The NZXT Kraken Z63 & X73 AIO Cooler Review: Shiny On Top, Solid Underneath
by E. Fylladitakis on August 19, 2020 11:00 AM ESTConclusion
NZXT is in the business of designing and marketing unique products, both in terms of features and aesthetics. The new Kraken Z-3 series is a testament to those goals, as the versatility of the LCD screen opens up nearly endless possibilities for advanced users. However, the Z-3 is a very costly cooling solution and NZXT knows that it cannot compete in the mainstream market, which is why the company also offers the simpler Kraken X-3 series as well.
The X-3 series is for all practical purposes the same as the Z-3 series, just minus the LCD screen. Other than that, the fans, radiator, and main block assembly (including the pump), are all identical between the two series. As far as aesthetics are concerned, X-3 coolers still have RGB lighting and are compatible with the company’s CAM software. And more importantly for a crowded cooler market, they retail for significantly less than the Z-3 series coolers.
Aesthetics aside, the overall cooling performance of the X73 and Z63 coolers are very good. The X73 can deliver great thermal performance, but other products outpace it in terms of noise – including NZXT’s own Z63. In fact, in some respects the X63 actually outperforms the X73 if we're looking at the performance-to-noise ratio under typical loads. So although the larger X73 can ultimately deliver slightly better thermal performance, the significantly higher noise levels makes it a dubious choice unless the expected thermal load is going to be extraordinarily high. This leaves the more balanced Z63 (and presumably the X63 as well) as the better of the coolers in most situations.
Summing things up, we find that the NZXT Kraken X73 is a competitive product with good market potential. It performs very well overall, offers a great build quality, and looks sharp. Taking into account its performance, full set of features, and software support, at $180 it is a competitively-priced product. And while we didn't get a chance to look at the smaller, $150 X63, given the common architecture of NZXT's coolers, based on what we saw with the Z63, it may be the strongest of them all.
On the other hand, the NZXT Kraken Z63 (and the whole Z-3 series) finds itself at a very niche point in the market. The LCD definitely is a cool feature, but at $250 it nearly doubles the retail price of the cooler, a gap that's a bit much for something the majority of people will glance at but a few times during its entire lifespan. It might make sense as a real-time temperature/load indicator if the PC is positioned on a desk and in such a way that the motherboard is visible at all times by the user but, still, buyers are definitely paying a hefty premium for what's ultimately an aesthetic feature.
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whatthe123 - Wednesday, August 19, 2020 - link
arctic and EK have released non-asetek coolers recently and both of them outperform practically every asetek cooler on the market, especially in price. I don't think asetek rebrands are the only choice anymore as long as you can get your hands on a freezer 2 or ek drgb.edzieba - Thursday, August 20, 2020 - link
In the US, Asetek swings their legal muscle around to quash competition. Elsewhere in the world, there are plenty of other AIO designs available.jaggedcow - Wednesday, August 19, 2020 - link
Minor point but I found it odd how they were dinged for not including threadripper mounting then in the next paragraph the reviewer says it’s not designed for threadripper‘s die size and that they wouldn’t recommend using it with a threadripper CPU. So why are we dinging NZXT for not including mounting hardware for a CPU that this cooler isn’t designed for and a configuration that the reviewer themselves doesn’t recommend? If anything, including a TR4 mount would imply that it WAS designed to also cool that chip.Ryan Smith - Wednesday, August 19, 2020 - link
"So why are we dinging NZXT"To be sure, NZXT is not being dinged. We're just noting that while NZXT advertises these coolers as being able to work with Threadripper, they don't do so out of the box. (And even if they did have the part in the box, we wouldn't suggest it)
Machinus - Wednesday, August 19, 2020 - link
Ian, can you ebalorate on how usable the X73 is without having to use the CAM software? Can the fan and pump be controlled with typical BIOS headers?satai - Wednesday, August 19, 2020 - link
Is it better then high end air coolers?inighthawki - Wednesday, August 19, 2020 - link
The 360mm and 280mm radiator coolers tend to be give or take with high end air coolers, and generally cost more. The 240mm radiators are almost always worse, more expensive, and louder.The largest advantage of these is often not the improved temps, but how they mount in the case. The higher end air coolers tend to be extremely bulky and can have some difficulties fitting in smaller or more compact cases, or can have compatibility issues with ram depending on the ram height and motherboard layout.
Luminar - Wednesday, August 19, 2020 - link
Repeat after me: all water cooling solutions eventually leak.Lord of the Bored - Wednesday, August 19, 2020 - link
[citation needed]Spunjji - Thursday, August 20, 2020 - link
On a long enough timescale? Sure.Within the lifetime of one or even two system builds? No, not in my experience.
Can't comment for longer durations than that, as the oldest kit I've personally seen in service is about 7 years old now.