Introduction
Noctua originates from a collaboration between the Austrian Rascom Computer distribution Ges.m.b.H. and the Taiwanese cooling specialist Kolink International Corporation, pooling more than thirty years of experience in the development, manufacturing, and marketing of high-end cooling components. Established in 2005, Noctua took international silent enthusiasts’ hearts by storm and quickly developed into one of the most acclaimed suppliers of premium quality quiet cooling products. Today, Noctua is present in more than 30 countries across the globe and working with several hundred sales partners. Chosen by noise-conscious PC users, system integrators and industry clients alike, Noctua has become synonymous with impeccable quality, excellent customer service, and class-leading quiet cooling performance.
Noctua is back again yet with another line up of their famous Chromax series of the accessories. Back in time, when they released the Chromax covers for their coolers, only the NH-D15/S and NH-U12S variants were provided with the Chromax covers. Their third major mainline air cooler in NH-U14 series was not provided with these covers. Now, Noctua has released the 3 chromax covers for all the variants of the NH-U14 including black, white and multiple color swap options much like what we saw on the previous release. Not only that but when their new Redux series fans were introduced, they all lacked one important element; the anti-vibration rubber pads. Noctua has now released the NA-SAVP1 chromax.grey pads that go hand in hand with the Redux line of fans and boi o boi, am I not loving the looks of these fans with NA-SAVP1! I DO. Today, I am taking a look at the new Chromax accessories from the Noctua. This is not a review as these are accessories that add to the looks only than the performance.
The list of the items is as follows: –
- NA-SAVP1 chromax.grey
- NA-HC5 chromax.black.swap
- NH-HC6 chromax.black
- NA-HC6 chromax.white
Let’s start taking look at these, one by one.
Item: NA-SAVP1 chromax.grey
Manufacturer: Noctua
Specifications
Packaging and Unboxing
The pads are shipped inside a rugged paperboard box.
The front side of the box has a solid black color. CHROMAX is written in the middle of it. Noctua NA-SAVP1 chromax.grey anti-vibration pads are printed on the top left side. There is a Noctua brand logo on the top right side.
The backside of the box has a model of the product printed on the top right side. The EAN and UPC info label is pasted at the bottom right side. There is a picture of the pads pasted on the left side. Each box has 16x pads which will cover two compatible fans in full. These are made in Taiwan and come with 6 years of warranty.
This side of the box has CHROMAX by NOCTUA printed on the right side. The model of the pads is printed on the left side.
Opening the box will show 16x grey color anti-vibration pads placed on top of the black color Styrofoam. As usual, the presentation is on the point from Noctua.
Closer Look
The Noctua NA-SAPV1 chormax.grey is a fan accessory set with each box comprising of 16x grey color anti-vibration pads. These pads are compatible with 120/140mm size fans. These are made of extra-soft silicon material and are flexible yet tear-proof to last for a longer duration. These are best suited for dark-grey accent fans like Redux from Noctua or any other compatible fan from the Noctua. The very purpose of these pads is to add protection in terms of their ability to reduce the transmission of structure-borne noises while adding a killer look to the fans.
The above picture shows the list of the Noctua’s compatible fans with the NA-SAVP1 chromax.grey.
Noctua NA-HC5 and NA-HC6 Chromax Covers
Next up are three chromax covers compatible with NH-U14S, NH-U14S TR3-SP3, and NH-U14S DX-3647.
| Item | Price |
| Noctua NA-HC5 chromax.black.swap | £17.99 |
| Noctua NA-HC6 chromax.black | £17.99 |
| Noctua NA-HC6 chromax.white | £17.99 |
Specifications
Since the packing box of all three covers is the same, I will show the unboxing of the Noctua NA-HC5 chromax.black.swap.
The front side of the packing box has the model of the item printed on the top. In this particular case, there are square boxes each of different color (total 6) to indicate the 6 colors inlays (total 3) inside the box. The Noctua brand logo is printed on the top right side. There is a picture of the cover with white color inlay in the main section.
The backside of the packing box is full of information. There is a Noctua brand logo printed on the top left side. The model of the product is printed on the top right side. The salient features of the chromax covers are printed in three blocks. There is a picture of the cover with red color inlay sandwiched between the text blocks. The UPC and EAN info labels are at the bottom. The covers are made in Taiwan and come with 6 years warranty.
Three sides of the packing box are identical. These have a model of the cover printed on the top. CHROMAX by NOCTUA is printed at the bottom right side. Compatibility information with respect the air coolers are printed at the bottom left side.
This is the opening side of the cover and has a solid black color background. CHROMAX by NOCTUA is printed at the far right side.
The above picture shows the inside of all three boxes. Being the accessory items, there is not a bunch of stuff packed inside except in the chromax.black.swap which has another box with 3 inlays.
Contents
Here is the picture of the Noctua NH-HC5 chromax.black.swap.
Closer Look
The Noctua chromax line up of covers for heatsinks is nothing new now but their mainstream cooler NH-U14S did not have such covers available until now. The new chromax covers are compatible with the Noctua NH-U14S, NH-U14S TR3-SP3, and NH-U14S DX-3647 CPU Air Coolers. The main difference between chromax.black/white and chromax.black.swap is that former has solid black and white color metallic cover in that order whereas the later has a black color cover but with cutouts to flip inside the inlays in 6 colors (capable of displaying only one color at the time).
Noctua has provided swappable inlay cards. Each card has two colors with one on each side. There is a protective sheet on each side which can be removed before installing the pad in the cover.
Let’s take a look at the cover itself. It is made of Aluminum with powder coating finish in the black color which really adds to the overall look and feel of the cover. On the top side, there is CHROMAX By Noctua printed.
The top side of the NA-HC6 chromax.black and NA-HC6 chromax.white has solid surface without any cuts. The top side of the NA-HC5 chromax.black.swap has arrow marked cutouts in the mainframe. The top cutout is facing towards the Chromax printed text. These cutouts will show the color of the inlays to give that particular color effect.
This side of the cover is identical in all three chromax covers. It has a solid surface other than an arrow-shaped cutout at the bottom.
The inside view of the cover’s side shows the same solid structure other than the arrow-shaped cutout at the terminating end. It has two black color pads to avoid scratching on the heatsink.
Let’s take a look at the inner side of the cover. There is a plastic fixture labeled NA-HCF2 which is pre-installed inside the cover. It can be easily taken out by pulling it. One can easily see two silver color magnets on both ends of this fixture. The inside of the cover has two metal bars which make contact with the fixture.
The top section of the plastic insider has an inset in the middle. This is where the catcher will secure the bracket on to the heatsink. NA-HCF2 is printed on one side and CHROMAX by NOCTUA is printed on the other side. Please, note that NA-HCF2 is not visible once the cover is fully installed.
Installation
Installation is a walk in the park here. For the NA-HC6 chromax.black and chromax.white, just pull out the NA-HCF2 and place it on the top of the heatsink. Secure it using the provided metallic clip. Install the fan on the heatsink. Place the metallic cover on the top of the heatsink and voila. You are good to go. For the NA-HC5 chormax.black.swap the above steps remain intact except one more step. Add swappable inlay card of your color’s choice in the metallic cover before putting it on the top of the heatsink.
Clearance
These covers increase the height of the heatsink by 7mm (from 165 to 172mm) and the total width by 3mm (from 150mm to 153mm). Please make sure that your case offers sufficient clearance and that the cover doesn’t make contact with any other components such as PCIe cards.
This is a simple, convenient yet effective manner of adding customization to the cooler. Going that route the Noctua has enabled the users to buy one parcel and get possibilities of color coordinating the build’s theme for up to 6 colors or just get the solid colors (white and black) as per the requirement.
Here is the top view of the NA-HC5 chromax.black.swap. This is how it will look like inside the chassis.
The below picture will show the cover with all inlays.
The below pictures will show the beauty of the Noctua chromax line up in real life.
Conclusion
Noctua has once again delivered and this time for another premium cooler NH-U14S and its variants in the form of NA-HC5 and NA-HC6 chromax covers. These covers are based on the same design and theme what we saw for their previous chromax covers for the NH-D15 and NH-U12S variants. The NA-HC5 chromax.black.swap allows the user to change the outlook of their NH-U14S cooler just like that without any hassle in a matter of a couple of minutes, maximum. This level of customization will allow the Noctua lovers in particular and the users of air coolers, in general, to still make the splendid looking build using the chromax line of accessories from the Noctua with the most important aspect of no compromise on the performance. This can be further complemented by adding Noctua iPPC fans or chromax line up of the fans by color customizing the syncing the anti-vibration pads. These cover have 6 years of warranty.
The NA-SAVP1 chromax.grey is a set of 16 silicon made anti-vibration pads that are best suited for the Redux line of the Noctua fans. Yes, they are compatible with other Noctua fans. The compatibility list can be checked on their website or in the picture above. These pads are soft, flexible and tear proof and are made to last longer. They come with the Noctua’s 6 years of the warranty.
Finally, Noctua has made up for its entire premium line of the CPU air coolers by releasing the chromax covers for the heatsinks. Now, we will be waiting for the black color edition of their premium NF-A12x25 fans and chromax cover for their new premium cooler NH-U12A. Buying the chromax accessories for the air cooler and the fans will allow the user to fully customize their builds’ theme and color scheme though this would mean paying more besides the cooler and the fans’ price but it is worth it.
The Noctua NA-SAVP1 chromax.grey, NA-HC5 chromax.black.swap, NA-HC6 chromax.black, and NA-HC6 chromax.white come recommended by us.
