Gameguru Mania

[ggrobot]

for 420mm AIOs and they've got that covered too with the TOUGHLIQUID Ultra 420!

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[Csimbi]

From what I gathered over the years, it's not so much about the fans and the fins, it's much more about the number of heat pipes - that ultimately determines the amount of heat you can draw away from the CPU.
The more heat pipes - the more heat drawn away. Simple as that.
What you do with the heat drawn away is a different story, but you can't really go wrong with any design that puts fins all over the heat pipe and have a fan blow air through the fins.
Seems they managed to squeeze 7 heat pipes into this cooler, so it might actually beat the D15 cooler. (The D15 has "only" six heat pipes.)

I have only one 140mm fan over my D15, and it's running at half speed.
The reason it can work that way is because Noctua recognized it's not about fin density. Leaving more space between the fins means less air resistance, better airflow and with that, more efficient fin-to-air heat exchange.
I would like to see a cooler where the space between the fins is 3 millimeters - I have a feeling this might be even better.
Or, a cooler where the fins are actually arranged in a honeycomb design (rather than flat design), maximizing airflow.

I prefer air cooling because in a water-cooled solution, a component failure will mean your CPU will overheat. That, and the ease of (dis)assembly, repair and compatibility.
In air cooling, even if your CPU fan stops, there will be some air movement in the case, preventing massive overheating.

Last point:
whether you go air or water, you still need to get the heat out of the case, which requires a good case designed for low-noise airflow.
I have a 180mm Air Penetrator @ 600 RPM pushing the heat out directly on the top of my SG10 case.
Many case manufacturers want to vent heat on the side or the bottom, lol - which is a very bad design.
Others put there so many filters (to mitigate noise) that airflow becomes very limited.
A good case draws air from all sides near the bottom (but not on the bottom side!) and pushes it out on the back (near the I/O panel) and the top (like on the SG10 case). This is where most water-cooling solutions fail - they heat the air coming in, keeping all components warm.
You don't need fans to push the air inside! Take those out and remove the corresponding noise filters.
You can even remove dust filters if you can clean your PC once a year anyway (a thorough blowing with a compressor).