7.1.2019

For my first ever PC build I wanted an AIO Liquid Cooler that looked great but also performed with minimal noise. Having bought the NZXT S340 Elite Case I wanted to match it with similar hardware - mainly for astherics reasons. I was originally looking in the market for a standard air cooler but since I've purchased the i5 8600k and planned to overclock it, I knew I needed something better to keep the temps down as well as the noise. I can assure you this exceeded my expectations. My CPU temps at idle hovers around 25c-30c and when playing games it never exceeded 60c after playing for a couple of hours. Using the CAM software I applied my own custom profile and never looked back.There are about 4 presets available for the pump and fan. But I wanted full control on the temps so decided to apply my own custom profile which personally for me was a better option but the presets are good enough if your not planning to overclock especially at 5ghz. With all that being said, I did come across one or two problems. One of which involves the screws or thumb screws that locks the cooler block to the motherboard in place. The screws themselves weren't the problem its mainly the fact that they all (almost) look identical from one another. This could be just me, but trying to find the correct one was a struggle. It took me over an hour to realise I've been trying to put the wrong screws in. Eventually, when I found the correct one it was a breath of fresh air as it was a simple installation from then on. Now for the other problem, it doesn't necessarily involve the hardware itself but the software. The CAM Software is a love and hate relationship. When it works it's amazing, but when it doesn't your left with a white light and the ring is stuck on a constant loop. In worst situations, it doesn't even detect the Kraken X62!! Which means you can't even do any sort of customisation with the lights, fan/pump profile or even see the temps. As far as I know, there aren't any real solutions other than restarting or reinstalling the software or restarting your PC. In most cases this fixes the issue but sometimes you have to restart multiple times for it to detect it if your lucky. Although this doesn't happen often however it can be frustrating having to restart or reinstall the software when it does. NZXT really needs to fix their buggy software. But don't let this out you off, even though it can be annoying when it works it's great. The amount of customisations available with the lights etc are one of the best I've seen. That's if your into RGB which you should be if your thinking of getting this cooler as its one of its selling point. Overall, the Kraken X62 has a great high quality design combined with various customisations that are subjective cause some of the lighting modes I don't use but that's just me. I like to have a minimilistic setup so I only use one or two modes that are applicable to me but the other modes are great also. The only thing that's letting it down really is the software as it can be buggy at times. But other than that, this is a fantastic cooler. Highly recommend for anyone who loves RGB and customisations and a cooler that operates quietly while keeping CPU temps at a minimum.PS. The software is the only thing that's stopping me from giving this otherwise great Cooler a 5/5 stars.

21.12.2019

So you'll see I gave this 5 out of 5 - that is a score purely for the performance. Quite simply it's the best AIO around. You can't beat the performance this thing gives. I get 5GHz OC on 9600K idling at barely 30C and under non AVX Prime 95 it's 70C. AVX is unecessary - no point proving your car can carry a jumbo jet 24/7.So for the pure performance it's superb. And that's what I bought it for. That and the noise levels.Ok, here's where it gets more complex. The fans aren't the quietest around - they give 2000RPM at full blast and they sure tell you about it. 3x120MM (x72 version) and they're not built for absolute silence,

31.5.2020

My first foray in to water cooling. The best configuration for my case was a 280mm radiator and I was going for a quite 'colourful' build so I decided on this as it had got good, solid reviews.Fairly easy to fit for a first-timer with the most fiddly bit being that the pipes are quite stiff to move about.The fans can be quite loud when spun right up and the pump itself also generates a bit of electronic-type noise, so it's advisable to play around with the fan and pump profile using the CAM software to only have everything really spin up when required. I have custom profiles set up so that everything is almost silent for general use but when gaming the pump goes up to max and the fans around 60-70%.

2.7.2018

Fantastic AIO cooler with pretty rgb on the pump head to boot, it loves hot processsors like the i7 8700k and tames the beast of chip even when overclocked.This by far is the best cooler i have ever purchased and although it is slightly more compilcated to fit requiring a free onboard USB2 header and plugging one lead into a spare sata power lead it is well worth the time and money.One thing to note if you are using the intel backplate is that it fits quite loosely and this had me scratching my head a to why? it turns out it is supposed to be like that and when the pump head is fitted it tightens up the slack. This is the only time I have encountered this situation as all other brackets (Intel or AMD)

1.1.2020

I bought this for my very first PC build and had been using it for about a month or so. So first the pros. It's very quiet. Compared to my ps4 which sounds like a jet engine, this cooler keeps my processor cool without it sounding like it's about to explode. The radiator part of the installation is very simple however installing the pump was a pain which I'll get into once I get to the cons. Lastly, the material of the cooler feels very nice. I don't have much to say about it but it doesn't feel cheap. Now for the cons which isn't much but I will say that it can be a pain to install the pump. Now I use an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 so I had to switch from the Intel bracket to the AMD bracket.

25.2.2020

To get straight to the point, if the kraken has too much air in the pump when you switch on the system, your CPU will overheat. Let me elaborate.The Kraken is a closed loop liquid cooler, and you cannot let air in or bleed it out. THAT BEING SAID there is always a small amount of air inside, and if the air bubbles all congregate inside the pump housing it can heavily impede water flow, and your CPU will reach boiling point- not helpful when it relies on water to cool it!The instructions do not warn you of this or provide any instructions to avoid it, so here’s mine-Lay the radiator on top of your PC for several minutes after attaching the pump to the CPU bracket.

10.5.2019

I had a Corsair H100 before but the bearings went, i moved over to air CPU cooler and that couldn't handle and mediocre OC i had so i thought sod it Get the Kraken X62 and hope the fixes it, And oh boy it doesn't disappoint. It's expensive but now i can game again no problem, temperatures are decent, It's very quiet, looks wonderful and so far so good. I did read some units had problems i hope i got a good one (not too worried though as it has a 6-year warranty!)... But if there are problems i will be back to amend my review.. If there's no amendments it's a goodun! 5 out of 5 rating.EDIT: The software side has some niggles...Having to online login before the CAM fan controller software starts,

6.1.2019

Let me start by saying I absolutely do not NEED this cooler. I have an i5-4460 so an AIO is completely overkill for me.However, the design sold this to me. The lighting effects which can be configured within NZXT's CAM software are nothing less than amazing. This product has completely transformed the look of my system.On idle, with the fans running about 20% speed, I average around 28-30 degrees Celsius after around an hour running. In intensive tasks, temps never increase by more than 5/10 degrees.One thing I was uncertain about before I purchased this product: the noise. I don't have an overly powerful rig so being silent is quite important for me. Nevertheless,

16.4.2019

Well I wasn't looking forward to replacing my liquid cooler but I have to say it went in very easily. The radiator is thinner than my previous one (Enermax) and that alone makes it easier. Even the heat conducting paste is pre-applied so no problems with that either. And once fitted, the cooling seems more effective than the Enermax too, even though the plate is a little smaller than the die on my CPU (Threadripper 1950). It's early days in terms of reliability, but other than that this is a very good buy. PS I've seen adverse comments on the web about problems with the NZXT-supplied control software but I'm not using that because I'm not interested in LED lighting etc.

10.1.2020

Picked up the Kraken X62 AIO Cooler for Intel's i9 9900KS processor. It's job is to regulate the CPU temperature in a newly built Video Editing PC build. The radiator was super easy to mount to the front of NZXT's H510 Elite case providing adequate airflow with the included intake fans as standard. The CPU temperatures remain at roughly room temperatures during office and web browsing, mid 40's while Editing 4K footage with Premiere Pro, Playing Battlefield V, Call of Duty MW, and 55C MAX at 100% utilisation with PRIME95. The cooler block features RGB lighting which can be controlled via NZXT's App. The cooler block and back plate is also very simple to install onto a motherboard of your choice.

14.1.2020

Very easy to install and looks great. CAMs which is the software offered by NZXT to manage this pump does the job but could be better. An important thing to note is that it only works on Windows but you can search for an open source AIO controller instead on MacOS or Linux.On first boot I've heard the pump can be a little noisy however I didn't find that and it had been more or less silent whilst in operation. I've set a custom curve so the pump doesn't go above 90% and I've never had a CPU temp above 70°.The only gripe I have with this is there is no onboard memory to store the LED colour and effect state which means you have to wait until the controller has loaded before your custom colours show.

22.8.2018

Was told item had damage, hence the much lower price (like £50/60 cheaper) from Amazon Warehouse. Had a deep scratch on the radiator mounting point (so unnoticeable on installation) and a couple of light scratches on the pump itself. For the fact it was £50 cheaper, I'm not complaining at all!Installation was super easy for me on an AM4 socket. The screws for the rad/fans are domed however and make putting my case panel on somewhat difficult (Thermaltake Core V21).Other than that, brilliant AIO, that reduced my temps massively.Going to uninstall this weekend and replace the paste with some Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut and see if I can get even lower than my current 35*C idle temps.

21.5.2020

Just absolutely no faults to mention if I'm being honest. Outstanding Watercooling performance while not looking like an eyesore. Setup is overall very easy but is definitely different to more commonly used coolers such as Corsair.However that isn't a fault of the product more just something to be aware of when going to install the Cooler. I highly recommend if you are to buy this cooler to pair it with an NZXT case as from my experience it cut the installation time almost in half! there is one tiny tiny downside is that the cooler is by no means silent but that's not to say its loud either. I personally enjoy the sound but I can see why it would be a deterrent for some people...

12.9.2018

This is a very strong product with both cooling and noise in mind.Pros:• Software is very straight forward so fan control,lighting,monitoring and Overlay are all in a single program.• The instructions provided are very simple and are mostly picture based to allow the user to find correct parts etc.Cons:• You need a generic backplate (one that comes with the motherboard) ~ (I had a water cooler on already which had a 3rd part mount so I needed to order a new one on amazon.)• The software can interfere with other programs such as MSI Afterburner. Meaning The graphics card will randomly boost fan speed at any point as it is based on the Proccessor Temperature.

7.6.2018

This AIO is very good for the money, build quality is superb and cooling performance is excellent. But not without its flaws.The unit is connected to the main CPU fan header on the board and set to 100% in the bios and included fans were connected to the included splitter.The pump was making a very annoying ticking/vibration during post and windows install, it only went away after installing CAM, the moment the program was installed the pump went super quiet, I set the pump speed to a fixed 100% inside of CAM and turned off the LED's.The proprietary CAM software is horrible, luckily it saves settings to the device itself so after setup you can uninstall cam.

NZXT Kraken X42 V2 (RL-KRX42-02) - Reviews

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