In summary:
- PCWorld reports on Noctua’s first PC case collaboration with Antec, the Flux Pro Noctua Edition featuring signature brown accents and premium cooling components.
- This large E-ATX case costs $400, more than double the standard version’s $180 price, but includes six high-performance Noctua fans and specialized fan controller hub.
- The collaboration appeals to Noctua enthusiasts willing to pay premium prices for superior airflow and brand aesthetics, with such limited editions typically selling out quickly.
Brown. Brown. Brown! That appears to be the most iconic part of German cooling company Noctua’s brand identity—and it works, or at least it creates some distinction in conjunction with great hardware focused on quiet cooling. Noctua’s latest collaboration is with old-school enclosure company Antec, and the Noctua Edition of the Flux Pro case is now available for a hefty $400 USD.
Compared to the standard edition Flux Pro, the Noctua variant is… well, brown. Chocolatey accents adorn the mesh panels on the top and cover the PSU on the side, plus the silicone panels and fan brackets on the interior. The walnut wood frame around the front panel, while very nice, is already a feature on the $180 standard edition. It does have a little extra “Antec x Noctua” branding bling, though.
The upgraded PC case also gets no less than six Noctua fans, replacing all six on the standard edition with Noctua NF-A14x25 G2 and NF-A12x25 G2 models. Noctua also throws in its NA-FH1 fan controller hub. Promotional materials insist that this makes the case “significantly quieter when operating at the same flow rates,” but specifics aren’t listed… and I hasten to add that, since the Flux Pro already includes six fans and a controller, you aren’t technically adding any extra functionality, all for more than double the price.
The Flux Pro is a massive E-ATX airflow case with a mix of mesh and glass panels, support for pretty much any cooling and radiator configuration you could ask for (up to 420mm), and some interesting features like a 90-degree turn for the power supply that makes it easier to reach from behind the motherboard. It gets hardware displays for GPU and CPU temperature, vertical GPU mounting, tons of cable routing, and can house up to four 3.5-inch storage drives and a GPU with a maximum length of 455mm. It’s big, is what I’m saying here.
If the Noctua Edition of the case is catching your eye, you may want to get an order in quickly. Even with its premium pricing, Noctua collaborations (like these graphics cards in the recent past) tend to sell out as brand-loyal buyers snatch them up.
Author: Michael Crider
Source: PCWorld
Reviewed By: Editorial Team
