Yesterday, Noctua posted a teaser image on X of a blacked-out 120mm fan alongside the caption “Blacked out. Dialled in.” — and given the company’s current roadmap, there’s only one product it can be (Ed: Did you ping them about using spellcheck?). The NF-A12x25 G2 chromax.black has been listed on Noctua’s official roadmap for Q2 2026, which makes today’s press release announcing it make sense when taken with the teaser. We’re expecting it to appear at Noctua’s Computex booth. Historically, Linus ends up at the Noctua Computex booth at the same time we are there and spends an hour filming while we’re trying to get a photo in edgewise of the new kit.
Noctua has officially launched the NF-A12x25 G2 chromax.black, the all-black variant of its flagship 120mm fan that launched in standard beige-and-brown in June 2025. Two SKUs are available: the single PWM fan at $34.90 / €34.90, and the Sx2-PP twin-pack at $64.90 / €64.90.
“The first-generation NF-A12x25 was one of the most successful Noctua fans of all time, so the G2 version had big shoes to fill,” said Roland Mossig, CEO of Noctua. “We’ve been extremely pleased with the excellent response from both customers and expert reviewers, so we’re excited to follow up with the chromax.black variants today.”
Since its introduction in June 2025, the NF-A12x25 G2 has accumulated more than 70 awards and recommendations from hardware publications, magazines, and YouTube channels — a strong showing that gives the chromax.black variant a well-established performance baseline to build on.
The engineering underneath the black finish is unchanged from the standard G2. At its core is Noctua’s Sterrox liquid-crystal polymer impeller featuring a Progressive Bend design with a Centrifugal Turbulator hub and winglets, combined with an ultra-tight 0.5mm tip clearance — the tightest in any consumer 120mm fan (Ed: Did you measure that?). That combination drives meaningful performance-per-noise improvements over the original NF-A12x25 in both low-impedance airflow applications like case cooling and high-impedance, pressure-demanding scenarios such as radiator mounting. The etaPERF motor with SupraTorque gives the fan extra torque headroom to maintain its target speed when working against back pressure, which matters in push-pull radiator setups where lesser fans lose performance under load. The fan is backed by Noctua’s SSO2 bearing, an MTTF rating exceeding 150,000 hours, and a 6-year manufacturer’s warranty.
The chromax.black edition brings an all-black aesthetic throughout — from the impeller and frame to the anti-vibration pads, gasket, mounts, screws, and cables. Coloured anti-vibration pads for customisation are available separately, allowing builders to accent with a splash of red, white, or other colours while keeping the overall look clean and dark.
The Sx2-PP twin-pack includes two fans that are intentionally offset by approximately 50 RPM relative to each other, a deliberate design choice to suppress harmonic phenomena/beat frequencies that can manifest as intermittent audible vibrations or periodic humming when two fans running at the same speed interfere acoustically. It makes the Sx2-PP set ell-suited for push-pull radiator configurations or side-by-side case fan mounting on 240mm and 360mm radiators, where that kind of acoustic interference is most likely to occur.
Now, if only we get some traction with the chromax.black.beige variant of the NH-D15.