Month: December 2020

Back in September, Nikon announced its fast ultra-wide zoom lens: the Nikkor Z 14-24mm f/2.8, completing its trinity of fast zooms for Z-mount cameras. How does it perform?

Jared Polin has been waiting impatiently for fast glass from Nikon and is excited to finally get his hands on a lens that, for him, makes Nikon’s Z-mount a truly viable option for professional photographers. Nikon zooms with f/2.8 maximum apertures have taken a while to come to market — and it seems that they’re still proving hard to get a hold of.

Nikon made its announcement in mid-September, stating that the lens would be available to buy in November. As it stands, retailers still list this and the new 50mm f/1.2 S as “Coming Soon.” The 50mm is at least slated to start shipping later this month. Various manufacturers have warned that products might see delays due to supply lines and distribution networks being impacted by the global pandemic. Under the circumstances, the wait is entirely understandable, if a little frustrating.

Polin is clearly impressed. That the huge lens hood can accept 112 mm filters is definitely a nice touch.

Have you placed an order? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

While the iPhone 12 has several color options, the MacBook has remained boring on the design front for several years. At the moment, the darkest MacBook you can buy is ‘space grey’, which isn’t all that dark. This seems like a strange oversight, given our love of black tech products. 

But it looks like Apple is finally planning on catching up if a new patent is to be taken at face value. Interestingly, the patent begins by revealing the reasoning behind the absence of black MacBooks — and it comes down to their metal casing.

“Enclosures for portable electronic devices can include an anodized layer that can be dyed in different colors in order to enhance their cosmetic appeal to consumers,” the patent reads. “However, certain colors are far more difficult to achieve than others,” it continues explaining that a “true black” color often ends up being dark grey thanks to the anodized metal’s high gloss finish that reflects too much light.

Apple describes the material as having a “matte, low gloss finish” which would certainly make for an eye-catching MacBook without the need for an ugly skin. And while a patent application is no guarantee of real-world action, this feels one of the safest bets around, given the world’s lust for black electronics.

The technique Apple describes in its patent is reminiscent of Vantablack paint, created by UK-based Surrey NanoSystems to create a finish that offers the darkest black the human eye can see. Given that artist Anish Kapoor owns the exclusive rights to the color, though, Apple wouldn’t be able to just use Vantablack on its future laptops.

If you’ve got a long memory, you’ll think back to a time when black was an option for Apple laptops. Of course, that was more than a decade ago, when Apple used polycarbonate materials in its laptop casings prior to the switch to metals like aluminum.

It’s difficult to anticipate black MacBook models without thinking about the short lived Jet Black iPhone. Only a color option for the iPhone 7, the pricier Jet Black model was extremely prone to scratches to the degree that Apple added a footnote on its site warning of “micro-abrasions with use”. It’s notable that Jet Black hasn’t found its way to any iPhones since.

The black MacBook color sounds sufficiently different for lightning to not strike twice – and obviously the way people use laptops is completely different to smartphones. All the same, it does highlight one thing: when making cosmetic changes to long running product lines it’s important to ensure there aren’t any unintended consequences along the way.

Earlier this year, the names of two new ThinkPad X1 models were leaked: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano and ThinkPad X1 Titanium. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano is already available in the USA – the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium meanwhile is nowhere to be found. The last time we heard about it were a few leaked promo videos on Youtube.

2020 is drawing to a close and by this point, we expected to see the ThinkPad X1 Titanium in early 2021, maybe with an announcement at the virtual CES. However, there are new signs that at least the public announcement might still come in this year.

Lenovo has recently updated its Accessories and Options Compatibility Matrix (OCM). The newest version (as of December 6 2020) includes the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga Gen 1. Alongside the full-name of the product, the OCM also reveals the model-numbers: 20QA and 20QB. Also, it appears the X1 Titanium Yoga will rely on M.2 2242 SSDs for internal storage, exactly like the ThinkPad X1 Nano.

With the model appearing in the OCM, this might be a hint that an announcement is imminent. At the same time, there is news from China: The Chinese tech-site ITHome reports that Lenovo’s Think division will hold a special event next week, officially launching the ThinkPad X1 Nano in China – and unveiling the ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga at the same time. This should be regarded as a rumor at this point, but we might see more of the ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga very soon.

Based on prior leaks, we already know that the X1 Titanium Yoga will be a convertible ThinkPad with Intel’s Tiger Lake platform inside. It will be the thinnest ThinkPad laptop yet, with a body completely made out of metal. Judging from the pictures, it looks like the screen will have a 3:2 aspect ratio, though this is not confirmed yet.

The world of gaming monitors is grander and more diverse than ever before. Depending on your budget, you can find yourself spoiled for choice: HDR, ultrawide, adaptive sync, high refresh rate, multiple high resolutions… the list goes on. But what would happen if you put them all in one? That’s the question Acer must have asked, because the answer is the Predator X35.With this monitor, Acer is out to check all of the boxes. It’s a 35-inch ultrawide with a full 1440p resolution, a 200Hz refresh rate, true HDR with 1000-nit peak brightness and 512 zones of local dimming, G-Sync Ultimate, an 1800R curve, and more. If there’s a feature you hope for in a gaming display, there’s a good chance the X35 has it, but with an MSRP of $2499, this ultra-premium monitor carries an ultra-premium price tag.

Let’s find out just how good a flagship can be, shall we? Acer Predator X35 – Design and Features

The Predator X35 wastes no time making an impression. It comes in one of the biggest boxes I’ve ever seen for a monitor. At 39 by 26 inches, it’s already large, but when you add in an unusually thick width and a whopping 45 pound shipping weight, and it was enough to make the delivery person struggle getting it off the truck.

There’s a good reason for that size: the X35 is also the first monitor I’ve ever used that comes fully assembled. It’s literally as simple as taking it out of the box and plugging it in, assuming you’re planning on using the included stand — which you should, because it’s excellent.

Its heavy metal frame and low-key rubber feet kept the stand from moving, even when I would turn the panel. You can adjust height, tilt, and swivel to plentiful degrees, but there’s no rotation to use it in portrait mode. Given the specs of this monitor, it’s hard to imagine anyone using it as more than a main display, but for this price, I was disappointed to find that I couldn’t rotate it. If an arm or wall mount is more your style, you’ll need to unscrew the base and replace it with the included VESA mount.

Acer has done a good job of making the X35 look cool. Predator is an apt name, because you could put this monitor on the deck of a spaceship and have it fit right in. The scales on the stand, the piping, and RGB all work together to make a display that just looks mean.

Since the X35 is a G-Sync Ultimate monitor, video inputs are limited to one HDMI and one DisplayPort connection. You’ll want to stick to DisplayPort, however, because HDMI is limited to 100Hz at the maximum resolution. DisplayPort can clock all the way up to 200Hz when overclocking is enabled in the OSD but anything beyond 144Hz is limited to 8-bit color. The panel is capable of 12-bit, if you don’t mind scaling down to 120Hz.

The X35 uses a spacious, 35 inch VA panel that looks stunning. The bezels are thin, the screen is bright, and the 1800R curve is just generous enough to draw you into the picture. Compared to a TN panel, which is a popular choice for gaming monitors, the response time is a bit slower, but color accuracy and viewing angles are improved. In my testing, the off-axis color shift is the best I’ve ever seen.

Spec-wise, the X35 is a high-water mark for ultrawide displays. Acer rates it at a native brightness of 600-nits and a peak brightness of 1000. The vast majority of ultrawide gaming monitors today offer peak brightness of 400 nits or less, which makes the X35 especially impressive. It also features a native contrast of 2500:1 and an unprecedented (for a gaming display) 512 local dimming zones. The product page also promises 90% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space, which is especially good for vibrancy. Add to that its 2ms response time, which is perfect for eliminating ghosting and perceived input lag in games, and you have a monitor that should be outstanding for HDR gaming, movies, and content creation alike.

To test some of these claims, I turned to the SpyderX Elite from Datacolor. This tool uses a camera and software bundle to assess color, brightness, contrast, and much more. The limitation is that the monitor must be in SDR mode to make the necessary picture adjustments to capture accurate readings. Here is the scorecard:

As you can tell, the monitor did very well. The highest brightness I was able to record in SDR mode was 537 nits. When playing HDR-enabled games, brightness clearly and frequently extends far beyond this, though the Elite wasn’t able to gather those numbers. The lowest score here was for Luminance Uniformity, which measures whether the brightness varies at different areas of the screen. The upper corners each lacked brightness by 13-14% maximum compared to the center of the screen. In normal use, however, I didn’t notice the difference at all. White point, contrast, and color assessments were all very good.

Acer’s out of the box calibration was also good. Gaming on default settings, whites tended to look slightly blue, which was confirmed by the SpyderX. Slightly lowering the blue level in the color settings helped to bring that back in line before I swapped to a custom picture profile that was an exact match to the SpyderX’s readings.

That said, no matter what I tried, I couldn’t find coverage anywhere near the 90% DCI-P3 color spectrum featured on the product page. Instead, I found that the monitor covered 100% of sRGB, and 74% of both DCI-P3 and AdobeRGB. Neither of these are bad for a VA panel but are clearly short of the marketing and reinforce that creative professionals would be better served by an IPS display.

The company also promises an impressive 2ms response time, which should be enough to eliminate both ghosting and input lag. To test these claims, I used a mix of Lagom’s LCD Test Pages and Test-UFO. On Lagom’s Response Time test, I wasn’t able to observe any noticeable color shifting, which indicates that the panel is quickly able to shift between dark and light colors.

This was borne out in the ghosting test, which didn’t show any ghosts at all. Blur Busters’ Test UFO tests did show ghosts (as it always does), though they weren’t severe, and weren’t visible in any of the games I played. More noteworthy is that the X35’s Overdrive settings show artifacting at any setting but “Off” and become unusably bad at “Extreme.”
Acer Predator X35 – Gaming Performance

The Predator X35 offers a suite of useful gaming features. Inside the OSD, you’re able to set the Auto Black level, which will intelligently scale up black level in dark scenes so you don’t lose detail. You can enhance this further by manually setting your Dark Boost level to peek into the darkness. If seeing in the dark weren’t advantageous enough, the monitor also allows you to set an on-screen reticle for games without ADS.

The real stand-out feature is G-Sync Ultimate, and it’s just as good as you’ve heard. Since the introduction of G-Sync Compatible gaming monitors, Nvidia has rolled out three tiers G-Sync. Each aims to reduce screen tearing for an ultra-smooth gameplay experience, but only true G-Sync monitors feature Nvidia’s proprietary hardware to ensure the best possible experience. G-Sync Ultimate takes it a step further by introducing standards, such as 1000-nits brightness and multi-zone backlight, to the mix.

Playing Doom Eternal on the X35 was a glorious experience. Not only was it the smoothest gameplay experience I’ve ever had, but the HDR performance was simply incredible. The contrast was by far the best I’ve experienced in gaming, even compared to my 1000-nit TCL television playing Doom Eternal on PlayStation 4. The extravagant amount of local dimming zones works wonders for isolating out dark and light areas of the screen, and the peak brightness makes bright areas, like the fire and brimstone of Doom, feel downright alight. You can even take advantage of that full array backlight in SDR by enabling the SDR Variable Backlight setting inside the OSD.

That said, part of what you’re paying for is that 1000-nits peak, but I found it too high to use comfortably. At regular sitting distance, bright whites would cause my eyes to string. Full-on white screens, such as one of the splash screens after booting Doom literally made me squint. If you can’t actually use the full brightness, is it worth paying extra for?

The high refresh rate is a perfect accompaniment to the monitor’s G-Sync capability, however, making for gameplay that is not only smooth but also remarkably crisp. You’ll need a powerful PC to push anything close to that framerate at full resolution, though, since 1440p ultrawide is actually substantially more pixels than a standard 2K monitor.

The X35 also has the best speakers I’ve heard in a monitor under 43-inches. It’s packed with a pair of 4-watt speakers that are enhanced with Acer’s True Harmony technology. At 4 watts, they still won’t compete with a decent sound system, but this is one of the first monitors I’ve used where I’ve left the built-in speakers turned on.

Outside of gaming, the local dimming zones weren’t so nice. On dark backgrounds, anything light colored resulted in a wide halo. Working in Adobe Photoshop, my screen was filled with hotspots, including behind the mouse cursor, which was quite distracting. Turning off HDR disables the local dimming zones and solves the problem, but doing so is a hassle I don’t want to fiddle with every time I start a game or movie. Eventually, I got used to the wide halo effect, but it’s clear that this feature could use refinement.

Verdict

Hot spots aside, the Acer Predator X35 is an amazing gaming monitor. You’ll need deep pockets to afford one, but it offered the hands-down best picture I’ve ever experienced and is currently one of the absolute best ultrawide monitors you can buy today.

Explaining all the details of these new NZXT Kraken X-3 RGB AIOs may be repetitive reading for those of you who caught our original review of the Kraken X-3 and Z-3 series earlier this year, if that applies to you then you might want to skip past this introduction as the only significant change with this new bunch of AIOs is the addition of RGB fans, and of course the inclusion of the 240mm Z53 which was missing from the original launch in July.

The addition of the Z53 to the Kraken AIO range means you can now enjoy the benefits of a CPU block LCD screen with a 240mm AIO, which is probably the most commonly used size. The new NZXT Kraken Z53 will set you back around £199 which means you are paying a premium for having the luxury of an LCD screen as this is the extreme top end of the 240mm AIO price range. However, if the performance of the 280mm and 360mm Z-3 and X-3 coolers are anything to go by, the 240mm Z53 should be up there with the best.

Our main focus of this review is the new Kraken X73 RGB, as mentioned previously the only difference with these coolers compared to the originals is the new RGB fans. Gone are the Aer P 120mm units with interchangeable colour trims that came with the regular X-3 AIOs, and in are the new Aer RGB 2 fans with an opaque diffuser ring housing eight RGB LEDs.

Another noticeable difference between the two types of fans is the speed range, The original Aer P 120mm fans offer a range of 500-2000 RPM while the new Aer RGB 2 120mm units speed range is reduced to 500-1500 RPM. The new Aer RGB 120mm fan also features 2 more blades and a sharper blade angle compared with the Aer P, so it will be interesting to see how these changes of blade design and rotational speed affect thermal performance.

Other than those changes to the fans, the core design of the X-3 RGB coolers remains identical to the non-RGB versions using the 7th generation Asetek pump/CPU block and radiator combination with the usual features such as premium braided reinforced tube sleeving, articulating 90-degree fittings at the CPU block side and of course the Kraken X-3 RGB includes the same infinity mirror CPU block top cover design as the original Kraken X-3.

Users of the Z-3 series pay a premium for the LCD screen compared with the comparable X-3 counterparts. The same applies to this new X-3 RGB range, the original X73 (non-RGB) 360mm flagship will set you back around £159 in the UK, another £40 is added on top of that price for the new Kraken X73 RGB which may feel like a price worth paying to RGB enthusiasts for full RGB integration.

The NZXT Kraken X73 RGB is available to pre-order in the UK now, priced at £199.99 which may be a large chomp out of most people’s whole system budget, but if the performance of the regular Kraken X-3 series is anything to go but, it may be an expense worth forking out for.

NZXT Kraken X-3 RGB Features:

Complete RGB lighting effects

Infinity Mirror CPU block design

Latest 7th generation Asetek pump

Specification:

NZXT Kraken X73

Water Block

Dimensions(LxWxH): 80 x 80 x 55 mm
Material: Block: Copper, Housing: Plastic

Pump

Motor Speed & Power: 800 – 2,800 + 300 RPM, 12V DC, 0.3A

Tube

Length: 400mm
Material: Ultra-low Evaporation Rubber with Nylon Braided Sleeve

Radiator

Dimensions: 121 x 394 x 27mm
Material: Aluminium

Cap

Material: Plastic and brass
Rotation Orientation: 360° with 30° increments
HUE 2 Channel Output Voltage: 5V DC
HUE 2 Channel Output LED Qty.: Up to four LED strips – 10 LEDs per strip, Up to five Aer RGB fans, Up to six HUE 2 accessories

Fans

Aer RGB 2 120
Quantity: 3
Dimension: 120 x 120 x 26mm
Speed: 500 – 1,500 + 300 RPM
Air Flow: 17.48 – 52.44 CFM
Air Pressure: 0.15 – 1.35mm-H₂O
Noise: 22-33dBA
Bearing: Fluid Dynamic Bearing
Power Consumption: 12V DC, 0.18A, 2.2W
Connector: 4-pin PWM
Life: 60,000 hours / 6 Years

Warranty

6 Years

Compatible Socket & CPU

Intel Socket LGA 1200, 1151, 1150, 1155, 1156, 1366, 2011, 2011-3, 2066
Intel Core i9 / Core i7 / Core i5 / Core i3 / Pentium / Celeron
AMD Socket AM4, sTRX4*, TR4*(*Threadripper bracket not included)
AMD Ryzen 7 / Ryzen 5 / Ryzen 3 / Ryzen 9 / Threadripper

We covered the unboxing of the original Kraken X73 in detail during our initial review, since this new X73 RGB is almost identical, we will skip the unboxing this time around for a more streamlined review. If you want to check out the original unboxing and first look, head over to our original review HERE.

However, it is worthwhile checking out these new Aer RGB 2 fans and comparing them against the original Aer P 120mm units that came with the regular X-3 and Z-3 coolers.

I was expecting the Aer RGB 2 fans to look very similar to the Aer P, possibly with just the Colour Trim rings exchanged for RGB modules. That is not quite the case, the Aer RGB 2 fans have a much more chunky feel to them and are probably not as nice looking as the Aer P fans when the RGB lighting isn’t active.

Aer RGB 2 fans have nine blades compared with seven in the Aer P and the blade angle of the Aer RGB fans is steeper than its Aer P sibling. The four screw mounting points feature anti-vibration rubbers to reduce noise, Aer RGB 2 are also equipped with a Fluid Dynamic Bearing and have a 60,000 hour/6 year lifespan.

Connectivity consists of a standard 4-pin PWM plug to connect directly to motherboard headers as well as a proprietary 4-pin RGB connection that links fans together to be connected to the RGB cable connection on the Kraken X73 AIO CPU block.

When the RGB is illuminated, these new Aer RGB 2 fans look great. There are no obvious signs of LED hotspots or light bleeding out from around the sides of the diffusers and the RGB lighting effects are bright and vivid, good job NZXT.

Our CPU cooler test system is Intel Z390 based, therefore, we will be following the relevant Intel 115X socket installation procedure.

We begin the process by using the long black screws and washers and installing the fans to the radiator in a push airflow configuration, you may want to delay this step until later when you decide on the position and orientation of the radiator inside your case.

Next, align the universal backplate with the mounting holes on the motherboard, flip the motherboard back over and using the standoff specific to your system, fasten the backplate in position.

The CPU block cold plate comes with thermal compound pre-applied. With the corresponding upper mounting bracket fitted to the CPU block, lower the block down over the CPU and tighten the thumbscrews evenly and progressively in an X pattern to ensure mounting pressure is evenly spread across the CPU heat spreader.

Connect the thee 4-pin PWM fan cables to the included 3-way splitter cable and connect the other end of the splitter cable to the CPU fan header, labelled as CPU_FAN on the Z390 Aorus Xtreme.

There are two wiring connections on the CPU block, a multi-pin cable connects to the block that provides SATA power, pump speed output and RGB lighting, connect this cable to the pump now.

Now, connect the 3-pin fan header cable coming from the pump to a motherboard header, we used the CPU_OPT header on our Z390 Aorus Xtreme motherboard, and connect the SATA power cable from the CPU block to a spare SATA power connecter from the system power supply.

Using the RGB link cables, daisy chain the fans together as shown. Connect the end of the main RGB cable to the remaining IN port on the last fan in the chain and connect the opposite end of the RGB cable to the RGB connection coming from the CPU block housing.

To complete the installation, connect the micro-USB cable to the port on the CPU block and connect the USB 2.0 header connection to a spare USB header on your motherboard for RGB and pump speed control via the NZXT CAM software.

The installation process is virtually identical to the regular Kraken X73 but takes a couple of minutes longer due to the additional RGB fan connections required. Overall the installation is straightforward, it takes approximately 15-20 minutes and even a complete PC building novice shouldn’t find the process too difficult.

Testing Methodology

To measure the performance of CPU coolers, we devised an easily repeatable series of tests. The only variable is the coolers themselves to ensure the results can be accurately compared against one another.

Test Rig

CPU – Intel Core i9-9900KS

Motherboard – Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Xtreme

Memory – 16GB (2x 8GB modules) Corsair Vengeance DDR4 3200 C18

Storage – Corsair Force LE120 120GB SATA SSD

Power supply – Seasonic Prime PX-850 850W 80+ Platinum

Thermal compound – Corsair TM30

Chassis – Open test bench

Operating System – Windows 10 1903

Thermal Testing Procedure

The procedure will consist of several tests that will produce four temperature readings for each cooler. The data can then be used to compare thermal dissipation performance.

First, we will lock the Intel Core i9-9900KS at its 4.0GHz all-core base clock frequency, with a 1.150V VCORE applied in the BIOS. Then, run a 20-minute CPU stress test using Aida64 with CPU, FPU and cache stress tests selected.

To simulate overclocked frequency, we will then lock the Core i9-9900K to 4.7GHz on all cores with a 1.265V VCORE applied and run the same 20-minute load test again. To measure an extreme overclocking situation, we will lock the Core i9-9900KS frequency to 5.1GHz on all cores with 1.320V VCORE and run the tests one final time – this should push the limits of the cooling performance of even the very best CPU coolers.

Admittedly, the overclocked frequencies/voltage may not be the highest achievable, nevertheless, it will give us a good set of data to compare the effect frequency/voltage changes have on temperature.

The temperatures presented in the graphs will be average Delta temperatures measured over the length of the test. We will calculate the Delta temperature by deducting the ambient temperature in the test room from the measured CPU temperature, both at idle and under load.

Load temperatures are achieved by running AIDA64 stressing CPU, FPU and cache again for 20 minutes. This should give the CPU enough time to reach its maximum temperature. Throughout testing, Load Line Calibration will be set to level 6 (turbo), CPU power limits and c-states disabled in BIOS and all CPU Fans/pumps set to maximum RPM to find the raw thermal performance of each cooler. During the 20-minute load stress periods, CPU temperature is logged by HWINFO and an average CPU temperature is calculated from this data.

To measure the thermal performance of each CPU cooler with noise normalised, we will run the 4.7GHz load test one final time with the noise output of the CPU cooler set at 40dBA, which is measured using a sound meter placed 1 meter from the test bench. Noise normalised testing will determine the efficiency of the cooler at a given noise level.

Noise Testing

Maximum noise levels will be measured with our sound meter at a distance of 1 meter from the test bench. The cooler’s fans/pump will be set to their maximum RPM rating. The ambient noise level in the room is measured at 37.3dBA, the peak noise level of the cooler will be recorded in dBA.

Thermal Performance: Fans at 100% RPM

The 500RPM reduction in fan speed with these new Aer RGB 2 fans shows in our raw thermal performance test with the fan speed set to maximum RPM. At all three tested CPU frequencies, the NZXT Kraken X73 RGB is a few degrees behind the regular Kraken X73, but still does a great job in our extreme overclock test with the CPU frequency at 5.1GHz across all cores.

Thermal Performance: Noise Normalised (40dBA)

During our noise normalised test with noise levels equalised to 40dBA, the Kraken X73 RGB is right behind the regular X73 which shows that the change in design of the new Aer RGB 2 fans still provides high airflow at lower RPM.

Maximum Noise Levels

The introduction of Aer RGB 2 fans has reduced noise levels considerably compared with the Aer P fans found in the regular Kraken X-3 and Z-3 coolers. NZXT has traded off a little thermal performance at maximum RPM to favour lower noise levels which makes the X73 RGB one of the quietest AIO coolers we have tested recently.

When NZXT got in touch with KitGuru about these new Kraken X-3 RGB AIOs, I was wondering whether the addition of more RGB would be a good thing or not. The original X-3 and Z-3 series were already impressive coolers in terms of thermal performance, before this review the X73 was the leader in our thermal performance charts by a clear margin and the regular non-RGB versions already impressed in the looks department too.

Hardcore RGB enthusiasts may have been a little put off by the lack of RGB fans with the regular Kraken X-3 series so I can see why NZXT wanted to make this addition. The new Aer RGB 2 fans have little resemblance to the Aer P fans and I’m still unsure of which fans I prefer the look of when the RGB lighting isn’t powered on, the Aer P fans probably just edge it for me.

However, once the RGB lighting effects are switched on, the Aer RGB 2 fans look fantastic and will be sure to please RGB enthusiasts. The colours are bright and vivid, there is very little in the way of LED hotspots or light bleed coming from the light diffusers, and the fans still look pretty subtle as far as RGB fans go.

Adding RGB fans to the Kraken X-3 range has affected the price of course. The cost of the X73 RGB is around £40 higher than the regular non-RGB version which isn’t a huge increase but it does bump up the price to almost £200, which is at the top end for a 360mm AIO and may put this cooler out of reach of many user’s budgets.

Nonetheless, you really can’t argue with the thermal performance, coming not far behind the regular X73 in our tests is an impressive achievement, especially with the speed reduction of 500RPM of the Aer RGB 2 fans used in the Kraken X73 RGB. This new fan design also lowers noise output considerably compared with the regular X73 so that is a bonus for those who want a quiet system too.

Taken as a whole, the new Kraken X-3 RGB coolers thermal performance is solid, aesthetics look great with the addition of RGB fans and there is only a slight increase in installation time and difficulty compared with the regular X-3, as you just have to connect a few extra cables. The whole installation takes approximately 15-20 minutes, even a complete PC builder novice shouldn’t find it too difficult.

It is very difficult to find many faults with the Kraken X-3 series, the only complaint with the regular version could have been the lack of RGB fans, but now with this new X-3 RGB series, that problem doesn’t exist. The lack of motherboard RGB synchronisation could also be an issue for some and admittedly not everyone is a fan of the NZXT CAM software.

One other potential sticking point for some could be the price, but when you take all the features, Asetek’s high build quality, the class-leading thermal performance and six-year warranty, is it worth paying out that little bit extra for peace of mind? Maybe.

Pros:

Two RGB lighting zones.

Easy installation.

Great thermal performance.

Low noise output.

Cons:

Lack of motherboard RGB synchronisation.