NZXT Kraken Elite 280 RGB - RL-KR28E-B1-280mm AIO CPU Liquid Cooler - Customizable 2.36" LCD Display for Images, Performance Metrics - High-Performance Pump - 2 x F140 RGB Core Fans - Black

This is the first AIO I have purchased and it seems to be doing its job as intended. This was put in a white Hyte y60 case as it seemed to be one of the only 280mm white AIO. I was originally going to buy the last gen version of this cooler, but figured I might as well buy this new one which just got released. Glad I did too as the larger screen is much nicer to look at. All of my opinions here are based on the out of the box behavior of the cooler, no NZXT cam configuring was done. Performance: Cools my 7900x pretty decently. According to the cooler screen, it sits around 33-34 idling and the highest I've seen it hit is 37 degrees when doing short intense computations. Installation: Really straight forward with an AMD x670e board. Way better than my previous experience installing a BeQuiet! Dark rock pro 3/4 to an intel based system. It's also great that the cooler can be oriented at different angles (30 degree steps I believe) which gives it even more flexibility in installations. (the default orientation has the tubes coming out the bottom of the screen/coldplate. Rotating the screens image requires software) Noise: Runs quiet enough. I can somewhat hear the whoosh of the fans, however it is over powered by the stock fans my case came in. As for pump noise, I'm not entirely sure I hear it. Occasionally I hear a sound from my PC, but I have yet to determine if it is coil whine from my new build, or if it is the pump occasionally whirring. Fans: I plan on upgrading the fans at a later date with lian li infinity fans, but I have honestly been pleasantly surprised by how well the rgb looks. However, I would have preferred being able to buy the cooler without the fans and fan hub included. If I wanted NZXT fans, I would get NZXT. Let me make the choice and save money by not having to buy stuff I am not going to use. Linux software support: One gripe I have is that there is no official software support in linux. But I guess I can't complain too much as I am probably 1 of 3 people that it matters to. Still, I'd like to see companies like NZXT support projects such as openrgb and coolero/liquidctl. [Rant: Even if I ran windows, god forbid I install bloatware like NZXT cam + a million other rgb software to suck up my hardware resources. I just don't get why so much money is spent on software no one likes when NZXT could just spend a day giving the open source community the usb com specs for the cooler and reap the benefits of 'free' work.] Thankfully by default the leds on the fan are white, and the temperature on the screen is also colored white. One of these days when i have hours to waste, I will try fooling around with liquidctl and see if I can get the experimental controls to work. Conclusion: It's a high end, white, 280mm AIO with a big ol' screen. And its price reflects that. It looks great and the install is easy. If you are going to blow money on a high end AIO, its going to be pretty hard to beat this one. I really only have issues on the software side.

The NZXT Kraken Elite, takes everything you liked about the old NZXT Z series AIO coolers and makes it better. The cooler looks great, is easy to install, is very quiet, offers a minimalist aesthetic in either black or white colours and at a reasonable price with great features in a variety of sizes for all builds. I love the large matte display on this AIO. Having the ability to have a dual infographic for the temps of my CPU and GPU at a glance is awesome. This AIO requires use of NZXT’s CAM software which is either a blessing or a curse depending on your view point to me it’s lightweight and unintrusive so I have no issues with it. Via the CAM software you can also do really cool things like apply gifs to the screen customising the AIO to truly make it feel unique to your tastes and build. The AIO only needs one cable to function this time as opposed to the older Z series AIOs from NZXT which require multiple cables. Overall this AIO is my go to choice for my personal PC builds as the Kraken series has proven to me time and time again to be reliable and capable of doing its job well. Lastly if you don’t need a larger 60Hz display please buy the non-elite version of this AIO they use the same Asetek pump so your only paying for a better screen. Same goes for if you intend to use your own fans like me. I made the mistake of ordering the RGB version of this AIO when since I was using the Lian Li Uni Fans I should have just saved money and bought the non-RGB version. UPDATE: Given some of the let’s say less than savory tactics NZXT has been found to be doing with things like their predatory PC leasing program it might be best to start looking elsewhere in the future and customers should know about this. Won’t change the rating because the product itself is good even if the company that makes it has decided to go down a less consumer friendly avenue.

(I wrote this review awhile ago and I wanted to add that just over 5000 hours of full-time computer use this cooler has never had a problem is still going strong and even though I am selling a gaming PC to upgrade to something new it is cool to know that they will never have to worry about the cooler either. This is a great piece of machinery works perfect especially if you have an AMDCPU like me that runs hot. You’re gonna be so happy you have this cooler) Ihave used my computer 10 to 15 hours a day for the last 365 days straight. I am YouTube streamer and Fortnite creator “SAMZIRRA” which means I’m either gaming or building game maps. I bought this cooler for my first ever custom PC Build and I have ran my computer literally thousands of hours in the last 12 months. This cooler sits atop my AMD Ryzen 7950x and for those of you who know these things run extremely hot if I didn’t have this cooler, my computer would’ve burst into flames long ago. I don’t even think that’s an exaggeration. It literally would burst into flames. now, while the cooler is amazing the software that comes with it or that software that you can download rather “CAM”, I would suggest not doing it. It is way too resource, heavy and telemetry connected, and it is not necessary in order to use it now I’m one of those people who don’t have RGB in their computer case it’s just not my thing I like the aesthetic of everything being black so I don’t really use the LCD screen, now you might want to, and if you do, the software works great for this. It’s just not for me other than that the fans work awesome and it keeps my CPU nice and chilly. Generally speaking, my CPU runs a little bit under 40°C on the regular whenever it’s loading shaders for new games. It goes to about 55 but that’s also because I’ve optimized my bios but again this cooler does a great job I’ve never had a problem with it.

For those that are looking for a viable water cooling solution for your 14900K/13900K beyond the higher rated air cooling solutions (Thermalrite Peerless Assassin/Noctua D15), this NZXT Kraken 280 will get the job done. Prior to this unit, I was running a Noctua U12A, which is sufficient for a 14900K but only with Intel Default Settings set. Now I can run it with the Intel "Extreme" settings which allows a higher amperage rating at 400A (as opposed to 307A). Keeps my i9 14900K cool at around 34°C at Idle, and typically 50°C when gaming. When running some AI programs it spikes a bit but never gets beyond 60°C. Fairly quiet in a dual chamber case (Montech King 95 Pro) and I never hear fans at full speed. The CAM software from NZXT can be a bit annoying because while I enjoy it's customization feature, when waking up your PC from sleep or turning on, you'll have to restart the app to get your custom readings. Otherwise this is a fine unit with a fairly easy installation. I chose this over the Arctic Liquid Freezer III due to the installation process. On the Arctic unit you have to take off your CPU retention bracket and I didn't want to deal with that, possibly damaging the processor. It literally took me 15 minutes from start to finish to get the Kraken bracket installed on my motherboard with everything attached.

Great Item to have when you are building your pc!

This is my third NZXT AIO. They've been very durable and reliable, but in September 2025 I had an issue where the display only showed the liquid level. NZXT's support team helped me and resolved the problem quickly. I will continue to buy NZXT AIOs.

It's a great AIO. It doesn't make a lot of noise, it keeps my 9800X3D nice and cool, it's fairly easy to install into any case and onto any CPU socket, but I do have 1 complaint hence the 4 star rating instead of a 5 star rating. When I got it, the box was damaged and had a hole in it (not NZXT or Amazon's fault, probably got damaged in shipping) and although the AIO itself was left unharmed, I noticed that one of the sides of the AIO had scratches on it. Not the radiator part, but the metal frame that has NZXT on it. It didn't matter for me because I have that side flipped around in my case and I would never see it to begin with and it works perfectly fine, plus the scratches were not that deep into the AIO so yeah. I will say though for a $200 AIO (I got it when it was on sale) that I'm buying brand spanking new, I kind of expected a little better quality control on this product. Like I said, the scratches on the one side affect nothing functionality wise or aestehtics wise in my scenario, but to others, it would make it seem like this AIO was used and has been repacked and resealed and sold as brand new. Anywho, it's a pretty pricey AIO. It's definitely got some cool features and it's worth every penny like monitoring CPU temps on its own LCD screen, but like I said. $200 for something brand new and it came with some scratches on one side. I'm disappointed about that, but like I said it functions and works great and I won't ever see that side anyways.

The NZXT Kraken Elite 360mm AIO is perfect for my all-white build—the LCD display is crisp, the RGB fans look amazing, and most importantly, it keeps my CPU temps low. The pump runs quietly, and installation was smooth. The NZXT CAM app makes it super easy to customize the display and fan settings. Great performance, sleek design, and user-friendly software—definitely worth it! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐