Diving Deep Into the New Kraken Elite Pump
The new Kraken Elite (2024) comes packed with several flashy upgrades compared to our previous generation, including an enhanced LCD screen and RGB features. The pump has also seen significant improvements, including a dual-chamber design. A good AIO cooler can help keep components cool, dissipate heat, and boost performance—all while maintaining your PC's overall condition. Utilizing a custom-designed pump in collaboration with CoolIT, the aptly named NZXT Turbine pump increases flow rates and head pressure to deliver high-quality, consistent cooling by allowing coolant to circulate rapidly through your system. This process enhances heat dissipation from the CPU to the radiator.
Dual-Chamber Design
Featuring a new dual-chamber design, the NZXT Turbine pump isolates hot and cold coolant into separate chambers. This reduces the impact of heated coolant on the pump, increases reliability, and lowers noise levels. The pump upgrade doesn’t just improve cooling; it enhances cooling efficiency by using less power while delivering better performance. The unique dual-chamber pump design offers numerous advantages over the previous Kraken Elite (2023) model.
Keeping Things Cool Under Pressure
In addition to the dual-chamber design, the NZXT Turbine pump maintains an optimized flow path directly to the split-flow cold plate, which has over 170 micro-skived fins on each side. The split-flow cold plate evenly distributes coolant through the fin channels to quickly and efficiently dissipate heat across the CPU’s surface. This process keeps your components cool and ensures consistent performance while lowering temperatures on high-heat CPUs, like the latest offerings from Intel and AMD.
Performance Testing
The NZXT Turbine pump provides significant cooling improvements for Intel and AMD CPUs. We measured the Kraken Elite's (2024) thermal resistance across all three radiator sizes and compared it to the previous generation. Thermal resistance measures how efficiently heat is transferred from your CPU—the lower the thermal resistance, the more effectively the cooler performs. Unlike CPU temperatures, which can be affected by external factors, thermal resistance provides a consistent and reliable metric for evaluating cooling performance.
For Intel systems, we conducted open bench tests under the following conditions:
AIOs tested:
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Kraken Elite RGB (2023)
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Kraken Elite RGB (2024)
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Units tested: 1 SKU of each product
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Rounds of testing: 2 rounds for each unit
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CPU: Intel Core™ i9-13900K
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CPU power: 280W
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Stress tool: Prime95
Using the Kraken Elite RGB (2023) as the baseline, we observed the following improvements in thermal resistance across different radiator sizes for the 2024 model:
Kraken Elite 240 RGB: 10.8% improvement
Kraken Elite 280 RGB: 6.9% improvement
Kraken Elite 360 RGB: 5.1% improvement
The chart below highlights the Kraken Elite 240 RGB, showcasing its impressive generational leap in performance for Intel CPUs.
For AMD systems, we conducted open bench tests under the following conditions:
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AIOs tested:
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Kraken Elite RGB (2023)
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Kraken Elite RGB (2024)
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Units tested: 1 SKU of each product
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Rounds of testing: 2 rounds for each unit
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CPU: AMD Ryzen™ 9 7950X
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CPU power: 180W
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Stress tool: Cinebench R23
Compared to the 2023 versions, the Kraken Elite (2024) demonstrated the following improvements in thermal resistance:
Kraken Elite 240 RGB: 6.9% improvement
Kraken Elite 280 RGB: 6.2% improvement
Kraken Elite 360 RGB: 7.9% improvement
The chart below showcases the Kraken Elite 360 RGB and its significant performance boost for AMD CPUs.
The new Kraken Elite is a big step up from its predecessor, offering cooling performance boosts across all radiator sizes. We’d love to see how you put it to work! Share your Kraken Elite builds with us, and let us know your thoughts so we can keep pushing the limits. Follow us on Discord, Twitter, and Instagram to stay in the loop and connect with the community!
Ready to upgrade your CPU cooling? Click here to explore the Kraken Elite.