Diving Deep Into the New Kraken Elite Pump

The new Kraken Elite (2024) has several new and flashy upgrades compared to our previous generation, such as an enhanced LCD screen and RGB features. The pump has been upgraded significantly as well, including the addition of a dual-chamber design. A good AIO cooler can help keep components cool, dissipate heat, and increase performance, all while keeping your PC in good condition. Utilizing a custom-designed pump in concert with CoolIT, the aptly named NZXT Turbine pump helps increase flow rates and head pressure to maintain high-quality and consistent cooling by allowing coolant to circulate rapidly through your system. This process improves heat dissipation from the CPU to the radiator.

Dual-Chamber Details

Featuring a new, dual-chamber design, the NZXT Turbine pump isolates hot and cold coolant into two separate chambers, reducing the effect of heated coolant on the pump, increasing pump reliability, and lowering noise levels. The pump upgrade doesn’t just improve cooling; it offers enhanced cooling efficiency, utilizing less power and offering more performance. The unique nature of the dual-chamber pump gives you numerous advantages over the previous Kraken Elite (2023) design.

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 performance consistent while lowering temps on high-heat CPUs like the latest from Intel and AMD.

Performance Overview

The NZXT Turbine pump delivers significant cooling improvements for Intel and AMD CPUs. We measured the Kraken Elite's (2024) thermal resistance across all three radiator sizes, comparing it to the previous generation and other leading pumps on the market. 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.

Intel Testing

For Intel systems, we conducted open bench tests under the following conditions:

AIO pumps tested
- PWM-controlled pump (Arctic Liquid Freezer III)
- Asetek 7th Gen pump (Kraken Elite 2023)
- Asetek 8th Gen pump (with NZXT radiator and fans)
- NZXT Turbine pump (Kraken Elite 2024)
Units tested: 1 SKU of each product
Rounds of testing: 2 rounds for each unit
CPU: Intel® 13900K
CPU power: 280W
Stress tool: Prime95

Using the Kraken Elite (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 illustrates the Kraken Elite 240 RGB performance for Intel compared to other pumps.

Based on TR Values C/100W - Tested against Kraken Elite (2023) as a baseline.

AMD Testing

For AMD systems, we conducted open bench tests under the following conditions:

AIO pumps tested
- PWM-controlled pump (Arctic Liquid Freezer III)
- Asetek 7th Gen pump (Kraken Elite 2023)
- Asetek 8th Gen pump (with NZXT radiator and fans)
NZXT Turbine pump (Kraken Elite 2024)
Units tested: 1 SKU of each product
Rounds of testing: 2 rounds for each unit
CPU: AMD Ryzen™ 9 7950X
CPU power: 180W
Stress tool: Cinebench R23

Compared to the 2023 versions, the Kraken Elite (2024) shows 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 highlights the Kraken Elite 360 RGB performance for AMD compared to other pumps.

Based on TR Values C/100W - Tested against Kraken Elite (2023) as a baseline.

The Kraken Elite (2024) offers significant upgrades to our previous generation, and we want to see them in action! Share your Kraken Elite builds and give us feedback on our products so we can continue improving. So please follow us on Discord, Twitter, and Instagram to enjoy the fun!

Ready to upgrade your CPU cooling? Click here to check out the Kraken Elite.