At Noctua, we’ve always believed that a CPU cooler should be a long-term investment – not something you discard when you upgrade your CPU or motherboard. That’s why, since the early days, we’ve been committed to enabling upgradability both on a heatsink design level and by providing free mounting upgrade kits so that our customers can continue to use their Noctua coolers across multiple platforms and generations of CPUs.
To make transitioning your Noctua cooler to a new socket as convenient as possible, we offer upgrade kits either completely free of charge through our website or, for a small service charge, via local resellers and Amazon – a straightforward option if you need your kit particularly quickly.
Today, we’re proud to announce a remarkable milestone: we have just shipped our 500,000th mounting upgrade kit to customers around the world!
Looking back: the roots of our free kit policy
The story began in 2006, when AMD introduced the AM2 socket. This was the first time Noctua offered a free mounting upgrade service, allowing users to continue using their existing coolers on the new platform – a type of service that was completely unheard of in the PC cooling industry at the time.
That decision was driven by a simple but powerful idea: to ensure that a quality product remains useful for many years. But it wasn’t just about offering the kits – it also required designing coolers in a modular and standardised way, so that key mechanical parameters, such as mounting hole spacing and mounting point z-heights, could be supported across multiple generations.
This philosophy of compatibility-by-design laid the foundation for what would become one of Noctua’s most distinctive and enduring customer services. Over time, the free upgrade programme expanded to cover a wide range of AMD and Intel sockets. Whenever a new platform was released, owners of eligible Noctua coolers could request the corresponding mounting kit at no extra cost, not even shipping.
Some of the key milestones include:
- 2006 –AMD AM2: The beginning of our free of charge mounting kit policy, ensuring early adopters could reuse their Noctua coolers on AMD’s new platform. The offer was later extended to AM2+, AM3 and AM3+, keeping compatibility across multiple generations.
- 2009 – Intel LGA1156: The introduction of the NM-I3 SecuFirm2™ mounting kit brought free upgrade support to Intel’s new mainstream platform. This offer was subsequently extended to LGA1155, LGA1150 and LGA1200, ensuring continuity across an entire socket family.
- 2011 – Intel LGA2011: The NM-I2011 kit was introduced for Intel’s high-end desktop platform and later extended to LGA2066, maintaining compatibility for enthusiast users.
- 2017 – AMD AM4: With the arrival of Ryzen processors, Noctua launched the NM-AM4 mounting kit free of charge – one of the largest upgrade campaigns in our history. The offer was later extended to AM5, maintaining support for the latest AMD platform.
- 2021 –Intel LGA1700: The NM-i17xx-MP83 and MP78 kits ensured compatibility with Intel’s new Alder Lake platform. The free upgrade offer has since been extended to LGA1851, continuing the policy for the next socket generation.
Through all these transitions, our goal has remained unchanged: you invest in a Noctua cooler once, and you should be able to keep it running for many years – and many builds – to come.
We send out lots of kits on a daily basis, but some cases are particularly memorable, for example when customers upgrade their heatsinks multiple times over the years. I also vividly remember a case from the beginning of last year when a customer from Finland requested an AM5 mounting kit for his NH-U12P bought in 2008 – with 17 years between the date of purchase and the first upgrade, he set a new record!
Mark Kostenz, Head of Customer Support
A commitment to sustainability
The 500K milestone is not only about technical compatibility – it’s also about environmental responsibility. By helping users reuse their existing coolers, we collectively prevent hundreds of thousands of units from being discarded, reducing waste and conserving valuable materials.
Today, it’s not uncommon to see users running Noctua coolers that are more than 15 or even 20 years old on the latest CPUs – a testament to both product durability and the effectiveness of our upgrade policy. Many long-time customers have upgraded their coolers across three, four or more platform generations, often reusing the same trusted unit through decades of PC builds.
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Every mounting upgrade kit we send out contributes to a smaller environmental footprint and reinforces the idea that quality and longevity go hand in hand.
“I never expected the Noctua NH-D15 to still be in active use after a decade, given that I also get bored with hardware quickly and want to change it out.
It's a true testament to what a well-designed and engineered piece of hardware can do, and I look forward to a decade with the successor.“
What our customers say
Hearing back from customers who have been running their Noctua coolers for years and used our free-of-charge upgrade service to transition them to the latest sockets is always rewarding and reassures us that this is the right approach. Here are some examples:
“Bought the NH-D15 in December 2018 and kept it when I upgraded my PC in December 2025. Noctua’s customer service sent me the new AM5 mounting brackets for free, allowing me to reuse the fan in my new build. The fan is built like a tank and still performs flawlessly after all these years. Outstanding product quality and truly impressive customer service.” (Alex Legault)
“I’ve been using the nh-d14 for 13(!) years and I'm still able to get spare parts. Heck, I even get new mounting brackets for my new platform for free! That’s great customer service and the kind of longevity that I want to see more of in products today. These things are built for life. Plus after almost one and a half decades the cooling performance still holds up.” (Klaus H.)
“I have been using my NH-U12S cooler for 8 years and I am extremely satisfied. It has reliably cooled two of my CPUs and will soon cool a third one, thanks to Noctua sending me a free mounting kit for the new LGA 1700 socket. This level of long-term support truly sets Noctua apart from other brands.” (Alexander Muscher)
“I’ve had the Noctua NH-D14 since 2013 and it’s been super reliable since then. Absolutely no problems and it’s built to last which sets it apart. I don’t want to own products that just become e-waste/waste in a few years. I want things to last as a sign of superior quality. Also, just as amazing is the customer service to provide the mounting bracket for an old model such as mine even years later. I just submitted the request for the free mounting upgrade kit. For Noctua to continue to support older models such as the NH-D14, goes to show that their products are built to last and still be supported knowing their value. Thank you so much!”
“I’ve been using my Noctua NH-U12S since 2014, and honestly, every time I look at it I get that same feeling: This thing is amazing! It’s one of those rare products you trust completely. It paid for itself ages ago and still performs like it was bought yesterday. I’ve installed it, removed it, reinstalled it more times than I can count – it went through several full system upgrades like it was immortal. And the fact that even now I can easily get a mounting kit for the newest socket? That feels like pure magic. I don’t know a single other cooling manufacturer that even comes close to what Noctua does. This isn’t just good quality – this is legendary quality. The kind of consistent, thoughtful engineering that makes you realize these people truly love what they do.”
Behind the 500,000th kit
Reaching the half-million mark is more than just a number. It represents half a million moments when users decided to reuse and upgrade rather than replace. Each of these kits reflects a customer choosing to extend the life of their Noctua cooler, trusting it to perform reliably on the latest CPUs.
A few aspects of the programme are worth highlighting:
- Free of charge via Noctua.at: Upgrade kits ordered through Noctua’s website are provided free of charge, including free shipping from Noctua’s HQ in Austria, Europe or production facilities in Taiwan. In some cases, customs duties may apply.
- Express shipping options: While the free shipping option can take up to 20 business days and, depending on the customer’s location, may not offer tracking, trackable express shipping options (subject to charges) are available for most destinations.
- Local availability: Customers who need their parts fast can also purchase many kits at local resellers or Amazon for a small service charge.
- Tailored kits: Every request made through Noctua’s website is matched to the selected cooler model and target socket to ensure optimal mechanical compatibility. In most cases, we will only send the exact parts you need for your specific use case, which facilitates the installation process and further reduces unnecessary waste.
- Proof of purchase: To keep the free of charge service fair, customers are asked to provide proof of purchase for both their cooler and the new platform (CPU or motherboard). However, for older coolers where invoices are no longer available, customers can simply upload a photo of their cooler with their name written on a piece of paper placed next to it. The same applies for the proof of purchase of the CPU or motherboard.
- Exceptions and small fees: While most desktop mounting kits are provided entirely free of charge, workstation and server mounting kits have been – and will remain –subject to standard service charges. Certain special kits (such as offset bars for performance tuning) may also involve a small nominal fee.
Looking forward: continuing our commitment
Reaching this milestone is both a celebration and a reaffirmation of our promise to the community. As new sockets and architectures appear, we will continue to provide free mounting or upgrade kits where technically feasible, ensuring that customers can keep using their Noctua coolers for as long as possible.
Our principle remains unchanged: to offer long-term compatibility, outstanding customer support, and products that stand the test of time.
To everyone who has ever obtained a kit, thank you for being part of this journey – it’s your continued trust that has brought us to half a million kits and counting.
Here’s to the next 500,000 – and beyond!
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