NZXT Kraken X40 Liquid CPU Cooler Review

 Included with the NZXT Kraken X40 package is the water cooling radiator and pump unit, an NZXT 140mm PWM fan, an Asetek multi-socket mounting kit and an instruction manual.

The included radiator is very dense and offers 34% more surface area than the same thickness 120mm radiator. You can see NZXT have opted for the flexible rubber tubing, which is 16 inches long – perfect for large cases. it is also nice to see all cables attached to the pump are sleeved in black and they include two PWM fan header connections for a push-pull config.

Here you can see the radiator a bit more up close and personal. The fin array is nice and dense as we’ve come to expect from most of Asetek’s radiators. The radiator is a 140mm radiator but still uses the standard one inch thickness that is the norm for these kinds of AIO coolers.

Looking a bit more closely at the pump unit you can see the flexible tubing which has the ability to tilt at the base. There is also an NZXT logo which is LED lit and you can choose from a vast array of colours using the provided NZXT Kraken X40 software which we will show you a bit later on.

The underside comes with pre-applied thermal paste and looks identical to any other Asetek base unit (including the Thermaltake Water 2.0 Extreme and Corsair H55 that we’ve also reviewed)

The included fan does 800 to 2000RPM. It opts for a simple black and white colour scheme that is sure to suit most systems.

From the back you can see the immense effort NZXT have gone to to sleeve the cable all the way up to the fan bearing. Kudos to NZXT for this – immaculate attention to detail.