NZXT announced the Kraken X41 and Kraken X61 liquid coolers, successors to the older X40 and X60 liquid coolers. They carry 140 mm and 280 mm water coolers, respectively. Both the units are built using Asetek's new Gen. 4.5 design which brings support for a variable pump speed. While many pumps can be slowed down through undervolting them, these pumps now officially support it through the software. The pumps can spin at speeds of around 3600 RPM when running at 100 percent.

The Kraken X41 now has a thicker radiator than found previously on the X40, improving thermal performance. Now at 35 mm thick, according to NZXT it was a worthy sacrifice to ditch compatibility with a small number of cases to improve performance by a very noticeable margin in every other. The fans on the units have also been refreshed, and now feature thicker, stronger blades (our representative told us that apparently fan blades came off the hub from time to time with the older units when running at high RPMs), as well as better bearings, all in all which make fans put out a higher airflow to noise ratio. Combine that with the variable speed pump and you should be able to get some very low idle noise levels. Of course, the water loops also come with support for NZXT's new CAM software, and soon it'll be possible to control multiple Kraken water coolers individually.

The coolers are compatible with all modern CPU socket types, including LGA2011, LGA115x, AM3+, and FM2+. The Kraken X41 is priced at 99.99€, and the Kraken X61 at 124.99€.

NZXT Kraken X41 and Kraken X61 Liquid CPU Coolers Available