Noctua is preparing a major design update for its NF-A series fans. The company is preparing its next-generation fans with the new Sterrox liquid-crystal polymer material. LCP provides superior structural stability for the blades at high RPM, allowing them to maintain their correct profile, and maximizing their airflow and noise characteristics; in comparison to impellers made from conventional thermoplastics such as LDPE, PBT, PVC, ABS, etc. LCPs also feature very high strength-to-weight ratio, which is what makes another popular kind of LCP, Kevlar, the material of choice for anti-ballistic armors.

For case fans, the impeller has such structural strength to hold its shape, that Noctua has reduced clearance between the impeller and the bore of the frame to under 1 mm, which helps guide all of the fan's airflow axially. Other design innovations to the impeller include channels that accelerate airflow toward the edges of the fan blades, and a stepped inlet structure toward the impeller hub that creates a pressure-differential, and guides the air better toward the impeller blades. The fan hub is metal reinforced, and the motor uses an SSO2 fan bearing. The frame of the fan, has integrated anti-vibration pads. Noctua plans to launch the next-gen 140 mm A-series case fan in Q1-2024.

Here are some of the first pictures of Noctua's next-generation NH-D15 CPU cooler. One of the pioneers of this design, the D-15 in its 2024-bound avatar comes with a complete design overhaul, including its two large fin-stacks, that are designed not to impede components around the CPU socket, such as elaborate VRM and SSD heatsinks, rear I/O shrouds, and of course memory. The fin-stacks are denser, with a reduced gap between fins of 1.6 mm (compared to 1.9 mm of the original NH-D15), which translates to 20% more surface area for heat dissipation.

The surface for contact remains nickel-plated copper, but Noctua is using eight 6 mm-thick heatpipes, compared to six on the previous generation. The heatpipes make contact with practically the entire base plate, so this cooler should be suitable for even chiplet-based processors. Ventilation is care of two included "next-gen" 140 mm fans that offer superior performance and noise characteristics compared to anything in Noctua's lineup right now. The cooler uses Noctua's SecuFirm 2+ retention module using spring-loaded screws to mitigate excessive mounting pressure that can bend motherboard PCB. Noctua will include a tube of the company's latest NT-H2 thermal paste (9 W/mK), and NA-TPG1 thermal paste spill guard. The company plans to launch this cooler some time in Q2-2024.

Noctua today presented its new NA-FH1 fan hub. The NA-FH1 is a high-quality, smartly-protected 8 channel PWM fan hub that allows up to eight PWM fans to be run and controlled simultaneously via a single PWM motherboard fan header or stand-alone controllers such as the optional NA-FC1. Supporting both 12 V and 5 V fans with 4-pin PWM and 3-pin connectors, the NA-FH1 is highly flexible and suitable both for PC environments and other 12 V- or 5 V-based applications.

"While there is no shortage of fan hubs on the market, we found most of them lacking both from a functional and from a safety perspective," explains Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO). "PWM control and RPM readout can be unreliable, and most units lack overcurrent or short-circuit protection, which can be dangerous when powering through S-ATA. This is where the NA-FH1 steps in: a safe, dependable quality device for powering and controlling up to eight fans!"

Noctua has, as of this month, refreshed its product roadmap for the rest of 2023, and even provides a couple of scant details about far-off hardware scheduled for launch in early 2024 and beyond. The Austrian computer cooling hardware specialist is probably updating their release forecast in preparation for Computex 2023 - set to start at the end of the month - where brand new goodies could be debuted to industry-types and public attendees.

Noctua's 8-way fan hub seems to be delayed - the previous version of the roadmap had it down for a Q1 2023 launch, but the update now indicates a second quarter window. A bunch of next-gen AMD Threadripper coolers are marked down for an estimated third-quarter release, and Noctua has a slim 60 mm fan
as well as a 24 V 40 mm fan lined up for the final quarter. All-black versions of existing NH-D12L, NH-D9L and NH-L9x65 CPU coolers are due by the end of this year - a number of coolers are already available in the company's "chromax.black" finish - for those who do not enjoy the signature beige and brown aesthetic. A single next-generation 140 mm fan is teased for a Q1 2024 launch, with a chromax.black version coming later in the year. Finally, a re-designed NH-D15 CPU cooler gets a loose 2024 window.

Noctua has showcased its NH-U14S DX-4677 air cooler in action, cooling down Intel's 56-core Xeon W9-3495X at full load and drawing 700 W of power. While all-in-one (AiO) liquid coolers are popular these days, Noctua aim to show that air coolers are more than capable on handling even the most high-end CPUs, even at continuous load and without throttling.

While the video does not show the full details of the CPU settings, it is still an impressive feat, especially considering the high power draw, which suggest that the CPU was pushed way beyond its default settings for demonstration. The setup includes the aforementioned Intel's 56-core Xeon W9-3495X CPU, running on ASUS Pro WS W790E-SAGE SE motherboard with SK Hynix DDR5 EC8 RDIMM, and powered by Seasonic's PX-1600 PSU.

The new NH-U14S DX-4677, NH-U12S DX-4677, NH-U9 DX-4677 and NH-D9 DX-4677 4U are dedicated, customised solutions for Intel's professional LGA4677 platform (Sapphire Rapids), which makes them an ideal fit for both 4th generation Xeon Scalable CPUs (Platinum, Gold, Silver or Bronze) and W-3400 or W-2400 series Xeon processors for workstations such as the w9-3495X, w7-3465X or w7-2495X. Whereas the large 14 cm NH-U14S DX-4677 and 12 cm NH-U12S DX-4677 are an excellent choice for tower-style cases and thus lend themselves to use in high-performance quiet workstations, the smaller NH-D9 DX-4677 4U and NH-U9 DX-4677 fit 4U cases, which makes them perfect for more compact workstations as well as 4U class rack-mount servers that need to run as quietly as possible.

While the NH-U9's direction of airflow is perpendicular to the long axis of the LGA4677 socket, the NH-D9's direction of airflow is parallel to the long axis of the LGA4677 socket. Depending on the orientation of the socket(s) on the motherboard, choosing either the NH-U9 or de NH-D9 enables system builders to align the airflow of the cooler(s) with the exhaust fans of the chassis and thereby ensure optimal system performance. Thanks to their compact footprint, both models are ideal for building dual socket setups with motherboards where larger coolers may interfere with each other.

Noctua today introduced its new NA-FG1 series of fan grills for 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 92, 120, 140 and 200 mm fans. Available in sets of 2 (Sx2) or 5 (Sx5) including screws and a tool-free mounting system that can help to reduce turbulence and thereby improve both airflow performance and noise levels, Noctua's NA-FG1 are premium grade fan grills for the highest demands in acoustic optimisation and ease of installation.

"Fan grills may seem like a trivial accessory, but many available solutions can seriously hamper your fans' acoustics and performance, so we decided to offer our own selection of grills", explains Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO). "Our NA-FG1 use a proven, highly efficient design and top it off with a convenient tool-free mounting system that introduces an extra offset and can thereby help to improve both airflow and noise levels."

Noctua today presented the latest addition to its successful NH-L9 series of low-profile CPU coolers: At a height of only 37 mm, the new NH-L9a-AM5 and NH-L9a-AM5 chromax.black are an excellent choice for quiet, ultra-compact HTPCs or Small Form Factor (SFF) systems using AMD's latest, AM5-based Ryzen processors.

"AMD's just-released 65 W Ryzen CPUs are ideal for building small yet highly powerful systems, and our new NH-L9a-AM5 is the perfect cooler to match", explains Roland Mossig (CEO). "It can easily cool the new 7900, 7700 and 7600 at ultra-quiet fan speeds and offers plenty of headroom if customers want to push them beyond 65 W - we've actually been running up to 130 W on the Ryzen 7950X and 7900X!" Since the original NH-L9a coolers for AM3 and AM4 have received more than 100 awards and recommendations from international hardware websites and magazines, the new AM5 revision builds on the same proven heatsink design to provide excellent low-profile cooling performance for AMD's latest Ryzen processors.

ASUS showed us its GeForce RTX 4080 Noctua Edition graphics card that it formally announced yesterday. To call this card thick would be an understatement, as it's possibly the first graphics card that is 5 slots thick! The card easily overshoots what constitutes 4 slots, and is technically 4.2 to 4.3 slots; but then expansion slot counts are whole numbers rounded to the next digit despite what marketing says.

This card combines an ASUS ROG Strix RTX 4080 PCB with an air-based cooling solution designed by Noctua. The cooler has two large aluminium fin-stacks that have been skewered by eight 6 mm-thick nickel-plated copper heatpipes, and ventilated by a pair of Noctua's top-of-the-line NF-A12x25 120 mm fans that feature fluid-dynamic bearings. The fan-tuning for this card is a Noctua-ASUS collaboration, and promises to make this the quietest air-cooled RTX 4080 you can buy.

ASUS today announced the GeForce RTX 4080 Noctua Edition graphics card, a continuation of its collaboration with the legendary cooling company, building on the previous GeForce RTX 3070 and RTX 3080 Noctua variants. This year ASUS and Noctua have worked together to tame the power of the mighty GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card. Noctua fan-design prowess and an ASUS custom-built vapor chamber combine to create the quietest air-cooled RTX 4080 on the market.

Cool and quiet
The ASUS GeForce RTX 4080 Noctua Edition incorporates a pair of state-of-the-art Noctua NF-A12x25 fans to move air over a massive heatsink, developed in a partnership between the veteran ASUS thermal R&D team and the engineers at Noctua. The engineers successfully refined the fin density and heat pipe arrangement of the heatsink, optimizing it for the airflow characteristics of the NF-A12x25. To prioritize low noise levels, a smooth acoustic signature and high cooling performance while making room for the pair of 120 mm fans, ASUS expanded the card's total volume to occupy 4.3 slots of space. The card features a Dual BIOS switch, and Quiet mode is enabled by default to minimize noise right out of the box.

ASUS and Noctua have had great success with their limited edition GeForce RTX 30-series graphics cards in the past. The collaboration saw ASUS-marketed graphics cards that combine an ASUS-designed PCB with a cooling solution designed and supplied by Noctua, combining their best VGA heatsink technology with a pair of their high static-pressure FDB fans. The ASUS x Noctua RTX 3080 (pictured below) remains among the best RTX 3080 cards we ever got a chance to test. It turns out that ASUS and Noctua will continue their collaboration with the new RTX 40-series "Ada" generation. ChipHell reports that ASUS will show off its next ASUS x Noctua graphics card(s) at the 2023 International CES. The report doesn't specify which GPU they will use. CES could see the introduction of at least two more RTX 40-series SKUs, namely the RTX 4070 Ti, and the RTX 4070, so it could be anything. Given that ASUS has given the Noctua treatment to the RTX 3080, it's quite possible that the RTX 4080 could get it too, at some point.

Noctua today introduced its new NA-IS1 intake side spacer frames for suction or "pull" type applications where fans draw air through obstacles such as grills, perforated plates, mesh panels, filters or radiators. By offsetting the fan from the obstacle, the NA-IS1 can significantly reduce influx turbulences and thereby help to improve both acoustics and performance. In addition, Noctua also introduced the NA-SAVG2 anti-vibration gasket set for using 140 mm fans on water cooling radiators or other applications that benefit from a tighter seal with the fan.

"Intake applications where fans draw air through obstacles such as grills or perforated panels are notoriously challenging both from an aerodynamic and from an acoustic point of view due to the massive turbulences that are caused by these objects", explains Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO). "These influx turbulences can have a significant impact on fan acoustics and performance, so we have created the NA-IS1 spacer frames that give customers a simple yet highly effective solution to reduce these turbulences and thereby make fans more efficient in suction type applications."

Noctua today announced its new NA-TPG1 thermal paste guard for AMD's latest AM5 based Ryzen processors. When the mounting pressure of the cooling solution is applied, excess thermal paste will be squeezed outwards. With AM5 CPUs, this excess paste tends to accumulate in the cut-outs at the sides of the heat-spreader and may become difficult to remove. Simple and risk-free to apply, the NA-TPG1 prevents this undesired phenomenon.

"While there's no denying that AMD's new Ryzen 7000 processors perform fantastic, we found that the cut-outs at the side of the heat-spreader tend to attract thermal paste that can be challenging to clean off" says Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO). "This is where our new thermal paste guard steps in: it's a simple yet highly effective tool for keeping your new Ryzen 7000 series CPU nice and clean."

Noctua today confirmed that all its CPU coolers and mounting-kits that support AMD AM4 also support the upcoming AM5 socket, except the NH-L9a-AM4 low-profile cooler and the NM-AM4-L9aL9i mounting-kit. For the latter, Noctua announced the new NM-AM5-L9aL9i kit that will be available free-of-charge from end of October. Mounting upgrade kits for older heatsink models that do not yet support AM4 will also be provided to customers at no additional cost.

"We have offered free-of-charge mounting upgrade kits to our customers ever since AMD introduced AM2 in 2006, and we're proudly continuing this tradition with the upcoming Ryzen 7000 series processors and their new AM5 socket", says Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO). "While all our current multi-socket coolers already support AM5 out of the box and don't require any updates, customers will be able to upgrade the NH-L9a as well as most older coolers at no additional cost, so even 15-year-old coolers can be used on the latest processors!"

Only a week ago the first pictures of the ASUS x Noctua GeForce RTX 3080 card turned up on the web and now the card has been officially announced as the ASUS GeForce RTX 3080 Noctua OC Edition 10 GB GDDR6X. The card will have an OC and a Gaming mode with different boost clocks, where the Gaming mode allows the GPU to boost to 1785 MHz and the OC mode takes this further to 1815 MHz. The memory remains at stock clocks and uses 19 Gbps GDDR6X memory. ASUS claims it's the quietest card in its class, but doesn't mention any actual noise levels, although the card comes with a 0dB fan stop mode. It should be noted that the card takes up 4.1 slots and as such, it might not fit in all builds. No official pricing was provided.

In cooperation with Noctua, we at WATERCOOL proudly present the ideal fan for our "MORA3 420 for Noctua". The new Noctua NF-A20 HS-PWM chromax.black offers a 40 percent higher flow rate as well as 90 percent more static pressure than the Noctua NF-A20 chromax.black.swap. With Noctua's proven SSO2 premium bearing, more than 150,000 hours MTTF and 6-year manufacturer's warranty, the NF-A20 HS-PWM chromax.black is the perfect choice for users who want to get the absolute maximum out of their MORA3!

"Our NF-A20 has always been very popular among MO-RA3 users, but with 800 RPM and a maximum of 18 dB(A), it is clearly tailored to silent enthusiasts," says Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO) "Therefore, we are even more pleased to now be able to offer the faster-spinning HS-PWM chromax.black model in cooperation with Watercool, which can significantly increases the cooling performance of radiators!"

ASUS looks set to release a second graphics card featuring a Noctua cooling solution nearly a year after the two companies announced the ASUS x Noctua GeForce RTX 3070. This new card features the GA102-based 10 GB version of the RTX 3080 instead of the newer 12 GB version launched in January. The quad-slot cooling solution present on the card is very similar to the existing configuration with dual 120 mm Noctua fans and a slightly modified backplate. The card features dual 8-pin power connectors in addition to non-standard display outputs with 3x DisplayPort 1.4 and 2x HDMI 2.1. The ASUS x Noctua GeForce RTX 3080 is expected to launch soon and retail for 1150 EUR which is 250 EUR more then the existing ASUS x Noctua GeForce RTX 3070.

Japanese company Sycom has recently released the RTX 3090 Ti G-Master Hydro as a new graphics card option for their prebuilt systems. The Sycom RTX 3090 Ti G-Master Hydro features a triple fan onboard air-cooler in addition to an external Asetek Hybrid GFX 240 mm AIO with Noctua NF-A12x25 ULN fans. The card also features RGB lighting and achieves a temperature reduction of 10°C - 15°C compared to the default air-cooler. The card doesn't feature any factory overclocking but the increased thermal headroom allows the card to maintain an average boost clock of 1802 MHz increasing performance by 6%. Sycom currently offers the RTX 3090 Ti G-Master Hydro as an option in 6 computers paired alongside the Core i9-12900K, Core i7-12700K, or Ryzen 7 5800X with base prices ranging from 562,180 yen (4320 USD) to 670,870 yen (5150 USD).

Noctua has recently published an updated roadmap showing that their next-generation NH-D15 CPU Cooler has been delayed once again until Q1 2023. The NH-D15 was released back in 2014 with initial plans for its successor to launch sometime in 2021 however the new cooler has faced numerous delays. Noctua has showcased numerous technological improvements in its fan and heatsink designs in recent years which have the potential to make the successor a best-in-class product.

The updated roadmap also includes information for other upcoming products including fan grills, voltage converters, fan hubs, CPU coolers, and numerous fans. Noctua plans to release new fan grills this quarter followed by a 24 V to 12 V voltage converter, 8-way fan hub, and next-generation Intel Xeon CPU cooler in Q3 2022. In Q4 we can expect next-generation 140 mm fans along with slim 60 mm fans, and 24 V 40 mm fans ideal for 3D printing applications. The products expected to launch in Q1 2023 alongside the next-generation NH-D15 cooler include the Noctua desk fan and white versions of existing fans to complement the existing color options.

Noctua today presented the all-new NH-D12L low-height dual tower CPU cooler and the corresponding NF-A12x25r round-frame 120 mm fan. At a height of only 145 mm (13 mm lower than Noctua's regular 120 mm models), it fits many 4U enclosures as well as narrower tower cases that have been previously limited to solutions with 92 mm fans. At the same time, its five heatpipe dual-tower design and state-of-the-art NF-A12x25r 120 mm fan allow it to achieve a level of efficiency that surpasses many full-height 120 mm models.

"So far, all our 120 mm class coolers were 158 mm high, but as of recent, more and more PC cases only support up to 150 or even 145 mm - this is where the NH-D12L steps in", explains Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO). "Simply lowering one of our existing models wasn't an option because a standard square 120 mm fan would cause lots of issues with motherboard heatsinks or shrouds. That's why we came up with this novel dual tower design and a round-frame version of the NF-A12x25 fan that can be installed at a very low position between the two towers - a winning combination that provides impressive results for this height class."

Noctua today introduced new, LGA1700-specific revisions of its award-winning NH-L9i and NH-L9i chromax.black low-profile CPU coolers. The new NH-L9i-17xx and NH-L9i-17xx chromax.black are ideal for building ultra-compact HTPCs and Small Form Factor (SFF) systems using Intel's brand new 12th generation Core processors such as the Core i9-12900K, Core i7-12700K or Core i5-12600K. The new, optional NA-FD1 fan duct makes it possible to further improve the performance of the coolers by bridging the gap between the fan and perforated case panels in order to enable the coolers to draw in fresh air from the outside.

"We're very happy with the performance of the NH-L9i-17xx coolers on Intel's new LGA1700 CPUs", says Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO). "We have managed to dissipate up to around 160 W on the Core i9-12900K, pushing it to over 4.2 GHz, and up to 125 W on the Core i5-12600K running at 4.3 GHz. These are excellent results for such small coolers, making them fantastic options for highly compact Intel Z690 builds that pack a lot of processing power!"

ASUS and Noctua today announced the ASUS GeForce RTX 3070 Noctua Edition: the world's first graphics card to use Noctua fans and a tailored heatsink that has been co-engineered by Noctua. Allowing for a reduction in noise levels of up to 15 dB(A), this refined cooling setup makes the Noctua Edition the quietest card in its class and the perfect choice for customers who demand serious GPU performance without sacrificing quietness of operation.

"Using our extensive thermal R&D experience, we've created a new GPU heatsink that's tailor-made for the performance characteristics of their state-of-the-art NF-A12x25 fans," said Kent Chien (Corporate Vice President and General Manager of the ASUS Multimedia Business Unit). "Our teamwork gives noise-conscious gamers and Noctua enthusiasts a unique graphics card that maximizes heat dissipation per decibel of noise emitted, all in a package that coordinates perfectly with other Noctua products in a DIY PC."

Back in August, we have seen rumors of ASUS collaborating with Austrian cooling specialist Noctua to develop a custom set of graphics cards based on custom cooling solutions provided by Noctua. In the early EEC listings, the references stood for a GPU based on NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3070 GPU with a custom cooling provided by Noctua. We thought that such a collaboration would open many doors for both companies. Today, the product is finally looking like a genuine offer, and we got the first set of pictures thanks to ASUS Vietnam.

The card, pictured below, has dual 8-pin power connectors to supply the chip and has three DisplayPort connectors accompanied by two HDMI outputs. The product is a three-slot body with Noctua's iconic brown theme, featuring two large fans to cool the heatsink. While we don't know any further information, the Vietnamese pricing is supposed to stand at 26 million VND, translating to around 1137.62 US Dollars at the writing date.

Noctua today announced that it will provide free-of-charge mounting upgrade kits for Intel's upcoming LGA1700 platform, enabling customers to keep using existing CPU coolers on the new 12th generation Intel Core CPUs (Alder Lake-S). Additionally, most of Noctua's current multi-socket cooler models will soon include LGA1700 mounting hardware and the popular NH-L9i low-profile coolers will come in new, dedicated LGA1700-revisions.

"We have offered free-of-charge mounting upgrade kits to our customers ever since AMD introduced AM2 in 2006, and we're proudly continuing this tradition with Intel's upcoming Amber Lake-S processors and the LGA1700 socket", says Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO). "Customers will be able to upgrade most Noctua CPU coolers since 2005 at no additional cost, so even 15-year-old coolers can be used on the latest processors!"

ASUS appears to be working with Noctua to release an RTX 3070 graphics card with a custom cooler developed by the company. ASUS has partnered with other companies such as EK to release similar graphics cards with integrated water blocks in the past so this collaboration would seem possible. We have seen ASUS register a new model 'RTX3070-8G-NOCTUA' with the Eurasian Economic Commission however, more information on the upcoming product is sparse with details regarding what specific cooling system will be used and if other models will be released are currently unknown. ASUS replied to an email inquiry about the product saying they were unable to comment but that they would hopefully be able to announce something soon which lends considerable weight to these rumors. We have seen several renders and mods over the years of Noctua themed graphics cards one of which is included below in absence of any pictures or drawings of this card.