NZXT Kraken X40 Liquid CPU Cooler Review

NZXT’s Kraken X40 will be coming to most markets very soon, within the next month for most retailers, and it will hit the shelves at about £85 in the UK. Relatively speaking, this is priced dangerously close to Corsair’s H100i which offers more performance, performance potential and expandability. I probably would of liked to have seen this product hit the shelves at £75-77.50 to reflect its actual position in the market in terms of performance. There is also the danger that when Corsair introduce their equivalent, expected to be the Corsair H90, they might undercut the NZXT Kraken X40 in terms of value for money. However, for the time being, or at least while writing this review, the Kraken X40 is still reasonably well placed.

That aside, it is clear NZXT’s Kraken X40 is a product that has very few flaws. NZXT have taken every typical problem all in one liquid CPU coolers face, and fixed them.

Traditionally plastic tubing is disliked because it isn’t as flexible as rubber tubing, NZXT have cured this by opting for rubber tubing and they have gone one step further by extending the length of it so it gives you more mounting flexibility. Radiator and fan vibration is often a problem on many liquid CPU coolers, NZXT have sorted that too – there isn’t a single bit of vibration. Ugly multi-coloured unsleeved cables tarnish the beauty of some products but NZXT have fixed that too and ensured every bit of cabling is sleeved with high quality black sleeving. Dodgy mounting kits can also be frustrating  so NZXT have opted for the standard Asetek mounting kit which is tried, trusted and effective.

NZXT’s Kraken X40 is an excellent all rounder for many reasons. It offers impressive performance, excellent visual presentation and build quality, superb tubing with extended length, a high quality fully sleeved 140mm wide range PWM controlled fan, a strong and effective mounting kit, intuitive user friendly software and a form factor that will allow it to fit into the vast majority of enthusiast cases – all you need is a rear or top 140mm fan mount. The Kraken X40 ticks all the right boxes and I am struggling to find any negatives about this product but…

I do believe that NZXT’s Kraken X40 is priced too high as mentioned previously and this is a somewhat significant blemish on an otherwise excellent product. As such the high pricing means this product isn’t deserving of our Editor’s Choice award. However, the fact the NZXT Kraken X40 has ticked more or less every other possible box and done this in a very innovative way, by introducing 140mm fans and radiators as the new standard, means the NZXT Kraken X40 is extremely deserving of our innovation award.

Congratulations to NZXT for moving the all-in-one liquid CPU cooler market forward, it was about time someone made the brave step and it is nice to see it being done so well!