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noctua enters the aio market

pendragon1

pendragon1

Cat Can't Scratch It
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still ugly but...


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OACfk1qNlCY

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It's tech news. Weird thing to be banned from. But anyway ... that is one ugly AIO. The only builds I've seen that look decent with those are wood grain or steam punk.


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They really need other color options.
 
yup, they do. at least they came around on black ones, they should offer this in both.
 
yeah, it doesnt have ram or an ssd in so it should be like 150-180(their fans are expensive).
 
Mad Maxx said:
NGL, if the Noc had black fans...

Wonder if I could replace the Noc fans with my spare Phanteks D30-120 fans?

If it looks like I'm just trying for an excuse to spend some $$, you're probably right. :ROFLMAO:
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The Chromax Black version will be available the end of the year if Noctua is to believed. I know Noctua are engineering perfectionists but there should be no excuse for any delays since the Chromax Black G2 fans are already available for sale and it's just a matter of including them in the box instead of the brown ones. I'm getting the feeling that if they sold the black versions now, almost nobody would buy the version with their signature colors.
 
Captain Newmackwa said:
The Chromax Black version will be available the end of the year if Noctua is to believed. I know Noctua are engineering perfectionists but there should be no excuse for any delays since the Chromax Black G2 fans are already available for sale and it's just a matter of including them in the box instead of the brown ones. I'm getting the feeling that if they sold the black versions now, almost nobody would buy the version with their signature colors.
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They say their boxed fans and cpu/cooler fans are tuned differently since one goes on a high fin density radiator and the others typically a more or less unrestricted case vent...but I don't know how true that is.
 
Nobu said:
They say their boxed fans and cpu/cooler fans are tuned differently since one goes on a high fin density radiator and the others typically a more or less unrestricted case vent...but I don't know how true that is.
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They sell boxed pressure fans intended for use on CPU coolers & rads. Or at least they did last time I bought from them.
 
zandor said:
They sell boxed pressure fans intended for use on CPU coolers & rads. Or at least they did last time I bought from them.
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They do, but supposedly the ones included with coolers are tuned for those coolers...supposedly.
 
Nobu said:
They say their boxed fans and cpu/cooler fans are tuned differently since one goes on a high fin density radiator and the others typically a more or less unrestricted case vent...but I don't know how true that is.
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I think they're just the same as the standalone G2 fans because by design, they should work well with most applications. The only tuning that I'm aware of is the +/- 50rpm speed offset on one of the fans to mitigate unwanted acoustical interactions and that is already available with the 2-pack G2s where the fans are marked A and B where B is the one with the speed offset, so for the 360 AIO, the fan mounting should be A-B-A or something like that.
 
I found this customer review on Amazon comparing the Noctua AIO to Arctic LF3 Pro 360 for AMD 9950X3D.

3 out of 5 stars

High quality and quiet, overall mid performance​


Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2026
Verified Purchase
This review is comparing Noctua's NL-LC1-36 to my existing Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro, also running triple Noctua NF-A12x25 G2 fans. Case is Antec Flux SE and CPU is Ryzen 9950x3D running -25/-20 per CCD Curve Optimizer. Motherboard is MSI X870e Ace Max.

Idle (both are silent):

Arctic: 43C (Fan Speed: 750rpm, Pump speed: 1800rpm)
Noctua NL-LC1: 48C (Fan Speed: 1000rpm, Pump speed: 1900rpm)

100% Load using OCCT (noise is still pretty tame for both - more air noise than fan noise):

Arctic: 80C (Fan speed: 100%, pump speed: 80%)
Noctua NL-LC1: 87C (Fan speed: 100%, pump speed: 80% - online reviews state going higher doesn't really make a difference here)

Conclusion:

Noctua's build quality is top notch here, but there's no defying physics. The Arctic has much thicker rad and has more raw cooling performance. The Noctua is also limited by the fact it's essentially an Asetek unit and not the latest version either (gen 8 v2 vs. their latest gen 9). Both pumps are essentially inaudible if you run reasonable pwm curves on them.

The stand out feature is the fans - they are second to none in terms of performance/noise, so they can make the LFIII Pro just as quiet as the Noctua AIO.

The Arctic can regularly be had for ~$85, and even if you add in the additional cost of 3 NF-A12x25 G2's (not to mention you can get the black versions if you want), it'll still come out to less than the current cost of the Noctua AIO. Plus the Arctic also comes with a VRM fan in the package vs. the Noctua that you have to buy separately.

I'll also add I really don't like either AIO's mounting mechanism as they use two sided (left/right) leaf springs screws that make it hard to get good even mounting pressure. I really wish they went with the much better four corner/cross pattern mounting mechanism other coolers use.

I ultimately returned the Noctua AIO and went back the the LFIII Pro. I'd say wait for the price of the Noctua AIO to come down if you really want it or wait for Noctua to come out with their own custom AIO which I expect should perform better to their standards.

** Most of the other reviews are 5 stars, FWIW.
 
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Mad Maxx said:
I found this customer review on Amazon comparing the Noctua AIO to Arctic LF3 Pro 360 for AMD 9950X3D.

3 out of 5 stars

High quality and quiet, overall mid performance​


Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2026
Verified Purchase
This review is comparing Noctua's NL-LC1-36 to my existing Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro, also running triple Noctua NF-A12x25 G2 fans. Case is Antec Flux SE and CPU is Ryzen 9950x3D running -25/-20 per CCD Curve Optimizer. Motherboard is MSI X870e Ace Max.

Idle (both are silent):

Arctic: 43C (Fan Speed: 750rpm, Pump speed: 1800rpm)
Noctua NL-LC1: 48C (Fan Speed: 1000rpm, Pump speed: 1900rpm)

100% Load using OCCT (noise is still pretty tame for both - more air noise than fan noise):

Arctic: 80C (Fan speed: 100%, pump speed: 80%)
Noctua NL-LC1: 87C (Fan speed: 100%, pump speed: 80% - online reviews state going higher doesn't really make a difference here)

Conclusion:

Noctua's build quality is top notch here, but there's no defying physics. The Arctic has much thicker rad and has more raw cooling performance. The Noctua is also limited by the fact it's essentially an Asetek unit and not the latest version either (gen 8 v2 vs. their latest gen 9). Both pumps are essentially inaudible if you run reasonable pwm curves on them.

The stand out feature is the fans - they are second to none in terms of performance/noise, so they can make the LFIII Pro just as quiet as the Noctua AIO.

The Arctic can regularly be had for ~$85, and even if you add in the additional cost of 3 NF-A12x25 G2's (not to mention you can get the black versions if you want), it'll still come out to less than the current cost of the Noctua AIO. Plus the Arctic also comes with a VRM fan in the package vs. the Noctua that you have to buy separately.

I'll also add I really don't like either AIO's mounting mechanism as they use two sided (left/right) leaf springs screws that make it hard to get good even mounting pressure. I really wish they went with the much better four corner/cross pattern mounting mechanism other coolers use.

I ultimately returned the Noctua AIO and went back the the LFIII Pro. I'd say wait for the price of the Noctua AIO to come down if you really want it or wait for Noctua to come out with their own custom AIO which I expect should perform better to their standards.

** Most of the other reviews are 5 stars, FWIW.
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pendragon1 said:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvWswaq2f7Q
Click to expand...

this shows the opposite 🤷‍♂️
 
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Been considering getting one of these for my secondary, but will probably wait for the black fan edition. Probably gets within a few degrees of my current setup in my secondary (just a medium thickness 360) and without the PITA of the res limiting GPU length. Currently running a midi tower on my secondary, but would prefer it to be smaller and lighter as it gets moved around quite a bit. An AIO would probably save 1-2 KG of weight and remove GPU clearance issues.

They have insulated the pump so the noise is less noticeable on the Noctua, which has always been a problem with AIOs when you want almost inaudible at low power usage. Every AIO I ever had came with a weak pump that was noisy at medium or higher speeds. If the pump is virtually silent at speeds that give some flowrate, then it should work very well for silent computing at lightweight desktop use. I did try the old NF-A12x25 PWM fans on an AIO before completing my main build and they absolutely stomped the original fans.
 
As an Small Form Factor enthusiast, I am disappointed that Noctua's "solution" to AIO pump noise, is a really tall foam cap on top of the pump. Rather than giving us a better pump. The price is also grossly expensive. And once again......they delay the release of the 'black' version.

IMO, the best overall AIO's right now, are Cooler Master's Atmos series. The pumps are truly quiet. Even at full speed, I have to get my ear really close, to hear it a little bit.
And they are consistent. I have done builds with 3 of them (1 Atmos RGB and 2 Atmos Stealth). There have been some slight variance, but their pumps have all been similarly quiet. And all 3 of them had essentially zero gurgling sounds. The quietest AIO's I have ever used.
And the Pump blocks are really low height. The Atmos II's pump cap is even lower still, than the original.

The Atmos "Stealth" also comes with legit good fans for noise/performance. And is my overall recommendation. The fans aren't as good as Noctua's G2. But, they are good enough you won't feel an immediate need to get something better.
 
chameleoneel said:
I am disappointed that Noctua's "solution" to AIO pump noise, is a really tall foam cap on top of the pump. Rather than giving us a better pump.
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its an asetek... yes could have dev'd their own and then maybe $300CAN+ would be "reasonable"....
the difference is the rad and fans.
 
pendragon1 said:
its an asetek... yes could have dev'd their own and then maybe $300CAN+ would be "reasonable"....
the difference is the rad and fans.
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They didn't do anything special for the rad design. Its the same typical design as any AIO.

According to Noctua's videos, the only design optimization they made for temps, was to use their own mounting hardware. Compared to the generic Asetek mounting hardware, it saved them about 1 degree.

Additionally, Noctua's mount offers 'offset' mounting, which can potentially improve Zen 4/5 and Arrowlake temps 0 - 4-ish degrees. But, as noted in Noctua's own video, offset mounting is YMMV. And some other brands do offer offset mounting.

Most of the temperature performance here, are Noctua's fans. Which definitely are extremely good at both airflow and noise.


When it comes down to it, this is a very ordinary AIO, with a tall block of acoustic foam, and some excellent, very expensive fans.

I can buy an Cooler Master Atmos Stealth, add some Noctua G2 fans. With that, I save about $40 and enjoy a much lower profile pump block. With a pump design that is inherently quiet.
 
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