Noctua says that it’s “very probably” never going to make a cooling product with RGB lighting, or a screen fitted to it. While rainbow LEDs have now become commonplace on other cooling manufacturers’ fans, as well as the pump units on AIO coolers, Noctua has so far avoided this trend, and the company tells us that’s always likely to be the case.
In an interview with Club386, Noctua chief product officer, Jakob Dellinger, explained that “we want to spend as little in the way of resources as possible on making things look pretty – that’s just not where our focus lies. That’s why it’s very unlikely for a Noctua product to come out with a huge fancy screen or something like that.”
Just like the chances of a white Noctua cooler coming out, Dellinger clarified that he would “never say never” when it comes to RGB lighting. However, it’s extremely unlikely. The current situation, where there’s no RGB lighting on Noctua gear, is “very probably going to stay like that,” says Dellinger, “because it’s just not where we put our focus.”
Dellinger explains that Noctua isn’t being high and mighty here – there isn’t a notion that it’s better than everyone else by bucking the RGB trend, just that the company is sticking to its priorities. “It’s less a dogmatic branding decision; it’s more just like the general direction of where we put our resources in terms of engineering,” says Dellinger.
“We like catering to a specific audience who value quietness, performance, and quality, rather than those who might put their priority on visuals. But that’s not to say we’re above anything like that [RGB]. It’s just our focus.”
Discussing that focus, Dellinger says that “what we want to do is drive thermal efficiency, improve the quietness of operation, and ensure the best possible quality.” Anything else is superfluous to requirements.
We had a good natter with Jakob about all sorts of cooling topics, and we’ll be sharing more in the near future, including the latest on its pump-less thermosiphon cooler. In the meantime, check out our feature on why Noctua coolers are brown for the most part, as well as our guide to buying the best CPU cooler, which features several Noctua designs.
