had ZERO distribution here and shipping one from the EU or Japan made it distinctly more expensive.
siazdghw@reddit
Support is the biggest thing Noctua has going for it, but with such a high price point for the NH-D15 G2, they really shouldnt have had this issue to begin with, and they absolutely shouldnt have originally said consumers could temporary fix the issue themselves with TAPE.
Thercon_Jair@reddit
The other option would be to replace the cooler which would have the exact same issue. They did say temporary fix until a permament one could be found.
Munchbit@reddit
It’s as if Noctua’s prices killed someone’s family here.
omicron7e@reddit
Listen, we have to be angry about something.
Strazdas1@reddit
We are the angry mob, we read the papers everyday. We like who we like, we hate who we hate but we're also easily swayed
ResponsibleJudge3172@reddit
Not any different to GPU/CPU discussions
FUPA_MASTER_@reddit
Noctua's prices fucked my wife
The_Annoyance@reddit
i mean for a buck fifty or whatever, she was a cheap trick to begin with
ReplacementLivid8738@reddit
I did too if it's any relief
Fondant-Resident@reddit
I mean if you look at the comments its basically the same people jumping from thread to thread to screech about prices and how awful Noctua is. To be clear, I agree its an overpriced product but it really does seem some people have internalized that inflated price as some kind of personal attack on them that they must scream to the world about with every chance they get.
Numerlor@reddit
It does seem to always be the same people constantly complaining about the value on this subreddit as some weird personal thing against the company, while I don't think anyone who bought it ever through they were getting a good deal value wise
hedir12617@reddit
I find it really piss poor that this issue existed to begin with considering the price they are asking.
GladiatorUA@reddit
If it's a shipping issue that affects under 1% if coolers, it would be extremely hard to catch.
team56th@reddit
I mostly agree with this sentiment, but Noctua has spent far too long on this product. I wish years of development meant something like this did not happen.
tx8@reddit
I highly doubt it’s only 1%. the 3 units I tried had this issue.
Exist50@reddit
Then what exactly did they spend 10 years on? It's not like the competition has rampant failures either.
peakdecline@reddit
I'd love to know which manufacturers have never released a product with a flaw. You seem to know who they are given your unrealistic expectations.
hedir12617@reddit
They carry themselves like a premium brand and been working on this cooler for literally a decade, they have priced it incredibly high compared to other tower coolers, all of this leads to a certain level of expectation that they failed to meet.
"Unrealistic" lol.
Imagine of Rolls Royce released a top end car that started making an awful grinding noise on its first drive and it turnd out to be an issue with that model in general, are you telling me you'd be like "oh these things happen! it's fine!"
No of course you wouldn't, you bought a top end product from a company that not only carries itself as a producer of extremely high quality, premium products but also has decades of experience and a massive budget for designing and producing said products, you are well within your right to be angry about it, such a silly issue should have been found and fixed well before it was made available for sale.
peakdecline@reddit
Rolls-Royce has made unperfect products. That is my exact point not to address this. It did not affect every single one sent out. If you think Rolls-Royce has never produced a lemon, then you're just ignorant.
knz0@reddit
If you are charging 2-3x compared to the competition and you're not offering a free back rub and steak dinner to go along with your CPU cooler, you're goddamn right the product should be defect-free.
peakdecline@reddit
That's impossible. Defects can happen no matter what. And you know this because none can answer my question. Name the company that has never had a defect. I'm not trying to justify the premium, I don't think Noctua is worth it. I'm saying this criteria is beyond silly because it's impossible to achieve. In the instances where a defect happens it should be rare and taken care of... Which they've met that bar here. Declaring they can not have a defect, ever, is just ridiculous and a bar no company can meet or else you or anyone would name the company that can meet it.
gomurifle@reddit
Does anyone other than diehard Noctua fans (no pun intended) care?
rynoweiss@reddit
Any idea how long until one you order from Amazon is assured to have the fix in place?