NZXT Kraken X41 Review

The Build

Fitting the X41 into your case is a pretty simple affair, especially once you’ve discarded the paper instructions and had a good look at the online animations.  As we saw when we looked at the contents, NZXT provide fittings for a wide range of AMD and Intel Chips, with the process being essentially the same but necessitating the use of varying brackets etc.  As we’re fitting the X41 into our trusty 2011 heatsink test case there’s no need for us to go fannying around with back plates, simply screw the four stand-offs into the mobo holes and offer up the contact plate replete with the appropriate AMD or Intel mounting bracket.  The bracket is then simply screwed down with four thumb bolts and tightened with a cross head screw driver holding it firmly in place.

     

 

Having a longer length of tubing offers a greater degree of flexibility of mounting, but at the same time can cause you to have just a little too much to play with inside the case.  At 400mm NZXT seem to have it about right, enabling us to find the X41 a variety of homes around the case, seen below for illustrative purposes.

     

 

We found that the mounting position didn’t really affect the temps more than a fraction of a degree, so where you choose to put the Kraken will largely be determined by aesthetics as well as the limitations and practicalities of your chosen case.  We are of course using our usual Cooler Master “Test Trooper” as we do for all heatsink testing.  As you can see from the images below, it’s also entirely possible to route all those pesky cables well out of the reach of the critical eye.

         

 

Before we move onto testing let’s take a moment to admire the new RGB lNZXT logo on the cold head pump assembly.  We’ve shown a sample of colours below, but being RGB you can quite literally pick any colour you wish.