The Austria-based cooler manufacturing company, Noctua, is a name renowned by several enthusiasts and overclockers in the PC industry. They are behind some of the most iconic PC coolers, such as the NH-D15, the NH-U12, and many more.

The company has been in action since 2005. and has become one of the most respected cooling product manufacturers in the industry with its legacy products. Since it entered the cooling segment, many competitors have come and vanished, but Noctua has endured, evolving its line to meet the latest requirements of the PC and DIY space.

Cooling equipment is still as relevant as ever, and many brands are now focusing on AIO (Closed-Loop) liquid coolers. It is kind of ironic that in 25+ years since its inception, Noctua hadn't rolled out a liquid cooler of its own. Considering their decades of engineering expertise in the cooling space, a Noctua-branded AIO cooler was long foreseen, but it took the company a lot of time to make one.

Last year at Computex, we finally got to see its prototype AIO cooler and also a new way to cool PCs, called Themosiphon. But even then, Noctua took its time to deliver a polished product that is now finally available on retail shelves. Meet the Noctua NL-LC1, its first AIO liquid cooler, now rolling out in 240, 360, and 420mm flavors. For this review, Noctua was kind enough to send us their 360mm and 420mm variants of the NL-LC1, which retail at $249 and $279, respectively.

Noctua NL-LC1 AIO Liquid Cooler - Technical Details

So starting with the specifications first, the Noctua NL-LC1 lineup comes in 240mm, 360mm, and 420mm variants. comes with a 360mm radiator and is compatible with AMD AM4, AM5, and Intel LGA 1700, LGA 1851, and even the upcoming LGA 1954 sockets.

Noctua has gone with a black color scheme for the pump and radiator, while the fans come in the iconic Noctua brown colors. The company is also going to launch Chormax.Black variants of the AIO by the end of this year.

The package itself is very nicely arranged, with each component in its own compartment and labeled. The AIO also ships with a handy guide that lists the installation procedure for both AMD & Intel CPUs, and is very straightforward.

The Radiator on both coolers is made of aluminum fins and tubes, while the frame itself is a metal assembly. There are 20 Fins per inch, and the frame features UNC 6-32 screw threads.

The 420mm radiator measures 459.5 x 143.7 x 30mm and uses a triple-fan config (140x140x25), while the 360mm radiator measures 399.5 x 120 x 30mm and uses a triple-fan config that has a measurement of (120x120x25).

Both radiators are filled with 22% propylene glycol and 78% water. Noctua states that its coolant offers anti-freeze, anti-corrosion, and anti-biological protection while being non-toxic.

Noctua also ships its AIO coolers with an NL-ACF1 auxiliary cooling fan as a standalone accessory that replaces the magnetic pump faceplate. It is aimed at providing cooling for components such as the VRMs, RAM modules, and M.2 SSDs on the motherboard. The fan has a magnetic snap-on design and features an NF-A8 80mm fan with premium-grade SS02 fan bearings that guarantee over 150,000 hours of lifespan.

The fans come in their own cardboard box. The 420mm AIO features three NF-A14x25 G2 PWM fans which measure 140x140x25mm, offering speeds between 0-1500 RPM, and airflow of 91.58 CFM, 24.8 dbA of Audible noise (max), and 2.56mm H2O static pressure.

The 360mm AIO features three NF-A14x25 G2 PWM fans which measure 120x120x25mm, offering speeds between 0-1800 RPM, and airflow of 63.15 CFM, 22.5 dbA of Audible noise (max), and 3.14mm H2O static pressure.

Key specifications

Pump model	Asetek Emma V2
Socket compatibility	AM5, AM4, LGA1700, LGA1851, LGA1954
Radiator form factor	420/360 mm
Fan configuration	3x NF-A14/NF-A12x25 G2
NSPR	248
Warranty	6 years

All fans are rated at 12V and feature a single 4-pin connector to boot. Once again, these are brown-colored fans and Chromax.Black variants will be available later this year. All fans are backed by a 6-year warranty.

For the pump on the NL-LC1 series, Noctua is using the Asetek Emma V2, which features a 3-phase motor with a centrifugal impeller, ceramic sleeve, and shaft bearings, all enclosed in a case that measures 70mm tall. The pump has a max speed of 3400 RPM that can be adjusted down to 2600 RPM in balanced mode and 2100 RPM in quiet mode.

The pump produces 14.9 dBA noise in the manual mode, 7.8 dBA in balanced mode, and less than 5dBA in quiet mode. The pump uses a 4-pin PWM connector to operate and features a rated voltage of 12V with a max of 13.2V. Power is rated at 6W at max and 2W of typical input.

The pump is a bit taller than some standard AIO coolers, especially since it houses a VRM fan on the top (optional). Furthermore, the new Asetek design is highly efficient in terms of power.

The cold plate is made out of 99.95% Copper (CU1100) and has a size of 55.5 x 55.5mm which is ideal for all mainstream desktop CPUs. The construction materials include Skived fin micro-channels. For mounting, Noctua leverages its SecuFirm 2+ with a mounting hole pitch of 78mm. There's also an internal NL-PNA1 noise absorber.

The noise-dampening technology comes in 3 layers of soundproofing. First, it is the acoustic foam that sits within the pump, which acts as a dense sound barrier, while a floating silicone mount also helps ensure that the noise doesn't pass through the central 3-layer dampening structure.

The tubes themselves are lengthy, with 450mm of length for the 420mm and 410mm for the 360mm coolers. The sleeving is of a very premium quality, and the minimum bend radius is rated at 26mm.

Installation was simple. On our reference AMD platform, it took us around 10 minutes to get the cooler installed on the CPU, along with fan installation on the radiator.

ASRock Steel Legend 360 LCD 360mm AIO Liquid Cooler - Cooler Performance

For testing the performance, we used the AORUS X670E Xtreme motherboard paired with an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPU, 32 GB of G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO RGB memory (DDR5-6800 EXPO), and a ROG THOR II 1000W PSU. The chassis used was a Lian Li O11 Dynamic XL, which allowed us to mount the radiator on the top since the front is a mirror panel.

The overall temperatures of the ASRock Steel Legend 360 LCD are good and worth the price range.

Conclusion - Noctua Didn't Just Make An AIO, They Made A Phenomenal AIO

Ever since I started attending Computex, the one question that everyone had for Noctua was, When will you guys make an AIO cooler? The answers that Noctua specialist, Jakob Dellinger, gave had a hint that something was on the horizon, but the "When" was the hardest part for Noctua to answer.

You see, Noctua just doesn't roll out products based on hype; they take their time fine-tuning and optimizing every bit of their solutions until it's perfect. That's why the company is known to delay its products by several years if not months, but each of those times is an opportunity for the engineers to work towards a product that promises to deliver the Noctua experience that we have come to know over the decades.

So the company finally rolled out the NL-LC1 series, its first AIO in 25+ years since its inception as a cooling manufacturer, and boy oh boy, these coolers are seriously impressive. From the build quality to the engineering on display, Noctua has left nothing unchecked.

When I state the Noctua Experience, it starts right when you open the box, from the premium packaging to the countless accessories, it's all perfect. Noctua's use of its latest fans, on Asetek's latest pump, with its latest sound-cancelling technologies, is a work of art.

In our tests, the 360mm radiator offered the best performance across all other 360 variants that we tested, and the 420mm then adds some more of that cooling expertise to the mix. Both AIOs offered superb noise levels, the lowest that we have ever witnessed across multiple AIOs that we have tested in the past. SecuFirm+ also offers an easy installation procedure, and the fact that the NL-LC1 is compatible with Intel's next-gen socket makes it a great choice. Noctua coolers have always adopted a forward-looking approach with existing AM5 and LGA 1851 sockets, and the NL-LC1 continues with that approach.

The separately sold VRM fans also proved to offer 4-6C lower VRM temps while producing noise that was almost inaudible.

Surely, the price is set at a premium with the 420mm retailing for $279 and the 360mm retailing at $249, plus a further $19.90 for the NL-ACF1 add-on. But Noctua has once again proved that it was just waiting for the right time to enter a very crowded market with a premium product that will cause some head scratching in the AIO segment. Rivaling Noctua's engineering is going to be a huge task for the competitors, and Noctua has made a statement with its first entry, a powerful and low-noise solution, backed by a 6-year warranty, and the promise of quality from a brand that is at the top of the cooling game.

Things I liked about the Noctua NL-LC1 AIO Coolers:

• Superb cooling performance
• Best-In-Class Noise Output
• Three High-Quality Fans
• A VRM fan that delivers superb cooling
• Slim Radiator Profile
• Great overall design
• Comes with a 6-year warranty
• Both Intel and AMD CPUs support
• Available in 420, 360, and 240mm designs
• Easy Installation

Things that can be improved:

• High Price
• Brown Colors may not be for everyone (but Chromax. Black on the way)
• Cable Clutter

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