White Watercooling Ceiling?NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB All-in-One Watercooling Unboxing Review

The new NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB all-in-one water cooler has been updated with the NZXT Turbine water pump solution, this time increasing the water cooler head's small screen to 2.72 inches with 640×640 resolution and 60 Hz update rate, the included water cooler fan uses the all-in-one molded NZXT F360 RGB Core, and through a single tap cable, the whole process is extremely simple. The whole process of wiring is extremely simplified, and this time it is also paired with the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Processor and NZXT N9 X870E The motherboard was tested.

NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB All-in-one water-cooled specification:

Intel Feet: LGA 1851 / 1700 / 1200 / 115x
AMD feet: AM5 / AM4
Maximum pump speed: 2800 ± 300 RPM
Water cooling head size: Ø 93.5 x 65 mm
Water-cooling head contact surface: copper
Cold Head Power Supply: 3-Pin, USB 9-Pin, SATA
Water-cooling drain size: 401 x 120 x 27 mm
Water Cooler Material: Aluminum
Water-cooled tube length: 420 mm
Using Fan: NZXT F360 RGB Core
Fan size: 360 x 120 x 26 mm
Maximum RPM: 2400 ± 250 RPM
Maximum airflow: 75.12 CFM
Maximum wind pressure: 3.3 mmH₂O
Fan Power Supply: NZXT 8-PIN RGB
Includes heat-reducing ointment: pre-applied to water-cooled heads.
Warranty: Taiwan 7-Year 100% Equivalent Compensation Leakage Warranty

NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB All-in-One Water Cooling Unboxing

This unboxing is the new NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB all-in-one water cooling, unlike the old NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB(2023) which used the asetek solution, the new generation of NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB no longer uses the asetek but uses the new solution, but I still didn't ask which water cooling solution is used. But I still didn't ask which water cooling solution it is.

The naming of the NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB is still the same, while the old model is labeled with the new 2023. Apart from the naming, you can also identify the new and old models by the shape of the water cooling head and the matching fan, but wouldn't it be simpler to use the new naming...

In addition to the white 360mm RGB model that I have brought to you this time, the NZXT Kraken Elite series is also available in black, 240mm, 280mm, and matte, with a variety of variants to choose from.

∆ NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB white model one-piece water cooling.

∆ Water-cooled Key Features.

∆ Water-cooling specifications and a list of related included contents.

∆ Featured Text Lecture.

 

The new version of NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB uses a custom-designed NZXT Turbine water pump with a maximum speed of 2800 ± 300 RPM, and according to the official website, it is claimed that the cooling performance can be increased by 10%. However, apart from the update of the pump, the changes of the water-cooling head display and the single tap cable are what make the author interested in the new version. But apart from the updated water pump program, the changes to the display screen and the single tap cable of the water cooling head are what interested me.

In addition to the all-in-one watercooling body, the fan has also been replaced with an all-in-one NZXT F360 RGB Core fan that connects directly to the watercooler's tapped cable, eliminating the need to pull it to the motherboard or to an additional adapter to use the controller.

The ∆ water-cooled body is used with the NZXT F360 RGB Core fan, which is unfortunately not pre-locked on.

∆ Water-cooling tube length 420 mm.

 

The round water-cooling head measures 93.5 mm in diameter, 65 mm in height, and is equipped with a 69 mm 2.72-inch IPS 60Hz display with a resolution of 640 x 640 pixels, which can be customized through the NZXT CAM software, allowing you to set up GIFs, pictures, videos, hardware monitoring information, and other display screens.

The official recommendation is to install the water-cooling tubes facing downwards, and the reason given by the official is that this way of installing the top-mounted water-cooling tubes will be better for the tubes to go through, so the author will also install the tubes in this way in order to test it out in real life.

The ∆ water cooler has a diameter of Ø 93.5 mm, a height of 65 mm and a small 2.72-inch screen.

∆ Water-cooled pipe joints are shown.

∆The copper base is protected by a plastic blister.

∆ Copper base pre-coated with heat dissipating paste.

 

The size of the water-cooling manifold is 401 x 120 x 27 mm, which is a common single-wave water-cooling manifold with a thickness of 27 mm. However, there is a slot at the interface between the water-cooling manifold and water-cooling tubes, which should be used with the tapping cable in the water-cooling fittings, which means that the whole water-cooling operation is centered through this side, so that the water-cooling head doesn't need to pull the cable to the motherboard because it is connected to the motherboard through this slot. The water-cooled header does not need to pull the cable to the motherboard because it is connected to the motherboard through this slot, and the water-cooled exhaust fan is also connected to this slot and the tap cable for control.

∆ 27 mm thick water-cooled rows.

∆ Water-cooled platoon display.

∆ Single-wave water-cooled rows.

∆ Location where the water-cooled tap wire is to be installed.

 

NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB All-in-One Water Cooling comes with the NZXT F360 RGB Core water cooling exhaust fan, the entire fan is presented as an all-in-one structure that only requires four screws to be locked, the fan size is 360 x 120 x 26 mm with a maximum speed of 2400 ± 250 RPM, featuring a maximum airflow of 75.12 CFM; the maximum air pressure is 3.3 mmH₂O, and the maximum air pressure is 3.3 mmH₂O. Maximum airflow is 75.12 CFM and maximum air pressure is 3.3 mmH₂O.

∆ Water-cooling fan is NZXT F360 RGB Core.

∆ One-piece molding for easy installation.

∆Water-cooled fans use the NZXT 8-PIN specification.

∆ Schematic diagram of fan mounted on water-cooled tap-changer.

 

The water-cooling box comes with the following accessories: special fan cables, various fasteners, twelve long screws, twelve short screws for water-cooling rows, but unfortunately, there is no extra thermal paste, so if you want to update the thermal paste in the future, you will need to purchase extra by yourself, which is a pity.

∆ Accessories at a glance.

∆The list of connectors that can be turned out by the special tap cable, 3-Pin to be connected to the CPU FAN of the motherboard to avoid BIOS self-test error, USB 2.0 9-PIN to be connected to the motherboard, SATA power supply to be connected to the cable of the power module, and NZXT 8-PIN to be connected to the water-cooling fan of the NZXT F360 RGB Core.

∆ Sample of tap wire mounted on a water-cooled drain.

 

NZXT CAM Software Water Cooling Setup Introduction

NZXT CAM includes hardware monitoring, system specification view, lighting effect setting, etc. All kinds of functions are integrated in the software. The NZXT N9 motherboard is equipped with NZXT 8-PIN and NZXT RGB slots which can be connected to other NZXT products, including fans, fan hubs, and integrated water coolers, etc., which can be synchronized with the motherboard lighting effect. The motherboard lighting is synchronized with the NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB water cooler, and the display and speed settings are also configured by this software.

The ∆ NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB is recognized individually and can be set up in three places in the exterior section.

∆ The first one is the display screen of the water-cooling screen. In the hardware monitoring mode, you can set the background, text color, and the source of monitoring.

∆ can also be configured to display pictures, GIFs, clocks, or overlay single, dual, or triple hardware monitoring information.

∆ can also be played back using the built-in movie or in multiple mode rotation.

∆ The second ring is the RGB bead setting on the outer ring of the water-cooled screen.

∆ Ring light effect (I).

∆ Ring light effect (II).

∆ Lighting settings for the water-cooled fan NZXT F360 RGB Core.

∆Water-cooling speed setting must be set by NZXT CAM, and cannot be set by BIOS.

 

NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB Watercooler and Fan Lighting Showcase

∆ Water-cooled head screen effect demonstration.

∆ Fan light effect display.

The ∆ F360 RGB Core also has a light bar on the side, but it has a distinct phase gradient, so I hope NZXT can improve this part in the future.

 

NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB All-in-One Watercooling Cooling Performance Measurement

This time, the NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB was installed on a barebones testing platform with the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Processor and NZXT N9 X870E During the test, all fan slots were set to run at full speed in the motherboard's BIOS and software, only memory profile 1 was turned on and the rest were left at the default setting without any additional processor overclocking, the test scenario was a closed room in Taipei, Taiwan at 24°C. The ambient temperature of a normal room is difficult to control so it is only used for reference.

We used AIDA64 FPU testing to simulate temperature data under extreme load conditions, and HWiNFO64 to collect and record the maximum temperature and power consumption of the CPU package.

Testing Platform

Processor:AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D (PBO Auto)
Cooler: NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB (Full Speed)
Thermal paste: Water-cooled pre-coated thermal paste
Motherboard:NZXT N9 X870E (BIOS version: 3.20)
Memory: XPG LANCER RGB DDR5 8000MT/s 2X 24GB CL 40-48-48-128 1.45V
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Founders Edition 8GB
Operating System: Windows 11 Professional 24H2
Power supply:MONTECH TITAN PLA 1000W
Case: STREACOM BC1 Benchtable V2
Graphics driver: GeForce Game Ready 572.83

I updated the BIOS version of my motherboard to version 3.20 and tested it with the default settings of this motherboard, the remaining settings: XMP_on, all fan slots speed_full.

After fifty minutes of AIDA64 FPU under PBO Auto, the maximum CPU (Tctl/Tdie) temperature came to 66.8 °C; the CPU package power consumption was 177 W and the CPU temperature was 56 °C maximum.

• AIDA64 FPU_50 Minute
• CPU temperature is measured by the diode in the slot to measure the internal (core) or external (case) temperature, but there is no way to know exactly whether it is the internal or external temperature that is measured, and most monitoring software uses this item to display the CPU temperature.
• CPU (Tctl/Tdie) temperature is the actual maximum temperature of the CPU sensor in the chip.

∆ Thermal performance.

 

Conclusion

This is an unboxing of the NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB all-in-one water cooler with the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Processor and NZXT N9 X870E The motherboard was tested in the AIDA64 FPU Stress Test with PBO Auto and was able to keep the 9950X3D at a very good temperature with a maximum of 66.8°C. The motherboard was also able to keep the AIDA64 FPU Stress Test with PBO Auto and the AIDA64 FPU Stress Test with PBO Auto.

The Ø 69 mm 2.72-inch IPS 60Hz small screen has a larger display area than the previous NZXT water-cooled display, and the image and color display is still quite good, so gamers can customize the display according to what they want to display with the NZXT CAM software.

Water-cooled installation of all wires will be unified by the water-cooling row on the special slot, with tap cable to connect the motherboard, power supply, fans, water-cooled head and fans do not have to connect to the slot on the motherboard, in the whole line will be more convenient, especially the water-cooled head end of the line, so that the visual is very clean and comfortable.

This water cooling system requires NZXT CAM software to set the water cooling speed, which may not be familiar to PC DIY users who are used to the BIOS setting for water cooling.

All-in-one water-cooled products consumers are most concerned about the warranty part of the Taiwan sales channel to seven years of liquid leakage damage compensation, and will not be discounted because of the years of use and compensation, which undoubtedly give players worried about water-cooled liquid leakage risk of a strong heart.