Noctua finally releases its first AIO coolers — prices start at $220 for 240mm, features the company’s legendary A-series fans

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The legendary air cooling company is diving into water (cooling).

Noctua NL-LC1 AIO cooler
(Image credit: Noctua)

Noctua’s highly anticipated AIO cooler is finally available, and PC builders can get it in three sizes — 240mm, 360mm, and 420mm. These all-in-one water-cooling solutions start at $219.95 on Amazon for the smallest 240mm two-fan solution. The larger 360mm version costs $249.95, and is slightly more affordable than the converted European price of US$289.95 (based on the current conversion rate for EUR 250), while the largest 420mm, equipped with three 140mm fans, is priced at $279.95.

Given that this is a Noctua cooling solution, you can expect it to stay silent while still offering performance. It achieves this with the NL-PNA1 pump noise absorber — a mass damper that sits on top of the pump and water block featuring multiple layers of acoustic foam, a dense sound barrier, floating silicone mounts, and an outer shell with a metal faceplate. The pump itself also has three available speed profiles; it’s set by default to quiet mode, ensuring that it remains inaudible during operation. You can set it to balanced mode if you want additional performance headroom at the cost of some noise, while veteran users can switch to manual mode for full control over the AIO.

You can also purchase the optional NL-ACF1 80mm auxiliary cooling fan that mounts directly on the water block. This small add-on can make a big difference to other components, as we saw in Noctua’s booth at Computex 2026. It claims a VRM temperature reduction of nearly 40%, allowing your case fans to run at a slower RPM and further reduce noise. You can check out the Noctua video below if you want to see the company’s deep dive into its first AIO cooling solution.

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Performance and acoustic optimisations of the NL-LC1 series - YouTube Performance and acoustic optimisations of the NL-LC1 series - YouTube
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Aside from these new innovations, the company also includes its legendary A-series fans with the AIO coolers. The 240mm comes with two NF-A12x25 G2 PWM 120mm fans, while the 360mm model boasts three of these fans, which are also found in our best PC case fans of 2026. The larger 420mm AIO trades in the 120mm fans for three NF-A14x25 G2 PWM 140mm fans. All three AIO models are equipped with the SecuFirm2+ mounting system, allowing you to use them on the latest and current-gen sockets on the market, including AM4, AM5, LGA 1700, and LGA 1851. This also means that you can easily swap a Noctua air cooler with this AIO solution if you already use a brown and beige air cooler like the Noctua NH-D15 G2.

The Noctua NL-LC1 series of AIO coolers is admittedly quite expensive, with its starting price of $219.95 on Amazon. This is especially true as there are numerous more affordable options out there, with the best AIO coolers starting at around $120. But if you’re either going for an all-Noctua PC build or want to have a silent PC at all costs, then the Noctua NL-LC1 AIO is your best bet for achieving that.

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Jowi Morales
Jowi Morales
Contributing Writer

Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.

12 Comments Comment from the forums
  • thestryker
    While the pricing is high it's not as bad as I was expecting given that the fans by themselves are over $30 per in retail. The biggest issue I have with this release from a technical standpoint is that they've taken so long Asetek is showing their V3. This has increased the size of the radiator, has a new coldplate design and has reduced the sound profile of the pump. That means when those coolers hit the market this will lose in temperatures and heat capacity while the benefit of their pump noise reduction won't be as great.
    Reply
  • MilesPNZ
    These look slick for sure. But I think their problem won't be the product itself, it's their competition. My entire build is Noctua BUT my AIO is an Artic Freezer III which represents insane performance for the price.

    When you put the Noctua up against the Artic and correct for price there won't be any comparrison.

    Of course, those with huge budgets and brand loyalty will buy the Noctua but in the current market where buyers are looking for cost savings in order to make their builds work these new AIOs may be even more niche than they otherwise would have been.
    Reply
  • SkyBill40
    Y U NO Chromax Black?!?!?!?
    Reply
  • thestryker
    MilesPNZ said:
    My entire build is Noctua BUT my AIO is an Artic Freezer III which represents insane performance for the price.
    Arctic is good, but it definitely depends on what platform more than anything else currently. AM5 and LGA 1851 they're good options, but LGA 1700 they're outclassed by a lot of similarly priced and even cheaper competition. They seem to be relying on offset mounting for the two platforms they're better on. I get the feeling that their pump (and maybe coldplate) hasn't improved as much as others have given that they have a pretty big radiator size advantage. I'm hoping that whatever the next revision of their liquid coolers turns out to be that this is addressed.

    That being said I'd have absolutely still gotten a LFIII Pro if it wasn't for how big the radiator is (where I have radiator installed it's simply too thick).
    MilesPNZ said:
    When you put the Noctua up against the Artic and correct for price there won't be any comparrison.
    3 of Noctua's NF-A12x25 G2 fans are ~$75 more retail price than Arctic's P12 Pro fans so that closes the gap some. I doubt there would be an absolute performance difference between the fans, but the P12 Pro does start to get loud around 1800 RPM.
    Reply
  • CaptRiker
    overpriced and no rgb? cannot go back to non-rgb aio's.
    Reply
  • voyteck
    CaptRiker said:
    overpriced and no rgb? cannot go back to non-rgb aio's.
    I would never buy an RGB fan/cooler/memory.
    Reply
  • Rand0m_Guy
    MilesPNZ said:
    These look slick for sure. But I think their problem won't be the product itself, it's their competition. My entire build is Noctua BUT my AIO is an Artic Freezer III which represents insane performance for the price.

    When you put the Noctua up against the Artic and correct for price there won't be any comparrison.

    Of course, those with huge budgets and brand loyalty will buy the Noctua but in the current market where buyers are looking for cost savings in order to make their builds work these new AIOs may be even more niche than they otherwise would have been.
    The Arctic Freezer III isnt just cheaper, its probably the #1 AIO on the market. 360 is $84, vs the Noctua at $250. You could spend another $90 on the Arctic and put Noctua fans on it, and for $174 you now have a monster. Without any benchmarks and testing, not knowing if the Noctua can even perform, this is a non-starter.
    Reply
  • SkyBill40
    Rand0m_Guy said:
    The Arctic Freezer III isnt just cheaper, its probably the #1 AIO on the market. 360 is $84, vs the Noctua at $250. You could spend another $90 on the Arctic and put Noctua fans on it, and for $174 you now have a monster. Without any benchmarks and testing, not knowing if the Noctua can even perform, this is a non-starter.
    Oh, I strongly doubt that. It'll be a starter for sure based on reputation alone. Bank on it.
    Reply
  • Rand0m_Guy
    SkyBill40 said:
    Oh, I strongly doubt that. It'll be a starter for sure based on reputation alone. Bank on it.
    I think some people will buy it, but not many. Noctua fans are popular, not because of a name or reputation, because they are good. This will not only have to show that it is good, it will have to show its so good its worth a 300% premium over the current best.
    Reply
  • thestryker
    Rand0m_Guy said:
    Without any benchmarks and testing, not knowing if the Noctua can even perform, this is a non-starter.
    TechPowerUp and Hardware Canucks have both tested it.

    TPU: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/noctua-nl-lc1-36-aio-liquid-cpu-cooler/
    AM5 LFIII Pro is competitive at their noise normalized levels and maximum performance. LGA1700 it is not.

    HC: OACfk1qNlCYView: https://youtu.be/OACfk1qNlCY?is=9KP3e6AcJBLFB1S1

    Noctua doesn't lose at all in their testing (they test a broad range of noise levels), but the LFIII Pro does better on their LGA 1851 than it did on TPU's LGA 1700 (likely due to mounting offset and hotspots).

    Whether or not people are willing to pay premium pricing for it when it doesn't have screens or other flashy gimmicks that exist in the same price range remains to be seen.
    Reply