I purchased this cooler to serve an older I7 3770k processor so I could increase the overclock. Was at 4.3ghz on a Cooler Master Hyper 212 air cooler (fantastic cooler btw.)
Radiator Mounting - This AIO was a tight fit in my NZXT S340 case however, you can only install in a push thru configuration at the front of the case. This is due to the radiator interfering with the power/usb panel at the top of the case. I wanted a pull thru configuration for easier cleaning of the radiator but it's not that big of a deal (for me). Another nitpick is since the case mounting screws for the radiator are round instead of flat it prevents the magnetic dust screen from sitting flush at the front of the case.
Pump Mounting @ CPU - The rear bracket is plastic and flimsy, but everything bolted together easily. I did notice a lot of play between the mounting studs and rear bracket (more on this later). The included thumb screws are nice and easy to put on though I noticed they bottomed out (more on this later). However the pump seemed tight on the cpu and everything went together easily.
Performance - Upon power up and running HWMonitor temps seemed fine at idle, but under load they were worse than my 212. I remounted the pump on the CPU several times with fresh thermal paste with no change. I figured since the thumb screws were bottoming out, the copper plate on the pump wasn't making good contact with the CPU even though it seemed tight. I used some washers on the back plate and which reduced the play I mentioned earlier. The thumb screws didn't bottom out this time and I got the pump snug on the CPU. Finally, my temps were slightly lower at idle and much lower at load (15-20 deg lower). This was really a frustrating experience, but the reward for overcoming the problems was great.
Sound, CAM Software & Setup - Holy sh%t those radiator fans are loud. With all of the power cables hooked up per NZXT instructions, the cooler was very effective and very LOUD. The issue is the NZXT CAM software managing the cooler doesn't control the pump and fan speeds separately. So, even in silent mode the fans duty cycle was too high and still very noisy, forget about performance mode. This is what I did for this problem,
1. Unplugged the pump from the CPU fan header on the motherboard and plugged it into an adapter off my power supply.
2. Plugged the radiator fans into the CPU fan header and spare fan header on my motherboard.
3. All other connections stay as is.
This let me use the CAM software to adjust pump speed and use the BIOS on my motherboard to set the radiator fan speed. My final config was pump at 100% fixed speed and fans at 30% fixed speed (the fans at anything above 40% were just too loud). This setup allows me to run at 4.5ghz with lower temps than my air cooler was providing at 4.3ghz. I'm confident I could have achieved a higher overclock but I was really bumping up the voltages to stay stable so the cooler was not the limiting factor here.
The pump is very quiet, no grinding as mentioned in other reviews. I'm hoping to get a solid two years out of it.
Conclusion - Unless you are experienced at building computers or feel like you can overcome some problems I would pass on this cooler. Maybe the newer model X62 resolves these issues. I purchased this since I was already running the CAM software with other NZXT components and it was $40 cheaper than the newer model. Also, the instructions included are really inadequate as mentioned in other reviews.
I'm only subtracting one star for all the problems since it works so damn good.
| Item Dimensions LxWxH | 11.02 x 1.06 x 5.5 inches |
|---|---|
| Brand | NZXT |
| Power Connector Type | 4-Pin |
| Voltage | 12 Volts |
| Cooling Method | Water |
| Compatible Devices | Desktop |
| Noise Level | 37 dB |
| Material | Cam |
| Item model number | RL-KRX61-01 |
| Item Weight | 4 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 11.02 x 1.06 x 5.5 inches |
| Color | Black |
| Manufacturer | NZXT - US PC |
| ASIN | B00L0YLJJG |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Date First Available | June 16, 2014 |
