Endgame: What’s it Like to build the Noctua-everything PC inside the Antec Flux Pro Noctua-Edition

Yesterday, Noctua and Antec released the Flux Pro Noctua-Edition, a case that has technically been on the market for some time. But this latest version has a few nice Noctua sprinkles added to it, including a full cadre of Noctua fans.

The release of this case marks quite a special milestone for Noctua: For each major component category that comes with a fan pre-installed from the factory, Noctua either sells one itself, or has partnered up with someone to make a “Noctua-Edition” variant of an existing product. That goes not only for this case, but also for graphics cards, a power supply, and more to come.

Noctua is the undebated industry king when it comes to quiet and effective cooling (the brand tops the list of the best PC fans we’ve tested). And now that we can build a PC packed with Noctua products (not including the motherboard, SSD, CPU, or memory, of course), we had to try out this hardware combination to see how it all works out.

For all intents and purposes, this is a ‘reference’ build, and I expect that we’ll be seeing quite a significant number of almost identical builds the coming while, albeit with slightly different component selections when it comes to the CPU and motherboard platform, memory, and storage.

Grab yourself a coffee, because there’s a lot to talk about here. This will be a longer build story than we usually feature, because let’s face it, this is essentially the endgame halo Noctua PC.

In this market, why are we building this PC at all?

As configured, this is a PC that will cost $6400 to build. It’s an outrageous amount of money for any PC, and it makes it so that very few people will be able to put together a system like this. For this reason, I want to preface this build story with a disclaimer: this is not buying advice.

This here, today, is a story, and the story I’d like to tell is what it’s like to build the Noctua-Endgame PC of 2026. This is peak PC-building luxury, and as awesome as it is, I truly cannot recommend you do this due to the cost. But what I can do, is showcase the building process, explore all the little details and easter eggs, with the best photos I can muster, so that you can live vicariously.

The Hardware Selection

For this system, I had a few options for what I could build in it. However, in the current state of the PC hardware crisis, I feel that running a monthly build with all new hardware each time at Tom’s could come across a bit gluttonous (as if this hardware selection isn’t that already).

Therefore, we decided to scale the builds back to a frequency that’s less than monthly, and thereby reduce the amount of hardware we sample for builds. We also want to re-use parts that we already have available, provided they fit the story. Of course, a few new parts would have to be used here and there – otherwise I’d just be doing the same build over and over.

Consequently, I was presented with a painful decision – not that I really had much of a choice. Now that we have a Noctua-Edition case, the final piece of the puzzle, the point is that you install as many Noctua(-Edition) components as possible, right?

The Donor PC

Recently, I built a PC I called “The Stout Owl.” This was an immense undertaking, as it involved learning a new craft, months of meticulously hand-crafting a wooden case, and housing a Noctua-themed build, which suited the wood well. To me, personally, that was absolute endgame, but not everyone is willing to spend three months building a wooden PC.

At this point, I’m quite attached to The Stout Owl. I really didn’t want to, but I took this PC apart to use its components in this current build. The job comes first, and this meant that other than the Flux Pro Noctua-Edition case, no new hardware had to be acquired for this build story.

Motherboard: Asus ProArt Z890-Creator WiFi

I decided to stick with the ProArt Z890-Creator from Asus. I’d go into tech specs, but let’s be real: Asus’ ProArt boards, with their classy black-and-gold design pair beautifully with Noctua’s colorway, so the specs aren’t the main priority here.

The whole reason Noctua exists is because the founders were growing tired of the bold and flashy ‘Gamer’ aesthetic with all the lights, and wanted something classier. This motherboard, and its AM5 counterpart, are properly-kitted high-end boards, and come with chique looks to match. (The Dutch spelling of chic is chic-er than the accepted English spelling, and I’m Dutch, so I’m using it).

CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 285K

The Intel Core Ultra 9 285K gets a lot of flack for not being the best gaming CPU, but I actually think it’s a fantastic chip despite not offering chart-topping gaming performance.

With 8 performance cores and 16 efficiency cores, the chip certainly is no slouch. Although it can run seriously hot and hungry when heavily burdened, it also runs incredibly cool and efficient when just idling. If you’re not a gamer, but you need a workhorse chip, the Intel Core Ultra chips are seriously worth considering, especially if you live in a place with high electricity costs and run the PC idling or just browsing for many hours. Though, at its price, the Core Ultra 7 265K or about-to-launch 270K promises very similar performance for a fraction of the cost. But Intel’s new chip isn’t quite available yet, so we’re using the 285K.

Again, this is not buying advice.

CPU Cooler: NH-D15 G2

The NH-D15 G2 is Noctua’s flagship CPU cooler, so naturally, it had to be installed in this system. Noctua doesn’t make a liquid cooler yet, and although one is slated for release later this year, this is the reference Noctua PC build, so I didn’t feel it was right to use another brand’s AIO and swap the fans.

The NH-D15 G2 comes with two round-frame NF-A15x25r fans with the Sx2-PPO speed offset, to ensure the fans never harmonize. With 8 heatpipes, the cooler is good for dissipating heat from even the hottest chips.

PSU: Seasonic x Noctua TX-1600 Prime

The Seasonic x Noctua Prime TX-1600 is currently the only Noctua-Edition power supply you can buy.

Usually, this power supply comes with a first-generation NF-A12x25 fan. However, for the aforementioned wooden PC build, I had modded the PSU to use a G2 fan. I decided to keep it this way for this build.

I do have to note, that this power supply, with its 1600-watt envelope, is grossly oversized for this build. Later this year, Seasonic aims to release the Prime PX Noctua-Edition series power supplies, which will come in 850-to-1200-watt envelopes. These would be much more suitable for most builds.

But they aren’t out yet, so we’re using this modded TX-1600.

Graphics Card: Asus x Noctua RTX 5080

For The Stout Owl (the wooden PC), Noctua loaned us the RTX 5080 Noctua-Edition, which also went to our GPU analyst for a full review. If you want to know all about the tech specs and specifics about performance, it’s a great read.

But after the review sample left my bench, I realized I had fallen in love with Noctua RTX 5080, especially in the wooden home I had crafted for it. So, knowing the review sample was a loaner destined tour media outlets in Europe before heading back to Noctua HQ, I went out and purchased my own RTX 5080 Noctua-Edition.

I put my money where my mouth is

I was doubtful whether I should share this part of story, but I feel it’s the ultimate form of praise for a product. The Asus x Noctua RTX 5080 is so horrendously expensive, especially in today’s market (I’m glad I purchased mine a few months ago) that unless you care for its looks, thermals, and acoustics, is almost certainly not worth it.

But in my case, it’s the only GPU I would want in my personal system, running long, quiet hours on my desk next to me. My entire room is padded in acoustic material, which was necessary for fan reviews, and I’ve recently come to learn why it is that I value silence in my workspace as much as I do.

I don’t game much at all. But rather, I use the GPU for photography (a hobby of mine that’s also a useful skill in work). My editing software of choice is DXO Photolab, and its AI denoising is quite something to behold. However, running the DeepPrime3 AI denoising on the CPU, even on a workhorse CPU such as the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, is dreadfully slow. It takes 15-20 seconds per image export, depending on the crop factor. And the CPU runs hot and loud even with a D15 G2, and a zoom-snippet live preview? Forget about it.

That’s where the GPU comes in. I can edit smoothly, and during export (DXO only applies the full-image denoising during export), you can quite literally hear when a photo in the queue gets handed from the CPU to the GPU – the GPU has some coil whine for a split second while it handles the denoising, and then it’s done. It then waits for the CPU to hand it the next shot, and so on. Exports are much quicker, as you’ll see later in testing.

Of course, a 5080 is total overkill for this application, but I like this graphics card. So here we are.

Memory: Team Group T-Create 48 GB (2x 24 GB) 7200-MHz CUDIMM DDR5

When building this system, the black and gold of the Team Group T-Create memory is makes it almost the de-facto choice for an all-Noctua system. I say ‘almost,’ however, because currently, this memory kit is priced at $749, which is outrageously expensive. Of course, the high price here isn’t limited just to this kit.

Storage: Two 2 TB SSDs, one from Kingston, one from Team-Group

For storage, I used a 2 TB Kingston Renegade G5 PCIe 5.0 SSD as the main system drive, with the Team Group T-Create C47 series Classic 2TB PCIe 4.0 drive for additional capacity.

Parts list

*Case not included. MSRP is $399. Grand Total then comes to $6,400.