Noctua’s acclaimed NL-LC1 looks as though it’s going to receive a chromax.black makeover before the end of the year. The cooler maker has shared plans to launch a dark variant via its YouTube channel, but curiously not through a video announcement.
The comments section of tech outlet Hardware Canuck’s most-recent video, comparing performance between the Noctua LC-LC1 series and Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360, is where Noctua decided to announce the chromax.black variants. Getting straight to the point, the firm posted: “NL-LC1 chromax black series, confirmed.”
This announcement comes as a surprise, given that a recent update to the Noctua product roadmap contained no mention of the NL-LC1 chromax.black series. Considering that this timeline extends to Q2 2027, you’d think such a launch would fall beyond this period, but it turns out the firm had another surprise up its sleeve.
Responding to fervent questions about when we could expect the NL-LC1 chromax.black series to hit store shelves, Noctua shared that the darker-coloured coolers will be “hopefully, out around the end of the year!” Of course, this is a launch estimate, rather than a solid release date.
For those not in the know, the time it takes Noctua to make a black version of its brown cooler might seem bizarre. However, Noctua recently explained why it takes longer to make a black cooler than one with its trademark brown beige colour scheme.
In short, the black pigment particles behave markedly differently from the ones Noctua uses for its stock colour scheme, requiring fresh testing to ensure cooling performance is within expectations. This sort of additional engineering time is why we’re unlikely to see chromax.white models anytime soon, despite calls from the comment section and elsewhere.
In the midst of all these questions regarding NL-LC1 chromax.black, Noctua took a moment to address the company’s lack of reverse-blade fans. Simply put, the firm doesn’t see any performance or noise advantage to the design, believing them to primarily serve an aesthetic purpose, making them a non-priority.
As someone with an ageing AIO cooler, I can’t wait to kit out my build with an NL-LC1 chromax.black. Much as I appreciate Noctua’s brown-beige colour scheme, it’s not something I can easily accommodate into my current build’s aesthetics. Until that AIO hits the market, check out our picks for the best CPU coolers you can buy today.
