Review: NZXT Kraken X63 liquid cooler

Discussion in 'Frontpage news' started by Hilbert Hagedoorn, Mar 10, 2020.

  1. Hilbert Hagedoorn

    Hilbert Hagedoorn Don Vito Corleone Staff Member

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    NZXT updated its Kraken series to revision 3, in this review we test the new X63 Series Liquid cooler. An AIO LCS liquid CPU cooler for cases with 280 mm radiator mounts. This updated revision CPU coo...

    Review: NZXT Kraken X63 liquid cooler
     
  2. Ricepudding

    Ricepudding Master Guru

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    Everytime I see a water cooler i think, i want one. but often get worried about it breaking, spilling or worse. anyone know a place that keeps track of this stuff? like the ones we get for hard drive failures?
     
  3. NCC1701D

    NCC1701D Master Guru

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    I feel kinda the same way. My gut tells me that if at install time, nothing is damaged connection/pipe wise, you should be fine. I've always been more concerned with the pump going out down the road, so I just roll with air coolers for longevity's sake. Never had one though. Would be interested to hear from others if leaks sprung up over time.
     
  4. Ricepudding

    Ricepudding Master Guru

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    It would be good to know if say NZXT had 2% failure in a year or if corsair had 1% failure in a year... stuff like that... I've always had air coolers and had one for almost a decade and still working perfectly fine.

    My big worry is the water dropping on the GPU or PSU, makes me want those reverse cases, where CPU as at the bottom and GPU and PSU at the top, kind of gets rid of that issue haha! Thankfully although the D-15 is not as good, it show tries to keep up
     

  5. reflex75

    reflex75 Guest

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    So buying X62 is still a better option (same performance) because X63 has lost the fan control capability!
    Bad move from NZXT who force to buy their additional hub (40$) or Z63 series (250$) to fully take control of both pump and fans in their CAM software...
     
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  6. fry178

    fry178 Ancient Guru

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    @Ricepudding/NCC1701D
    one reason i wont spend more than 100 for those Asetek based units.
    flimsy mounting of the hoses (rad/pump), that i've seen break just from shipping,
    and relatively short pump life.

    Something like the Arctic/Alphacool/EK AIO (eisbaer/predator etc) arent based on asetek,
    and come with (more powerful as well) pumps designed by the companies, usually can be regulated (pump),
    have regular G1/4 connectors (meaning i can replace single parts, not throw out the whole unit),
    and most allow you to add/upgrade the loop.
    prices are similar (100-150) for arctic/alpha, but even if a bit more, completely worth it ( i can see fluid levels/refill/flush)

    completely ignoring the fact that the best air cooler will still have a down side:
    dumping the cpu heat inside the case, getting other components to be hot as well (even if not by themself),
    and reducing gpu boost locks (massively; e.g. starts at +40C for NV).

    Or, if you dont care about things, get a corsair (almost all come with a 5y warranty),
    and if the AIO leaks/fails, your whole pc is covered.
     
  7. Rich_Guy

    Rich_Guy Ancient Guru

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    The CAM software put me off the x62 (as when i was going to buy, i heard about it not working on Win 10, or it had problems on it at the time), so i went for the Corsair H100i RGB Platinum, and luckily, no problems with it, or the iCUE.
     
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  8. Ricepudding

    Ricepudding Master Guru

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    If corsair do that, i might have to check one out since you have that level of cover, I'm in the north in the UK, so heat is never an issue far to cold.

    I used to worry about how heavy CPU coolers where, but good motherboards are made very well and rock solid. i'd just love a bit of extra headroom for either overclocking or keeping the system even cooler

    thanks for the help/advice
     
  9. reflex75

    reflex75 Guest

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    There is an error in the comparative overview graph where the X62 is drawn twice.
     
  10. Calmmo

    Calmmo Guest

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    I did consider the 62 once but ultimately I just didnt want their cam-ware on my system. Corsair's software is only needed to configure settings and everything just runs without it using onboard memory/profiles
     

  11. barbacot

    barbacot Master Guru

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    I have an nzxt X72 for about 9 months, no issues so far, software running in guest mode so no data sent, settings saved no issues on win10 pro - I worked with it only at the first install and from there on I forgot about it...
    Some people have bad experiences with a product but this does not mean that all of them have issues.
    You can search the net and see also Corsair AIO's leaking or pomp malfunction after a short period of time.
    This is the problem with all AIO's - they could leak...problems of bad manufacturing, bad luck, user interference, etc...
    If you don't feel comfortable with this just buy a solid air cooler with a good ventilation case.
     
  12. Hilbert Hagedoorn

    Hilbert Hagedoorn Don Vito Corleone Staff Member

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    Thanks for bringing that to my attention. The data was correct (red line), however, it had an X62 label. That chart has been updated.
     
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  13. Equinoxe

    Equinoxe Master Guru

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    I used a Kraken X60 for 2 years untill the pump started smoking.
     
  14. fry178

    fry178 Ancient Guru

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    Leaks are less common, than those high quality asetek designed pumps failing.
    One reason i dont care about the warranty anymore (corsair), and use arctic (for others, cause of cost),
    and predator/eisbär for my own/friends builds.
     
  15. Venix

    Venix Ancient Guru

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    I still prefer a good old aircooler less points of failure, the consern is not the warranty as much but the downtime and trouble , they look nice though.
     
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  16. Gomez Addams

    Gomez Addams Master Guru

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    I have been thinking about this for a while and seems that one of the issues most of controllers have is they use CPU cycles. When the processor works the hardest the fan controllers need to be the most "attentive" and that costs even more CPU cycles when they are least available.

    I think the answer to this problem is to off-load the fan control task to a separate controller. A Raspberry Pi or equivalent can do the job. Then the only issue will be getting temperature data to the controller and that is fairly easy to solve. If the temperature interface is strictly hardware then the fan controller can be completely independent of the computer and thus it would use zero CPU cycles regardless of what either of them are doing. You could mount the fan controller in the computer case just like a little card reader or DVD drive and have a small display on the front. It shouldn't cost very much either since you can get a RPi for around forty bucks and they have a few analog inputs built in.
     

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