NZXT Kraken X41: Review| Test| Specs| Pros & Cons| Hashrate| Set-up| Config

Test – NZXT Kraken X41: Specs | Price | CPU | Profitability| Hashrate| best Coins | Config | Advantage (Pros) and Disadvantages (Cons) and other important features that will help you make better decision

Today marks the start of testing of NZXT products at Conseil Config! For this appetizer I will present an AIO water-cooling kit equipped with a 140 mm radiator, I named the NZXT Kraken X41! Replacing the X40, the new version offers a 24% thicker radiator as well as a new fan, longer pipes as well as the new NZXT CAM software which is rather seductive on paper. Offered at a recommended price of 99.99 €, the NZXT AIO watercooling kit is in the mid-range of this type of product, let’s see if the performance as well as the build quality are worth it!

NZXT has chosen a rather sober box, on the front side we can see a photo of the product, the name of the model, the brand logo of course as well as the mention of the warranty which is still 6 years! The marketing was not really zealous here, only a small mention “The world’s first variable speed liquid cooler” (the first variable speed liquid cooling) is present, and which in the end doesn’t really mean much without something else. precision.

At the rear, everything is always very classy, ​​another photo of the radiator as well as the water block seen from below, a listing of the main highlights such as the 140 mm radiator, 14 cm fan, variable speed pump, RGB LED as well as the famous brand CAM software.

On the sides are all the technical data of the Kraken X41, dimensions, characteristics of the pump and fan, warranty etc.

In the cardboard box we come across an arrangement which is usual for AIO water-cooling kists, a cardboard mold accommodating the different parts. Each piece is carefully wrapped in a plastic bag so as not to get damaged, nothing out of the ordinary here!

The bundle consists of:

• 1 x radiator + pompe Kraken X41
• 1 x ventilateur FX V2 140mm PWM
• 1 x kit de fixation Intel
• 1 x kit de fixation AMD
• 1 x assembly guide
• The necessary screws

As we can see the bundle contains the necessary to mount the Kraken X41, the Intel and AMD fixing kits, the necessary screws as well as the fan and a tiny assembly guide, one thing is certain, there is no flourish!

Here is the beast! Sobriety is the order of the day as with almost all of the AIO water-cooling kits on the market, the first thing that strikes you when you have the machine is the build quality which is really excellent here as well as the thickness of the radiator (36 mm instead of the 25 mm of a classic kit). Let’s see all of this in detail.

The thick 140mm radiator (172.5mm in length) is made of aluminum fins, as in 99% of AIO water cooling kits on the market. It will be possible to install 2 fans of 14 cm (1 in front and 1 in the back), no holes for 12 cm fans however. The thickness of 3.6 cm gives the Kraken X41 a 36% increase in the dissipation surface area compared to a “classic” 2.5 cm radiator like its little big brother the X40. The build quality as well as the finish are really excellent here, nothing to say.

The pipes are unfortunately not changeable, unlike the Kelvin S36 tested previously, but nothing that does not change the usual kits.

A sticker is present on the waterblock warning the user to connect the pump before switching on, which seems rather logical!

The waterblock which also houses the pump is equipped with the brand’s logo (which lights up when plugged in) and is round in shape. The build quality is once again excellent.

The elbows can be tilted left and right as you wish. The 3 cables which are connected to the waterblock (pump power supply, USB cable for ventilation control as well as fan power supply) are all 3 sheathed. again the build quality is there, but the cables make it a bit of a mess.

The surface in contact with the processor is entirely made of copper, there is no mirror effect here. A dose of thermal paste is pre-applied so that the buyer does not have to do.

Like I said the cables are all 3 braided, and the braiding is really really good. The pump is powered via a 3-pin cable, the USB cable plugs directly into the motherboard and the fan will be plugged into 4-pin PWM, note that if you feel like plugging in another fan NZXT offers a second connector!

The 14 cm fan from NZXT is two-tone, a black frame and white blades, the whole is of once again excellent quality and the most beautiful effect. There are rubber pads in the 4 corners (front and back) that will reduce vibrations. Note that at the rear we find the consumption of the machine which is still announced at 7.2 Watts, which is a lot for a fan.

The fan cable like the others is also sheathed, but the sheath is a little different here and a little more rubbery, very well made however.

Specification: Hashrate – NZXT Kraken X41

The NZXT Kraken X41 is compatible with all “current” sockets, from 1156 to 2011-3 at Intel through the aging 1366 (exit however the 775 which has had its day!) And from AM2 (+) to FM2 ( +) at AMD. The dimensions are quite important, not that the NZXT is imposing in itself but it requires a location for a 14 cm fan which is not the case with many cases at the back (or else it must be placed above the case), the thickness despite being overweight 1.1 cm compared to a conventional radiator is however not a problem in most cases.

The supplied fan is an NZXT FX V2 140mm Performance PWM running from 800 to 2000 RPM, the noise level oscillates between 20 and 37 dB (manufacturer data, to see in reality!) And the air flow rises to a big 106 CFM which should provide good ventilation but it certainly won’t be for the sake of our fragile little ears. It will be possible to install 2 fans of 14 cm in push + pull mode in order to further increase performance.

The pump is capable of rotating at 2 different speeds, and that is certainly why NZXT has put this little phrase on the box, it will be 2400 RPM (in silent mode most certainly) or 3600 RPM (in performance mode).
Offered at a recommended price of 99.99 € the NZXT Kraken X41 is not an entry level product but seeing the quality of workmanship and materials it could be interesting if the tests are conclusive, the 6 year warranty also shows although NZXT has confidence in its product.

It’s time to ride the beast! First of all I want to say that the assembly guide is really very brief, even if it is sufficient for someone who is used to it will most certainly not be the same for a neophyte, so I will detail you all of this!
First of all we will put the fan on the radiator, it will take these screws as well as these washers:

Then we put the fan on the radiator and we place the 4 screws, nothing very complicated:

You must then place the fixing “plate” on the back of the motherboard (for Intel processors, as in my case):

At this stage we turn over the motherboard and we must have the screw threads of the back plate visible:

We then take these spacers (the others being for the 2011 socket):

They must be screwed like this (whatever the direction):

Now the turn of the waterblock, we put it on the processor:

To fix the waterblock, nothing could be simpler, we take the large nuts and just place them on the threaded rods, be careful to screw them in little by little and not all at once. For example, 3 turns on a nut, 3 turns on the diagonal one etc … until all are in place.

Now all you have to do is connect the various connectors to the motherboard, the USB connector to one of the USB 2.0 ports on the motherboard, the 3-pin connector on the motherboard and the fan plugs directly into the 4-pin cable of the motherboard. pump.
In summary, the assembly is not very complicated but you have to be careful to follow the procedure, a pity not to have a guide that is a little more complete.

NZXT highlights its CAM software (downloadable here) which allows on the one hand to control the Kraken X41 but also to see the different temperatures of the PC, and there is even a mobile application that will follow you everywhere and will give you the temperatures of your PC in real time! Let’s take a closer look at all of this:

Once installed we fall on the authentication screen, it will be possible to use an existing account, to create one or to use the “offline” mode, it goes without saying that if you want to use the application available on smartphone to see the temperatures of your PC an account will be required.

Once authenticated or in offline mode, we arrive on the home screen (“Dashboard” tab) where the temperatures of the processor and the graphics card are found, as well as the percentage of use of the latter. With the Kraken X41 installed (and connected to the USB port of the motherboard) a “Kraken” part appears and allows you to see the temperature of the liquid, the percentage of the fan speed as well as the rotations per minute of the pump and the fan. Likewise, it will be possible to change the cooling mode of the Kraken, namely “Silent” or “Performance” base.

The “Specs” tab, as its name suggests, offers an overview of the PC components as well as their characteristics (frequencies, “smart” for disks, motherboard chipset etc. etc.).

In the “Kraken” tab it will be possible to change the ventilation mode of the Kraken X41, “Silent”, “Performance”, “Manual” and finally custom ventilation profiles that will allow you to set the AIO water-cooling kit as good. seems to you. The color of the LED present on the waterblock is also modifiable here as well as the illumination mode, here are some examples of colors available:

In the “Settings” tab it will be possible to change the background image of the software, the language, the automatic start of the software, the notifications (load / temperature / RPM of the processor fan, the same for the graphics card, temperature disk etc …) as well as activate or deactivate the “overlay” of the software in your favorite games, see instead:

Now a quick look at the CAM software mobile app, the Android version in my case, component temperatures as well as graphics are part of the game, unfortunately it will not be possible to change the Kraken ventilation settings, see rather:

In the end, the CAM software is rather nice, rather pleasant to use, useful functions and the possibility of customizing the ventilation curve of the Kraken.

The test platform

The NZXT X41 has been tested on the configuration below:

• Processor : Intel Core i7 875K @ 3.2 Ghz
• Motherboard : Asus P7P55D
• Mémoire: Kingston HyperX 4 x 2 Go 1600Mhz
• Disque dur: WD Raptor 150 Go
• Graphics card : Sapphire Toxic 5850
• Power supply : Seasonic X650

The test protocol

The core i7 875K has been slightly overclocked to 3.2Ghz. The temperatures under load are an average of all the cores for 3 tests of 30 minutes on OCCT, the temperatures at rest were taken after 15mins on the desk (still an average of the 4 cores). All the tests will be done with the ventilator managed by the CAM software, once in “Silent” mode and once in “Performance” mode.

The AIO Watercooling kit has been tested against:

• Antec H20 1250 (tested here)
• Cooler Master Nepton 240M (tested here)
• Corsair H75 (tested here)
• Corsair H110i GT (tested here)
• Fractal Design Kelvin S36 (tested here)
• be quiet! Dark Rock 3 (tested here)
• be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 (tested here)
• be quiet! Pure Rock (tested here)
• Noctua NH-U14S (tested here)
• Noctua NH-D15 (tested here)

The temperatures

No problem for the Kraken X41 from NZXT, the processor is very well cooled and the performance is at the level of the Antec H2O 1250 and the Cooler Master Nepton 240M (which are equipped with 2 fans), it does better than the Corsair H75 but worse than the Corsair H110GT and Fractal Design Kelvin S36. Regarding the coolers, only the enormous Noctua NH-D15, NH-U14S and be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 can claim to do at least as well as the Kraken X41.
To summarize, the AIO kit from NZXT is really a very good student for a watercooling equipped with a 140 mm radiator, even if there is nothing surprising about it given the thickness of the latter which is more important than all the kits in the comparison.

Noise pollution

Warning: Part to be taken with a grain of salt, unfortunately not having access to the appropriate equipment and using an android application to take the readings The measurements below are only indicative! The readings were taken 15cm from the cooler.

As usual, the weak point of AIO water cooling kits is in terms of noise pollution, in “Performance” mode it is clear that the Kraken X41 and its 48 dB is really audible and will undoubtedly be one of the noisiest components. of the configuration. On the other hand once the “Silent” mode is activated it is particularly discreet, indeed with 34 dB it will be really soft for your ears even if not inaudible, but once in a box there is very little chance of distinguishing the Kraken X41. other fans except if the PC is really designed for silence.
Regarding the “quality” of the noise I would like to point out that the fan behaves really very well, no parasitic noise to deplore on the other hand the pump emits a very slight noise when you are near, like the very vast majority of commercial AIO water-cooling kits.

Here we are at the end of this test, what about the NZXT Kraken X41?
First of all it is clear that NZXT has chosen to offer an AIO kit of very high quality, both in terms of materials and finish, everything exudes quality and will certainly not disappoint in this area. . The radiator that equips the X41 is thicker than the majority of other AIO kits on the market with its 3.6cm and 14cm sides does not predestine it for use in all boxes (it will be necessary to have a location of 14 cm at the rear, or place it at the top of the case), on the other hand this results in performances which are really very good for this type of product.

In terms of noise pollution, you will have to choose between a “Performance” mode which, as its name suggests, does not take your ears into account and will therefore be rather noisy, a “Silent” mode which is particularly well suited for anyone looking for an excellent performance / noise ratio or even a customizable mode which will leave the user free of the ventilation curve.

NZXT highlights its CAM software which even if it will not replace software like Easytune (at Gigabyte) or AI Suite (at Asus) is very pleasant to use and will allow you to customize the ventilation curve of the Kraken X41 and the LED of the waterblock, the smartphone application of the same name is also a step in the direction of everything connected and will delight the most geeks among us.

The NZXT Kraken X41 is in the end a very good product and even if it is not perfect it will be able without the slightest problem to cool even the overclocked processor of a gamer config in a very appreciable silence (in “Silent” mode). The price of 99.99 € is rather high but the 6-year warranty gives it a significant plus.

Advantages

• Build quality
• Performances
• Silence (mode « Silent »)
• Very good quality fan

Disadvantages

• Noisy (“Performance” mode)
• Compulsory 14cm pitch
  • Price a bit high

A big thank you to NZXT who allowed me to do this test.

Where to find the NZXT Kraken X41?

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