Noctua colours come to 3D printing
Noctua is famous in the PC world for two things. Incredibly quiet and efficient cooling and a very specific brown and beige colour scheme that PC builders either love or hate. Now that iconic look has jumped from fans and coolers to 3D printing thanks to a new collaboration with Prusa Research.
Noctua and Prusa have released two new PLA filaments that perfectly match Noctua hardware. Prusament PLA Noctua Beige and Prusament PLA Noctua Brown. Each 1 kilogram spool costs around 33 dollars or 31 pounds or 33 euros and is available directly from Prusa.
For anyone who cares about a fully themed build this means you can now 3D print custom PC parts and accessories that visually blend right in with your Noctua cooled rig.
Why this matters for PC builders
Noctua users are already deep into custom builds. You see them in quiet workstations, home servers and enthusiast gaming PCs where low noise and reliability really matter. The colour scheme has become a kind of badge of honour and many builders already try to colour match cables, keycaps and cases.
Until now anyone 3D printing parts for a Noctua themed build had to hunt through generic browns and creams that never quite matched. Josef Prusa, CEO and founder of Prusa Research, points out that he has seen loads of community attempts to copy the look without ever getting a perfect fit. This partnership finally solves that for detail obsessed builders.
With these filaments you can print parts such as:
- Fan grills and covers that line up perfectly with Noctua fans
- Ducts and shrouds to guide airflow to hot components like GPUs and VRM heatsinks
- GPU support brackets or cable combs in matching colours
- Drive mounts, front panel trims or internal cable routing pieces
- Cosmetic pieces like case badges or themed accessories for a full Noctua style build
None of this directly changes frame rates or benchmark scores, but PC modding has always been about more than raw performance. A lot of gamers and hardware enthusiasts want their system to look as refined as it runs. Matching filaments give you more control over both aesthetics and layout while making the whole thing feel like a cohesive design instead of a mix of random parts.
Quality and ease of use for beginners
Prusa manufactures these filaments in house at its facility in Prague. Noctua highlights that this setup allows for very tight tolerances of plus or minus 0.02 millimetres. For 3D printing that kind of consistency matters because it helps avoid jams and uneven extrusion, which in turn means smoother prints and better fitting parts. When you are printing something like a fan duct that needs to line up exactly with a fan frame or a heatsink, a small dimensional error can be the difference between a clean install and a frustrating reprint.
Colour accuracy is also a focus here. Since the goal is to match Noctua coolers and fans directly, the pigments and production process are tuned so that the printed parts visually align with existing hardware. The end result is that a fan grill or bracket you print in Noctua Brown should not stand out awkwardly next to a real Noctua fan.
Noctua notes several properties that help both beginners and more experienced 3D printer users:
- Convenient handling meaning it feeds and prints predictably
- Low warpage which helps flat pieces stay flat and reduces corner lifting
- High hardness for sturdy functional parts like brackets or grills
- Good finish quality so prints look smooth and presentable in a windowed case
PLA is already one of the easiest filaments to work with. Pairing that with tuned manufacturing makes these spools a solid entry point if you are new to 3D printing but want to experiment with custom PC parts. You do not need to be a pro maker to get usable results for internal PC accessories.
Ready made PC parts to print
If you are not ready to design your own parts from scratch, Noctua has also made the jump easier by providing free 3D models on Printables dot com. These files include fan grills, ducts and other cooling accessories that are already tested for practical use in PC cases. You can download them, slice them for your printer and output them directly in Noctua Brown or Noctua Beige PLA for an instant theme match.
For PC builders this closes a neat loop. You can choose quiet Noctua coolers for your CPU and case, design or download printed parts that fine tune your airflow or cable management, and maintain a single consistent look across everything. Even if you are mainly into gaming performance or overclocking, having the ability to print custom ducts or brackets can help you direct airflow more precisely around a hot graphics card or motherboard hotspot.
The collaboration also shows how closely linked the PC modding and 3D printing communities have become. Building your own PC and building your own parts now go together naturally. Whether you are planning a silent home office machine, a chocolate themed showpiece rig, or simply want a better way to route air and cables, these new filaments give you another tool to push your build that little bit closer to perfect.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/noctua-fans-rejoice-you-can-finally-colour-match-your-3d-printed-creations-to-that-iconic-colour-scheme-using-official-3d-printing-filaments/
