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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Foeketijn - Thursday, August 20, 2020 - link
As long as they keep using aluminium fins, my feeling is, they do not take their customers seriously. It's just a couple of grams extra weight and maybe a buck higher BOM. But it would make it stand out between the competitors. And still nobody bothers. Except Swiftech a long time ago (but got burned by some patent infringement) and some other small player that never came available (EWK maybe?)Guspaz - Thursday, August 20, 2020 - link
Aluminum fins as opposed to what, copper? Copper is expensive and heavy, and should be used sparingly where it can make the most difference.Freakie - Thursday, August 20, 2020 - link
I recently went shopping for a AIO and stayed faaaaar away from NZXT for a few reasons. First, no ARGB fans for their already high price. If you want ARGB fans, you have to buy separate ones adding to the already high cost compared to everything else in the market. Second, their connectors for their ARGB (on the waterblock) is proprietary and if you want to convert them to a non-proprietary connector so that you don't have to use (and BUY) NZXT's proprietary ARGB controller, you have to pay at least $15 to get a special converter to do so.You wind up spending $80 more to get the same experience as other products and it's just ridiculous. And of course their CAM software has it's own host of problems. Every time GN gets an NZXT review unit, they update on the latest on CAM's woes.
back2future - Saturday, August 22, 2020 - link
thx for words of wisdom, (o)fme it should be said, that there is (generally spoken) a difference between trust and support. Technically, if a cooling system for cpu was at high cost only to enhance for chipset or gpu cooling, there's not that much reason advertising this to mass markets (for liquid cooling enthusiasts)?(btw for common knowledge: Some 'new' (destructive to freedom) www attitudes appearing in some fields?
fast examples selected randomly:
"We care about your privacy"
"Non-precise means only an approximate location involving at least a radius of 500 meters is permitted."
or
"To measure content performance vendors can:
* Measure and report on how content was delivered to and interacted with by users.")
hubick - Thursday, August 20, 2020 - link
I have an X73 for my 3960X in a Define 7 case. The stock fans were nice and quiet, but I didn't feel pushed enough air when flat out at 100%, so I replaced them with six Corsair ML120's in push+pull, blowing out the front of the case (have 240mm AIO GPU up top). My 3960X, nailed at 100% in Aida64 long term, settles at 84 degrees Celsius (motherboard temp, package bounces around about 10 degrees higher). It feels like the round cooling plate only covers about 60-70% of the Threadripper - which I read supposedly doesn't matter that much, but yeah.KorbenD - Friday, August 21, 2020 - link
If the CAM software wasnt's so bad... It runs 9 processes to monitor, uses over 1GB of RAM. And it causes systems to freeze randomly (had now 5 other people replying to me that they had the same symptoms). Never a NZXT product that requires CAM, never again.silencer12 - Friday, August 21, 2020 - link
I think there are other unofficial cam alternatives. There was some developer who made software in python which can monitor nzxt liquid cooling.silencer12 - Friday, August 21, 2020 - link
I forget the name of it though. I found out about it last yearTom Sunday - Saturday, August 22, 2020 - link
I just had my all new super PC purchase including a CDROM and with a high quality 'Thermaltake Gravity' cooler build by a local strip-center shop for under $850. Money for the man on the street is tight and I can't afford to play games.They said that AIO water-cooler purchases only applies to less than 15% of all customers and that less than 2% of them are actually attempting to overclocking their PC's! Moreover that 80% of AIO purchasers have been let to believe (or scared) into that AIO's is the only right answer. Perhaps marketing and ultra high profit margins at work? Furthermore that the total motherboard market represents up to 90% of mainstream boards actually purchased ($90-$120) and which generally do not overclock. I am not good with numbers and marketing and many other things so what do I know? But listening to the geek-team from Bangladesh I inherently know something is not cool!seamonkey79 - Sunday, August 23, 2020 - link
This is as stupid as that $300 B550 board.