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It's safe enough to say that almost everyone in the PC building space is a fan of Noctua's wares. The Austrian company has distinguished itself from its peers by being very... well, Austrian, and obsessing about the quality of its coolers and fans — even if the price tags aren't the most inviting. Today, the firm is celebrating sending out its 500,000th CPU cooler mounting upgrade kit.
The story harkens back two decades ago, to the ancient times of 2006 and AMD's release of the AM2 socket, necessitating a mounting kit for existing coolers. Noctua opted to make the upgrade completely free since then (including shipping), by just sending out one to anyone who asked and had a valid receipt. A tradition it has kept up ever since.
Not only are the kits free, but they're always available at Noctua's website, whereas many other brands make them hard or impossible to obtain, and often at costly prices.
The result is that two decades later, Noctua is sending out upgrade kits for CPU mounting coolers that are going on 20 years old. The blog post even recounts a story about a Finnish customer asking for an AM5 kit for an NH-U12P cooler, setting the record of 17 years between purchase date and upgrade. Since buyers have reasonable assurance they'll be able to reuse their coolers, the high initial asking price can pay off for itself on every new build(s).
Noctua also points out that just creating an upgrade kit isn't just machining some new parts, as the cooler itself needs to be designed in a way that will easily accept new parts. Reviewers have consistently praised the coolers' mounting hardware, so it's fair to say the Austrians know what they're doing. Additionally, the company points out that its free upgrade program contributes to reducing e-waste.
I have personal experience with Noctua's wares and upgrade kits and can attest that it really was as simple as going to the website and requesting one; the exact parts arrived in the mail within two or three weeks. This was in sharp contrast to what happened with another brand's cooler, for which an upgrade kit technically existed but might as well be made of unobtainium.
You won't be asked for more than a purchase receipt, too. Even if you don't have one, Noctua will take invoices for CPUs and motherboards, or even a photo of your existing cooler with a piece of paper visible. If you prefer to have one shipped out faster, you can also find them at Amazon and other e-tailers for cheap.
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Bruno Ferreira is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware. He has decades of experience with PC hardware and assorted sundries, alongside a career as a developer. He's obsessed with detail and has a tendency to ramble on the topics he loves. When not doing that, he's usually playing games, or at live music shows and festivals.
