NZXT Kraken X41 & X61 Liquid Coolers

NZXT Software Review: A Comprehensive Look at its Features and Capabilities

The NZXT software is a comprehensive system information tool that provides users with a range of features to monitor and manage their system's performance. The basic tab is available on any system and offers some rudimentary information about the system, including RAM usage and temperature tracking over various periods of time. While this information can be useful, it still feels like it needs some work.

One feature that should show users the biggest RAM hogs on their system did not quite align with Task Manager. Additionally, CPU frequency detection seemed to be a little bit off compared to CPU-Z. The advanced views charts also didn't work well on my hardware, and the way they expanded and contracted felt a bit clunky. However, the Manage view, only available with supported hardware like the Kraken and Grid+ series, is where things start to get interesting.

In this view, users can monitor their pump speed, temperatures of both CPU and GPU, and fan speeds of their entire computer. This is quite fantastic, although in our pre-production setup, not everything worked 100%. The main issue was with the LED control, which didn't work very well at all. However, NZXT has assured us that this should be fixed by the time these units are released to the public.

One of the notable features of the Manage view is the ability to set different fan profiles. This is pretty bog standard, but it's a nice touch nonetheless. Users can also see the liquid temperature of their unit, which is pretty cool and based on pump speed. However, this isn't a custom-controlled pump speed that users can set.

The graphs section is one area where the software excels. I found these to have no problems with our pre-production setup, and they're quite cool. The ability to log information over an extended period of time (up to a year) is great, although having settings for less than an hour would be useful for those who need it. For example, seeing a 5-minute graph or a half-an-hour graph can be helpful when working on projects for short periods.

On the notification side of things, the software shows users a ton of details, which might be a bit too much for some users. However, it's highly customizable, and users can set it to exactly what they want. For example, I would just turn off notifications for plugging in and unplugging USB devices, but keep other notifications on when something is using up system resources.

Overall, the NZXT software has a lot of potential, although it still needs some work. The feature that should show users the biggest RAM hogs on their system didn't quite align with Task Manager, and CPU frequency detection was off compared to CPU-Z. However, the Manage view for supported hardware is where things start to get interesting.

The Kraken series, particularly the X41, has shown impressive performance in our testing. It beat out the NH-D15 and did well against the H100i. The fact that these 140mm coolers come with a fan slot is not surprising, but it's still quite interesting to see manufacturers pushing for more features like RGB control.

Having RGB control on your cooler can potentially make your build look great and meet the trend of color-themed builds. This feature might be a major selling point for some users, although others might not care as much about aesthetics. The software's customizable notification system is also highly praised, allowing users to tailor it to their needs. Overall, the NZXT software has its strengths and weaknesses, but with some improvement, it could become an even more powerful tool for system monitoring and management.

The X61 did quite well in our testing, beating out the NH-D15, while the X41 performed similarly to the H100i. The thickness boost in the X41 iteration is also noteworthy. While these features are not surprising given the trend of 140mm fan slots, it's still interesting to see manufacturers pushing for more.

In conclusion, the NZXT software has a lot of potential, but it still needs some work. With some improvements and refinements, it could become an even more powerful tool for system monitoring and management. The features mentioned in this review, including the Manage view, graphs section, and notification system, demonstrate the software's capabilities and potential.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enis there any room left to innovate on these pre-filled all-in-one liquid coolers that have taken the market by storm since the release of the acch lclc almost 7 years ago NZXT hopes so and here are their latest entrance into this crowded category the Krakens x41 and x61 with its Factory tuning and data center DNA an Intel 730 series SSD is an amazing choice for gamers and performance enthusiasts so let's start with a quick overview of the similarities between these two they both feature copper blocks with high quality thermal compound pre-applied sleeved power in and pwm compatible power passrs for enough fans to handle Push Pull configurations on either of the units they also both feature an integrated variable speed pump a key Improvement in build quality that will help reduce the noise of the unit compared to other Solutions and they both feature Quin Flex ible nonporous tubing to keep them running smoothly throughout their 6-year warranty period I guess finally they both come with NC's tragically not fully square but otherwise pretty darn good FX series 140 mm cooling fans on to the part where they differ the radiator the x61 doesn't change much compared to the x60 and still has a slim style dual 140 mm Rad but the x41 got a very significant upgrade to its thickness that should make it perform pretty similarly to a dual 120 mm slim red but with great compatibility since it'll fit in pretty much any case that has a rear 140 mm cooling fan spot really interested to see how that one turns out other than that in the Box we've got the usual acitech mounting hardware the Intel flavor of which is pre-applied with AMD stuff included in the box but that's about it for the physicality of these coolers so let's move on to software nxt's cam software was a bit of a mixed bag for me when I first installed the beta and it remains a bit of a mixed bag for me now that I'm using a non beta it's all right I guess if you're looking for rudimentary system information but it doesn't really do anything that something else doesn't already do better there are two main tabs right now basic and manage with NZXT intending to add more functionality in the future basic is available on any system and gives you some rudimentary information about your system some of it is useful like RAM usage or temperature tracking over various periods of time and notific if any of those monitored parameters exceed a predefined limit but it just still feels like it needs some work the feature that should show me the biggest Ram hogs on my system for example didn't really align with task manager uh CPU frequency detection seems to be a little bit off compared to CPU Z the advanced views charts don't work that well on my hardware and the way it expands and contracts just feels a little bit clunky but the manage view only available with supported Hardware like the new Krakens and grid Plus is where things start to get interesting I will leave that to Luke though once you actually hook up your Kraken you'll be able to enable it under the manage button in the bottom right hand corner and that's when I actually get into things in this software that I do really like you can monitor your pump speed you monitor the temperatures of both your CPU and your GPU and you can monitor the fan speeds of your entire computer which is pretty fantastic although in our kind of setup not everything works 100% the main thing is that the LED control doesn't really work very well at all although that's probably to do with the fact that these are pre-production units and I have talked to NZXT and they've told me that these should work by the time you guys get them and if they don't their support will be there ready to help you right away you can also do stuff like set different fan profiles which is pretty bog standard and you can see the liquid temperature of your unit which is pretty cool and this is actually what pump speed is based on this isn't a custom controled pump speed you can't set it but it will change depending on how hot the liquid is so if your computer is running very slowly you're not doing a ton of different things and the liquid temperature isn't very high the pump speed will be low and the second you start doing something very intensive the pump speed will go up next up we have the graphs which I actually found to have no problems with even with our very pre-production setup and the graphs are pretty cool and it's nice to have all this information logged although having all the settings all the way up to a year is great but I not a huge fan of the fact that they don't have anything under an hour I like just seeing like a 5minute graph and maybe a half an hour graph cuz sometimes I'm just working on things for a very short period of time so hope they Implement that in the future but it's not a huge deal on the notification side of things which is kind of the last thing in this side of the software it shows you a ton of details a little bit too much for myself I don't necessarily need a log of every single time I've plugged in and unplugged a USB device but it's highly customizable and you can set it to exactly what you want so if this was my unit I would just turn those notifications off and keep other notifications on like when it warned me that Prime 95 was running because it was using way too much my CPU that's kind of nice to know if there's something in the background that's fing a whole bunch of my system resources and it's going to tell me about that that's kind of cool the x61 did quite well beating out the nhd15 in our testing and the x41 did well beating out the h100i this is not super surprising as these are both 140 mm coolers and the x41 particularly got a thickness boost in this iteration of its product it's pretty impressive in a lot of cases these days are coming with 140 mm so millim fan slot so I'm not super surprised that this is starting to happen but it is quite interesting to see the software definitely still needs some work but having RGB control on your cooler is pretty cool that's a major selling point for me we see a lot of color themed builds now you want your build to look good and this can potentially make it look good by having a color themed block are you guys interested in this tell me in the comments below comment on the Forum as well like dislike the video subscribe to this Channel and every other channel we have like Tech quickie and channel super fun uh comment on the Forum if I already said that subscribe on the Forum because you can get rid of all the advertisements and buy a shirt don't think this one's for sale yet or will be but yeah buy a shirt thanks for watching I'll see you guys next timeis there any room left to innovate on these pre-filled all-in-one liquid coolers that have taken the market by storm since the release of the acch lclc almost 7 years ago NZXT hopes so and here are their latest entrance into this crowded category the Krakens x41 and x61 with its Factory tuning and data center DNA an Intel 730 series SSD is an amazing choice for gamers and performance enthusiasts so let's start with a quick overview of the similarities between these two they both feature copper blocks with high quality thermal compound pre-applied sleeved power in and pwm compatible power passrs for enough fans to handle Push Pull configurations on either of the units they also both feature an integrated variable speed pump a key Improvement in build quality that will help reduce the noise of the unit compared to other Solutions and they both feature Quin Flex ible nonporous tubing to keep them running smoothly throughout their 6-year warranty period I guess finally they both come with NC's tragically not fully square but otherwise pretty darn good FX series 140 mm cooling fans on to the part where they differ the radiator the x61 doesn't change much compared to the x60 and still has a slim style dual 140 mm Rad but the x41 got a very significant upgrade to its thickness that should make it perform pretty similarly to a dual 120 mm slim red but with great compatibility since it'll fit in pretty much any case that has a rear 140 mm cooling fan spot really interested to see how that one turns out other than that in the Box we've got the usual acitech mounting hardware the Intel flavor of which is pre-applied with AMD stuff included in the box but that's about it for the physicality of these coolers so let's move on to software nxt's cam software was a bit of a mixed bag for me when I first installed the beta and it remains a bit of a mixed bag for me now that I'm using a non beta it's all right I guess if you're looking for rudimentary system information but it doesn't really do anything that something else doesn't already do better there are two main tabs right now basic and manage with NZXT intending to add more functionality in the future basic is available on any system and gives you some rudimentary information about your system some of it is useful like RAM usage or temperature tracking over various periods of time and notific if any of those monitored parameters exceed a predefined limit but it just still feels like it needs some work the feature that should show me the biggest Ram hogs on my system for example didn't really align with task manager uh CPU frequency detection seems to be a little bit off compared to CPU Z the advanced views charts don't work that well on my hardware and the way it expands and contracts just feels a little bit clunky but the manage view only available with supported Hardware like the new Krakens and grid Plus is where things start to get interesting I will leave that to Luke though once you actually hook up your Kraken you'll be able to enable it under the manage button in the bottom right hand corner and that's when I actually get into things in this software that I do really like you can monitor your pump speed you monitor the temperatures of both your CPU and your GPU and you can monitor the fan speeds of your entire computer which is pretty fantastic although in our kind of setup not everything works 100% the main thing is that the LED control doesn't really work very well at all although that's probably to do with the fact that these are pre-production units and I have talked to NZXT and they've told me that these should work by the time you guys get them and if they don't their support will be there ready to help you right away you can also do stuff like set different fan profiles which is pretty bog standard and you can see the liquid temperature of your unit which is pretty cool and this is actually what pump speed is based on this isn't a custom controled pump speed you can't set it but it will change depending on how hot the liquid is so if your computer is running very slowly you're not doing a ton of different things and the liquid temperature isn't very high the pump speed will be low and the second you start doing something very intensive the pump speed will go up next up we have the graphs which I actually found to have no problems with even with our very pre-production setup and the graphs are pretty cool and it's nice to have all this information logged although having all the settings all the way up to a year is great but I not a huge fan of the fact that they don't have anything under an hour I like just seeing like a 5minute graph and maybe a half an hour graph cuz sometimes I'm just working on things for a very short period of time so hope they Implement that in the future but it's not a huge deal on the notification side of things which is kind of the last thing in this side of the software it shows you a ton of details a little bit too much for myself I don't necessarily need a log of every single time I've plugged in and unplugged a USB device but it's highly customizable and you can set it to exactly what you want so if this was my unit I would just turn those notifications off and keep other notifications on like when it warned me that Prime 95 was running because it was using way too much my CPU that's kind of nice to know if there's something in the background that's fing a whole bunch of my system resources and it's going to tell me about that that's kind of cool the x61 did quite well beating out the nhd15 in our testing and the x41 did well beating out the h100i this is not super surprising as these are both 140 mm coolers and the x41 particularly got a thickness boost in this iteration of its product it's pretty impressive in a lot of cases these days are coming with 140 mm so millim fan slot so I'm not super surprised that this is starting to happen but it is quite interesting to see the software definitely still needs some work but having RGB control on your cooler is pretty cool that's a major selling point for me we see a lot of color themed builds now you want your build to look good and this can potentially make it look good by having a color themed block are you guys interested in this tell me in the comments below comment on the Forum as well like dislike the video subscribe to this Channel and every other channel we have like Tech quickie and channel super fun uh comment on the Forum if I already said that subscribe on the Forum because you can get rid of all the advertisements and buy a shirt don't think this one's for sale yet or will be but yeah buy a shirt thanks for watching I'll see you guys next time\n"