NZXT Kraken X63 RGB Review - Final Words & Conclusion

Final Words & Conclusion

I think it is safe to say do a copy/paste of the original X63 article, as it's all the same aside from the fans and its connection, the cooling block, and radiator are performing 100% similar to the previous model, the X63, so there is no gain to be made there. In retrospect, that performance, however, is fantastic for an LCS of this class, we simply cannot deny that. For the fans, the same can be stated as well. NZXT added a y-splitter for the fan cabling, and the new aRGB fans do look nice. The advantage here is that you can bridge them and connect them through the pump so they can be accessed by the CAM software suite.

Performance

The cooling is top-notch, properly good even with lots of reserve and capacity. What impressed me the most is that once you start to overclock our processor the stress temperatures remain really okay. Even up-to 1.40 Volts we remain below 75 degrees C, granted that was with a bit of an aggressive (noisy) fan profile but there is plenty to play around with. So yers, we have been pleasantly surprised by NZXT Kraken X63 (RGB) cooling performance with the processor in a tweaked state is really nice and on par with high-end cooling, it shines with actual stress and increased voltage cooling capacity. That's the good stuff when overclocking.

Noise

Things were perfect with the X62 when CAM was in full control of the fans. With X63 you'll need to RPM regulate the fans yourself. My advice is simple, connect the fans to a FAN header and give them fixed settings of say 600~700 RPM. Basically, configure and listen and then select your acceptable or preferable acoustic level. The LCS unit does not need heaps of airflow if you are not stressing the CPU all of the time. There is plenty of cooling capacity for you to still run the fans silent. Obviously, you can also set up a fan profile in your system BIOS running 500 RPM at up-to 65 degrees C, and then ramp up when the CPU would heat up. 

Aesthetics & Design

The overall looks are as always tasteful as far as I am concerned, all-black design with the subtle shades of grey make it an appealing product to the eyes. Even the fans have been logo marked (dark) tastefully. The LED ring is now 10% bigger and can be rotated to line up the NZXT logo horizontally up based on position. Mind you both the ring and logo are configurable separately, so as you can see in the photo above, if you don't want it, you can just turn off the NZXT logo. Please do keep in mind that CAM needs to load up with windows to continuously re-apply the configured preferences and settings. The wide combination of RGB functionality, animations or color-coded LEDs is what makes this thing shine, and you've just passed that onwards to the fans as well. It looks great. 

CAM Software

Cam remains to be a sore point for many, but we feel it has improved greatly over the past year or so. The software is extensive and has gotten much better over time. Still, when running in the background it can utilize some CPU cycles quite constantly (0.3% in our system). Also, cam collects and uses a lot of data of your PC, which raises the question if that is really needed? What is NZXT doing with all that data? If you install and start-up the software for the first time you need to agree to a disclaimer that so huge in size you simply will refuse to read it, a bit alarming really. Then again, all the stuff that Google, Microsoft, and the Facebook out there are collecting is probably far worse. Yes, welcome to 2020 ya'll. Usage and GUI wise we had no issues with CAM, the software could be 'less' though as really I do not need an OSD or tweaking options. 

Conclusion

The Kraken X63 RGB is introduced at the $179 marker with a similar price in EURO. And that is a lot of money for a two fan LCS, but the Kraken series remains to be one of the best performing products, and also offers silent operation (if configured properly). Go with an RPM range of 200 to 700 RPM and you'll have sheer silent operation combined with excellent cooling. This new refresh is of course all about the new aRGB fans, RGB controlled by CAM, routed through the pump. We like it. We think the fan bridging for RGB was clever and saves wires.  it remains to be a lot of them though, that has to be said, but is inherent towards anything bling with RGB. You can create an ecosystem that is extremely silent as NZXT offers a lot of cooling capacity with this kit. You can configure the pump speed in CAM, so that's nice. Silent mode is fine, in performance mode, you will hear a bit of crackling noises coming from the pump.  As a kit, this AIO LCS definitely is one of the better-performing ones out there if that's what you are after. Aside from all wires, the product is properly user-friendly to install and you'll have proper (additional) capacity left for a nice overclock. Again, there is a fair amount of wires leading out and into the cooling block. So design-wise there is cable spaghetti and clutter to deal with cable routing wise. Overall the final words can be short, we can still wholeheartedly recommend the NZXT Kraken X63 and X63 RGB offering proper cooling combined with great looks and flexibility. It's getting expensive though, that has to be said.

Handy related downloads:

• SiSoft Sandra
• AIDA
• CPU-Z
• HWMonitor