NZXT Kraken X61 Review
Category : Watercooling
Published by Marc Büchel on 20.05.15
With the Kraken X61, NZXT has an all-in-one watercooler in its portfolio, which comes with the a rather slim radiator and two 140 millimeter fans. At a first glance the design is looking good while you get a black radiator and fans with white rotor. Overall we're now curious to find out what this cooler can do in terms of cooling and noise levels.
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Articolo in italiano |
After the Kraken X31 today we're taking a look at the bigger brother: the NZXT Kraken X61 liquid
cooling system, which, according to NZXT, should be compatible even with
small cases and tighter spaces, due to a 27mm slim dual-radiuator. Apart from that there are kink-resistant tubes,
which allows for tight routing even in very small cases. Overall this cooler is
well made and with its black and white color scheme it's easy to integrate into
the design scheme of lots of builds. The bundle includes two 140mm PWM fans with
white wings and black frame. The mounting system supports most, if not all, recent Intel and AMD socket CPUs.
If you wonder which company is actually the OEM behind this cooler, then we can
tell you that this is a typical closed-loop cooler from Asetek.
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As you can see from the picture manufacturing quality of the Kraken X61 is on the level it should be. The radiator itself has been made from aluminium and there are the usual flat pipes, which increase surface area. The cooling block features a copper base-plate with pre-applied thermal compound. To be a bit more precise the dimensions of the Kraken X61 are 280mm x 27mm x 140mm (WxHxD). According to the specifications NZXT equipped the Kraken X61 with two high RPM fans, which rotate with up to 3600 RPM. In the case of the sample we received we measured a maximum fan speed of almost 1'980 RPM when set 12V, which is quite a bit less. But honestly, we're not unhappy to find a slower rotating fan in the delivery, since otherwise this cooler would be very noisy.
Specifications |
|
| Model |
Kraken X61 |
| Type | AIO WaterCooler |
| Dimensions | 280 x 27 x 140 mm (WxHxD) |
| Weight | n/a |
| Provided Fan(s) | 2 x 140x25mm PWM (2400-3600 ± 150 RPM) |
| Supported Fan(s) | 4 x 140mm |
| Base Material | Copper |
| Radiator Material | Aluminium |
| Tube | Rubber Tubing |
| Socket Support | Intel LGA 1150, 1155, 1156, LGA 1366,
2011 AMD AM2(+), AM3(+), FM1, FM2, FM2+ |
| Thermal compound | Pre-applied |
| Warranty | 6 Years |
| Product Page | Kraken X61 |
The packaging is quite standard for an all-in-one water cooling system. Alongside the AIO unit you receive two fans, a manual and mounting kits. NZXT bundles the Kraken X61 with two mounting kits, one for AMD and one for Intel-based systems, as well as a backplate is used for Intel sockets. NZXT Kraken X61 is not compatible only with the old Intel socket LGA775. If anything should break down with the Kraken X61 AIO water cooler you get a warranty that covers such event for a whopping six years.
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Photo Gallery
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Installation
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The installation procedure is quite easy and practical. It is pretty much self explanatory and everything is clearly explained in the manual, so it should not be a problem even for less experienced users. The design is not completely tool-less as you will still need a screwdriver in order to mount the fans and the waterblock. The pressure on the CPU is good and since the base/pump unit comes with a low profile design, there shouldn't be any clearance issues as even tubing can be moved in any direction without the need to worry out blockage or leaking.
Test Setup |
|
| Cooler |
|
| Mainboard | ASUS Z87-Deluxe (BIOS 1602) |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-4770K Stock (Turbo On / HT On) |
| Memory | ADATA XPG V2 2x4GB DDR3-2800 CL12 1.65V |
| Video | Intel HD Graphics 4600 |
| Software |
Windows 7 x64 wPrime Benchmark v2.10 CPUID HWMonitor 1.24.0 |
| PSU | Seasonic Platinum SS-660XP2 |
| Fan Controller | Lamptron FC5 V3 |
| Thermal Compound | Pre-applied |
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Absolute Performance
Temperatures
| 7V | Idle | Load |
| Deepcool Captain 360 | 31 °C | 50 °C |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S36 | 31 °C | 50 °C |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 32 °C | 50 °C |
| Raijintek Triton | 32 °C | 50 °C |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 240 | 31 °C | 51 °C |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 32 °C | 51 °C |
| Enermax Liqtech 240X | 32 °C | 51 °C |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X61 | 32 °C | 52 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 240M | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Cryorig R1 Universal | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 34 °C | 53 °C |
| Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 | 34 °C | 53 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 34 °C | 54 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Dual Fan | 35 °C | 55 °C |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 120 | 35 °C | 55 °C |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX | 36 °C | 55 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 34 °C | 56 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X41 | 34 °C | 56 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X31 | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Single Fan | 36 °C | 56 °C |
| Antec Kühler H2O 1250 | 37 °C | 56 °C |
| Fractal Design Kelvin T12 | 36 °C | 57 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Thermalright Macho Rev.B | 36 °C | 57 °C |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Scythe Ashura | 36 °C | 58 °C |
| Antec Kühler H2O 950 | 37 °C | 59 °C |
| Raijintek Pallas | 37 °C | 59 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 36 °C | 60 °C |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 36 °C | 61 °C |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 35 °C | 63 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 | 37 °C | 64 °C |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 39 °C | 64 °C |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 39 °C | 65 °C |
| Lepa LV12 | 36 °C | 66 °C |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 38 °C | 69 °C |
| Enermax ETS-N30 | 37 °C | 73 °C |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 38 °C | 75 °C |
| Intel Stock | 39 °C | 83 °C |
To measure the cooling capacity we took temperatures in idle and load with the fans at 7 and 12 V. The idle temperature represents the lowest temperature hit by the processor package after 10 minutes in idle. The load temperature is the highest temperature hit by the processor after one pass of wPrime v2.10. The wPrime test takes 4 minutes and puts load on all 8 threads. Room temperature is at 25°C.
| 12V | Idle | Load |
| Deepcool Captain 360 | 30 °C | 48 °C |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S36 | 30 °C | 49 °C |
| Raijintek Triton | 31 °C | 49 °C |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 32 °C | 50 °C |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 32 °C | 50 °C |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 32 °C | 50 °C |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 240 | 33 °C | 50 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X61 | 31 °C | 50 °C |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 32 °C | 51 °C |
| Enermax Liqtech 240X | 32 °C | 51 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 240M | 32 °C | 52 °C |
| Cryorig R1 Universal | 32 °C | 52 °C |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E | 32 °C | 52 °C |
| Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 | 33 °C | 52 °C |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 31 °C | 53 °C |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 120 | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX | 34 °C | 53 °C |
| Fractal Design Kelvin T12 | 34 °C | 54 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X41 | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Dual Fan | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 34 °C | 54 °C |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 33 °C | 55 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X31 | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Scythe Ashura | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Antec Kühler H2O 1250 | 35 °C | 55 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 35 °C | 55 °C |
| Thermalright Macho Rev.B | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Antec Kühler H2O 950 | 36 °C | 56 °C |
| Raijintek Pallas | 36 °C | 56 °C |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Single Fan | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Lepa LV12 | 35 °C | 57 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 36 °C | 58 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 | 35 °C | 59 °C |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 37 °C | 60 °C |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 39 °C | 64 °C |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 37 °C | 65 °C |
| Enermax ETS-N30 | 34 °C | 68 °C |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 36 °C | 69 °C |
| Intel Stock | 35 °C | 70 °C |
Fan Speeds
| 7 Volt | 12 Volt | |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 840 rpm | 1'180 rpm |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E | 840 rpm | 1'320 rpm |
| Enermax Liqtech 240X | 750 rpm | 1'300 rpm |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 780 rpm | 1'200 rpm |
| Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 | 520 rpm | 1'260 rpm |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX | 840 rpm | 1'320 rpm |
| Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 | 780 rpm | 1'380 rpm |
| Cryorig R1 Universal | 960 rpm | 1'440 rpm |
| Raijintek Pallas | 960 rpm | 1'440 rpm |
| Scythe Ashura | 600 rpm | 1'440 rpm |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 900 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Thermalright Macho Rev.B | 780 rpm | 1'320 rpm |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 900 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 960 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 960 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 960 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 660 rpm | 1'530 rpm |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 960 rpm | 1'560 rpm |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 1'020 rpm | 1'560 rpm |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S36 | 1'400 rpm | 1'740 rpm |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 600 rpm | 1'740 rpm |
| Fractal Design Kelvin T12 | 420 rpm | 1'800 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 1'020 rpm | 1'860 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Cluster | 1'260 rpm | 1'860 rpm |
| Lepa LV12 | 1'100 rpm | 1'850 rpm |
| NZXT Kraken X41 | 1'180rpm | 1'840 rpm |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 1'140 rpm | 1'980 rpm |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 1'200 rpm | 1'980 rpm |
| NZXT Kraken X31 | 1'200 rpm | 1'980 rpm |
| NZXT Kraken X61 | 1'180 rpm | 1'980 rpm |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Dual Fan | 1'500 rpm | 1'980 rpm |
| Intel Stock | 1'260 rpm | 2'040 rpm |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 1'270 rpm | 2'050 rpm |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 300 rpm | 2'180 rpm |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 280 rpm | 2'220 rpm |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 240 | 1'440 rpm | 2'220 rpm |
| Deepcool Captain 360 | 1'400 rpm | 2'240 rpm |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 120 | 1'500 rpm | 2'280 rpm |
| Cooler Master Nepton 240M | 1'140 rpm | 2'300 rpm |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Single Fan | 1'560 rpm | 2'400 rpm |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 1'580 rpm | 2'400 rpm |
| Antec Kühler H2O 950 | 1'620 rpm | 2'400 rpm |
| Antec Kühler H2O 1250 | 1'620 rpm | 2'480 rpm |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 1'620 rpm | 2'580 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-N30 | 1'080 rpm | 3'080 rpm |
| Raijintek Triton | 1'140 rpm | 3'450 rpm |
Fan speeds (RPM) at 7 and 12 V.
Noise Levels
| 7 Volt | 12 Volt | |
| Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 | 33.4 dBA | 34.9 dBA |
| Enermax Liqtech 240X | 33.5 dBA | 37.0 dBA |
| Intel Stock | 33.3 dBA | 37.1 dBA |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 32.2 dBA | 37.4 dBA |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 32.3 dBA | 37.4 dBA |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 32.3 dBA | 38.4 dBA |
| Lepa LV12 | 34.6 dBA | 38.8 dBA |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 33.4 dBA | 38.9 dBA |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 33.7 dBA | 38.9 dBA |
| Raijintek Pallas | 34.7 dBA | 39.3 dBA |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 34.2 dBA | 39.5 dBA |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33.4 dBA | 39.6 dBA |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 31.2 dBA | 39.7 dBA |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 33.9 dBA | 40.1 dBA |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 32.8 dBA | 40.3 dBA |
| Thermalright Macho Rev.B | 32.5 dBA | 40.4 dBA |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 32.3 dBA | 40.4 dBA |
| NZXT Kraken X31 | 35.5 dBA | 40.5 dBA |
| NZXT Kraken X61 | 35.7 dBA | 40.6 dBA |
| Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 | 32.4 dBA | 40.6 dBA |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 33.4 dBA | 40.6 dBA |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 33.0 dBA | 40.3 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 33.1 dBA | 40.7 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 33.3 dBA | 40.7 dBA |
| Scythe Ashura | 32.0 dBA | 41.0 dBA |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 34.1 dBA | 41.2 dBA |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E | 34.7 dBA | 41.2 dBA |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX | 34.7 dBA | 41.2 dBA |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 33.3 dBA | 41.7 dBA |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 34.5 dBA | 41.7 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-N30 | 34.2 dBA | 43.0 dBA |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 35.8 dBA | 43.1 dBA |
| Cryorig R1 Universal | 36.7 dBA | 43.2 dBA |
| Deepcool Captain 360 | 36.6 dBA | 43.4 dBA |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 36.1 dBA | 43.6 dBA |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL | 34.3dBA | 43.8 dBA |
| Cooler Master Nepton 240M | 34.9 dBA | 44.5 dBA |
| Fractal Design Kelvin T12 | 25.4 dBA | 46.5 dBA |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 120 | 38.2 dBA | 46.9 dBA |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S36 | 37.8 dBA | 48.7 dBA |
| NZXT Kraken X41 | 37.5 dBA | 48.8 dBA |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 240 | 39.7 dBA | 49.3 dBA |
| Raijintek Triton | 37.0 dBA | 49.7 dBA |
| Antec Kühler H2O 950 | 46.3 dBA | 58.2 dBA |
| Antec Kühler H2O 1250 | 47.9 dBA | 65.2 dBA |
Decibel meter (Voltcraft SL-200) has been placed 1 meter away from the cooler. Measurements are conducted in a quiet room, where there are no other noise source. 32 dBA is the lowest we can get in our room. Also here the measurements are conducted at 7 and 12 V.
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
PWM Performance
Temperatures
| Idle | Load | |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 33 °C | 50 °C |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| Deepcool Captain 360 | 34 °C | 52 °C |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S36 | 33 °C | 52 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X61 | 33 °C | 52 °C |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 240 | 34 °C | 54 °C |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 34°C | 54 °C |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 34 °C | 54 °C |
| Cryorig R1 Universal | 35 °C | 54 °C |
| Enermax Liqtech 240X | 36 °C | 54 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 240M | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33 °C | 55 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 35 °C | 55 °C |
| Raijintek Triton | 33 °C | 55 °C |
| Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 | 36 °C | 55 °C |
| Fractal Design Kelvin T12 | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X41 | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 120 | 36 °C | 56 °C |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX | 36 °C | 56 °C |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 35 °C | 57 °C |
| Thermalright Macho Rev.B | 35 °C | 57 °C |
| Antec Kühler H2O 1250 | 36 °C | 57 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X31 | 36 °C | 57 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 36 °C | 57 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Dual Fan | 37 °C | 57 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 35 °C | 58 °C |
| Scythe Ashura | 36 °C | 58 °C |
| Raijintek Pallas | 37 °C | 58 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Single Fan | 38 °C | 58 °C |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 35 °C | 59 °C |
| Antec Kühler H2O 950 | 37 °C | 59 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 36 °C | 60 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 | 36 °C | 62 °C |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 39 °C | 64 °C |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 42 °C | 66 °C |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 39 °C | 67 °C |
| Lepa LV12 | 37 °C | 70 °C |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 39 °C | 70 °C |
| Enermax ETS-N30 | 38 °C | 71 °C |
| Intel Stock | 39 °C | 75 °C |
At this point we plugged the fan(s) to the motherboard CPU fan header and let the motherboard take care of fan speeds. In other words the motherboard will adjust the fan speed via PWM signal according to CPU temperature. The idle temperature is the lowest temperature hit by the processor after 10 minutes in idle. The load temperature is the highest temperature hit by the processor after one pass of wPrime v2.10. The wPrime test takes 4 minutes puts load on all 8 threads. Room temperature is 25°C.
Fan Speeds
| Idle | Load | |
| Thermalright Macho Rev.B | 306 rpm | 680 rpm |
| Scythe Ashura | 436 rpm | 550 rpm |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 380 rpm | 687 rpm |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 450 rpm | 740 rpm |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 471 rpm | 770 rpm |
| Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 | 580 rpm | 805 rpm |
| Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 | 413 rpm | 825 rpm |
| NZXT Kraken X31 | 750 rpm | 830 rpm |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E | 637 rpm | 854 rpm |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 466 rpm | 860 rpm |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 424 rpm | 880 rpm |
| Enermax Liqtech 240X (600 - 1300 rpm Preset) | 790 rpm | 950 rpm |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 560 rpm | 955 rpm |
| Raijintek Triton | 955 rpm | 955 rpm |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 800 rpm | 969 rpm |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 580 rpm | 970 rpm |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX | 490 rpm | 990 rpm |
| Cryorig R1 Universal | 800 rpm | 980 rpm |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 870 rpm | 1'000 rpm |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 765 rpm | 1'077 rpm |
| Deepcool Captain 360 | 710 rpm | 1'090 rpm |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 950 rpm | 1'100 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 820 rpm | 1'110 rpm |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 990 rpm | 1'115 rpm |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Dual Fan | 740 rpm | 1'140 rpm |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 240 | 760 rpm | 1'150 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 920 rpm | 1'170 rpm |
| Raijintek Pallas | 952 rpm | 1'170 rpm |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 1'120 rpm | 1'190 rpm |
| Fractal Design Kelvin T12 | 715 rpm | 1'200 rpm |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S36 | 800 rpm | 1'210 rpm |
| NZXT Kraken X61 | 840 rpm | 1'270 rpm |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 1'120 rpm | 1'270 rpm |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Single Fan | 800 rpm | 1'280 rpm |
| NZXT Kraken X41 | 1'190 rpm | 1'320 rpm |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 120 | 790 rpm | 1'360 rpm |
| Lepa LV12 | 870 rpm | 1'400 rpm |
| Cooler Master Nepton 240M | 700 rpm | 1'430 rpm |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 950 rpm | 1'465 rpm |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 1'250 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Antec Kühler H2O 950 | 1'280 rpm | 1'610 rpm |
| Intel Stock | 1'230 rpm | 1'630 rpm |
| Antec Kühler H2O 1250 | 1'390 rpm | 1'690 rpm |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 1'475 rpm | 1'672 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-N30 | 970 rpm | 2'250 rpm |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 1'475 rpm | 2'253 rpm |
Values are in RPM, we took the lowest speed hit by the fan(s) in idle and the highest under load.
Noise Levels
| Idle | Load | |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 32.0 dBA | 32.0 dBA |
| Thermalright Macho Rev.B | 32.0 dBA | 32.1 dBA |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 32.1 dBA | 32.3 dBA |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 32.0 dBA | 32.4 dBA |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 32.1 dBA | 32.6 dBA |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 32.0 dBA | 32.7 dBA |
| Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 | 32.5 dBA | 32.7 dBA |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 32.1 dBA | 32.8 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 32.3 dBA | 33.0 dBA |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 32.2 dBA | 33.2 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 33.0 dBA | 33.2 dBA |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 33.0 dBA | 33.2 dBA |
| Scythe Ashura | 32.0 dBA | 33.4 dBA |
| NZXT Kraken X61 | 34.6 dBA | 35.8 dBA |
| Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 | 33.1 dBA | 33.5 dBA |
| Enermax Liqtech 240X Dual Fan (600 - 1300rpm Preset) | 33.2 dBA | 33.5 dBA |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 32.0 dBA | 33.6 dBA |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 33.3 dBA | 33.9 dBA |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 33.5 dBA | 34.2 dBA |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 33.7 dBA | 34.2 dBA |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 33.8 dBA | 34.2 dBA |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 33.3 dBA | 34.4 dBA |
| Intel Stock | 33.3 dBA | 34.4 dBA |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 33.2 dBA | 34.6 dBA |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 33.7 dBA | 34.6 dBA |
| Lepa LV12 | 34.4 dBA | 34.7 dBA |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E | 34.0 dBA | 34.8 dBA |
| NZXT Kraken X31 | 34.5 dBA | 34.9 dBA |
| Deepcool Captain 360 | 33.9 dBA | 34.6 dBA |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX | 33.8 dBA | 34.6 dBA |
| Fractal Design Kelvin T12 | 36.5 dBA | 35.1 dBA |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S36 | 34.2 dBA | 35.3 dBA |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 34.8 dBA | 35.3 dBA |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 120 | 34.9 dBA | 35.7 dBA |
| Raijintek Triton | 36.2 dBA | 36.2 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-N30 | 33.8 dBA | 36.9 dBA |
| Cryorig R1 Universal | 33.5 dBA | 37.1 dBA |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 34.1 dBA | 37.6 dBA |
| NZXT Kraken X41 | 34.8 dBA | 37.9 dBA |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 240 | 36.1 dBA | 37.9 dBA |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL | 34.8dBA | 39.4 dBA |
| Cooler Master Nepton 240M | 33.8 dBA | 40.1 dBA |
| Raijintek Pallas | 35.9 dBA | 41.4 dBA |
| Antec Kühler H2O 950 | 41.7 dBA | 45.8 dBA |
| Antec Kühler H2O 1250 | 43.5 dBA | 47.9 dBA |
Decibel meter (Voltcraft SL-200) has been placed 1 meter away from the cooler. Measurements are conducted in a quiet room, where there are no other noise source. 32 dBA is the lowest we can get in our room. Also here the measurements are conducted at lowest and highest fan speeds in idle and under load respectively.
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Conclusion
| General | + | - | |
| Overall, the NZXT Kraken X61 Series is a very good product with great design and we especially liked the manufacturing quality. It offers really good cooling capacity while maintaining silent operation and good performance. NZXT offers several different varieations with their Kraken products for different kind on use. |
- Cooling capacity
- Noise levels - Quality - PWM - Design |
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| Installation | + | - | |
| The installation couldn't be much easier, as it is practical and pretty straightforward. With mounting systems included for Intel and AMD as well as a single back plate for both worlds and in combination with and easy to understand manual, it will be hard to experience difficulties installing the Kraken X61. The thermal paste is pre-applied we would like to have more of it, and is actually what NZXT is using lately with their water and air coolers. |
- Easy and practical
- Compatible Intel and AMD |
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| Performance | + | - | |
| The NZXT Kraken X61 series has very good cooling performance in every scenario, including 7V and 12V as well as the PWM mode. The Kraken X61 placed twelfth at 7V and eighth at 12V, we tested the Kraken X61 with two fans installed and connected to a Y fan splitter for PWM testing and it manages to score a top five rank in our charts. | - Cooling performances | ||
| Noise Levels | + | - | |
| The pump on the NZXT Kraken X61 is unfortunately not inaudible. Using two fans and 7V setting the Kraken X61 is subjectively speaking silent and at 12V setting we measured 40.6 dBA at 1'980 rpm which is well audible. When testing the cooler via the PWM feature noise level does not go past 35.8 dBA in load, which is silent. | - Noiseless pump | ||
| Recommendation / Price | + | - | |
| The Kraken X61 is on overall good all-in-one watercooler, which is quite pricy, unfotunately. Checking Geizhals we find this cooler listed for no less than 138 Euro. |
- Enthusiast - Overclocking - Gaming-PC |
- Price | |
| Rating | |||
| We gave the Kraken X61 from NZXT 4 out of 5 stars. | |||
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |