On 16 October, Noctua expanded their new Chromax product line, adding a Y-cable (NA-SYC1) and an extension cable (NA-SEC1) in six different colors. To be honest, Noctua is not famous in attracting customers by their products’ aesthetic, especially the “beige and brown” colors. However, these two Chromax cable accessories would provide better customization for PC builders to match their color schemes. Let’s take a deeper look at them.
Unboxing
As usual, the packaging of Noctua’s products is excellent. Both the Chromax Y-cables and extension cables have the same elegant design for the box, except for the product details.
At the front of the hard cardboard box, you can find the CHROMAX branding in the center, as well as the Noctua logo on the top right. The cables’ model names and colors are clearly printed on the top left. Flipping the box, you are greeted with an image of the cables and a QR code to the product’ s web page.
You can see the respective cables’ descriptions again at the side of the box.
Opening the box, there is a piece of black soft foam placed on the bottom to protect the cables. You will get three Y-cables (NA-SYC1) in each box. And four extension cables (NA-SEC1) in each box.
Review
Both of the Chromax cables are available in six different colors. They are Black, White, Red, Yellow, Green and Blue. For the Y-cable, its length is at 115 mm including the connectors. The extension cable on the other hand is 30 cm long.
Each fan cable is sleeved with some kind of colored nylon mesh, which feels smooth to the hands. The sleeving is in very high quality, that all wires are covered by the nylon mesh or by the black heat shrinks. The colors are extremely vibrant and sharp, and look good even in dimly lit PC case environments.
The Y-cable splits one fan header on the motherboards/fan controllers into two fan connectors. It is compatible with both 3-pin and 4-pin computer fans, but you can only control fan speed via PWM with a 4-pin connection.
The extension cable is helpful for PC builders to plug their computer fans to the motherboards in larger PC cases. It also supports 3-pin and 4 pin fans without any problems.
The Y-cables and extension cables can both be daisy-chained in different configurations, if you need. For example, you can combine two 30 cm extension cables into one 60 cm one to reach extremely far distances. Or you can connect two extra Y-cables to an existing Y-cable, to simultaneously power and control up to four computer fans.
Please note that most motherboards’ fan headers support up to 9.6/12 watt of power (check your motherboards’ manuals for accurate information). You must ensure that you are not drawing power exceeding the limited value, if you are plugging in multiple fans.
Conclusion
Noctua Chromax Y-cables (NA-SYC1) and extension cables (NA-SEC1) are great additions to the existing lineup. Due to current trend about having RGB/more colors in every PC builds, the Chromax cables allow users more customization in matching each component’s colors.
For most of the parts, the cables perform exceptionally well, providing beautiful and high quality colored sleeving. Offering the capability of daisy-chaining multiple cables extend the flexibility of the Chromax cables. However, I think the black heat shrinks on the Y-cables (NA-SYC1) are a tiny bit too long, in my opinion. The colored sleeving shown is too short. It is harder to notice for the extension cables (NA-SEC1) because its overall cable length is much longer. Though, this is just a very minor issue.
*According to Noctua, shorter heat shrinks may make the cables loose, reducing the durability of the cables.*
Comparing with other comparable fan cables in the market, both Chromax cables are priced reasonably. Other brands’ cables are either not sleeved, or only available in one color. The Chromax cables provide similar functionality, while offering up to six different color options and have an unbelievable 6-year warranty by Noctua.
You can buy the cables from your local/online resellers or use the links below to purchase them from Amazon US.
Thanks Noctua for providing us the Chromax cables for review. (Review Sample)
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