EDITOR’S CHOICE
AWARD
NZXT Kraken X60
RRP: $137.99 | Website: www.nzxt.com
Test Machine
• INTEL Core i7 3770K
• GIGABYTE Z77X-UD4H (F2i)
• CORSAIR Dominator
Platinum 2x4GB DDR
2666MHZ CL10
• INTEL 335 240GB SSD
• Cooler Master Silent Pro M2
1500W
• Windows 7 64-bit SP1
I
t may come as a surprise
to you, that this is only the
2nd time in the history
of this magazine that we’ve
looked at a product from
NZXT. All the way back in
the February of 2011, when
the TheOverclocker 2.0 was
still in its infancy we looked
at the NZXT Phantom. At the
time it blew us away with its
beautiful design, keen pricing
and features. Since then, a
lot has happened in the DIY
market but this time we are
not looking at a case but the
now ubiquitous all in one
liquid cooling kit.
14 The OverClocker Issue 24 | 2013
Thus far, we’ve been
impressed by less than a
handful of such kits and
this is not because the vast
majority do not perform
well. To the contrary, they
are by and large very good at
keeping high temperatures
at bay. It’s mostly in the build
quality and elaborate setup
procedure where they fall
short. For us who change and
test hardware on a regular
basis, this just won’t do. For
most overclockers who are
binning CPUs on air quickly
before trying LN2, this is
equally annoying. Moreover
we have found many kits to
have back plates that have
mounting holes that simply
give out due to too much
pressure from repeated
installation and removal.
A line of products that have
been an exception to this
have been from CORSAIR.
The Hydro series has proved
to have the most robust
and easiest installation
mechanism we know off.
Thus, ever since the H100
and subsequently the H100i,
we’ve been impressed in all
respects with everything the
range offered.
The NZXT X60 then, was a
product we had heard great
things about but remained
unconvinced until we took
it for a spin ourselves.
We found that it’s nothing
short of a splendid water
cooler in almost all regards.
However, before we get into
what it does right, let us
highlight where there could
be improvements. First and
foremost, the fans on the
Kraken are loud. You can use
the software to turn down the
fan speed or even better buy
some aftermarket 140mm
fans, but for almost $140
you’d have expected them to
be a little quieter. They move
air very well; it’s just in the
acoustics department where
they fall short. Secondly,
the back plate issue is
present with the Kraken.
As experienced when we
looked at the Thermaltake
Water 2.0 PRO. It’s easy to