NZXT Releases Kraken G12 Liquid Cooler GPU Mounting Kit
by Anton Shilov on April 14, 2017 1:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Corsair
- NZXT
- GPUs
- cooling
- Liquid Cooling
- Kraken
NZXT has announced its Kraken G12 mounting kit, which is designed to allow video cards to mount a closed-loop liquid cooler. In junctionwith a cooler, the adapter can significantly decrease GPU temperatures and improve cooling of VRMs; it is compatible with various coolers and cards.
Closed-loop liquid cooling systems (LCSes) for CPUs have gained popularity among enthusiasts in the recent years due to high efficiency amid relatively small dimensions. But while high-performance GPUs have higher TDPs (and therefore greater heat generation) than advanced CPUs, few LCSes can be attached to graphics cards out of the box. Some companies (e.g., Corsair) offer special adapters (brackets) to make their liquid coolers compatible with popular graphics boards, but NZXT is the one of a few vendors to offer mounting kits that are designed to be compatible not only with the company’s own LCS, but with other popular liquid coolers as well.
The NZXT Kraken G12 is a relatively simple device that consists of bracket compatible with various waterblocks from NZXT, Corsair, Thermaltake, Antec, and Zalman as well as multiple reference and non-reference graphics cards based on AMD or NVIDIA GPUs (see the table). The Kraken G12 is equipped with a 92-mm fan with up to 1500 RPM speed that can cool down the various video card components that aren't covered by the LCS, such as DRAM chips and VRM components (inductors, MOSFETs, capacitors, etc.). All of which is important, especially as the latter get very hot under high load.
| NZXT Kraken G12 | |||||
| Matte White RL-KRG12-W1 |
Matte Black RL-KRG12-B1 |
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| Dimensions | 201 × 113 × 32 mm | ||||
| Materials | Steel and Plastic | ||||
| Weight | 282 g | ||||
| Fan | 92-mm, 1500 RPM, rifle bearing with 3-pin connector | ||||
| Compatible Graphics Cards | AMD | RX 480, 470, R9 390X*, 390*, 380X*, 380, 290X*, 290*, 285*, 280X*, 280*, 270X, 270, R7 370, HD7970*, 7950*, 7870, 7850, 6970, 6950, 6870, 6850, 6790, 6770, 5870, 5850, 5830 * Some variations in AMD die height may require the use of a copper shim which is not included. |
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| NVIDIA | Titan X, Titan, Geforce GTX 1080, 1070, 1060, 980 Ti, 980, 970, 960, 780 Ti, 780, 770, 760, 680, 670, 660Ti, 660, 580, 570 | ||||
| Compatible AIO LCS | Antec | KUHLER H2O 920V4, 620V4, 920, 620 | |||
| Corsair | H105, H110, H90, H75, H55, H50 (CW-906006-WW only) | ||||
| NZXT | Kraken X62, X52, X42, X61, X41, X31, X60, X40 | ||||
| Thermaltake | Water 3.0 Riing RGB 360, 280, 240, Red 280, 140, Water 3.0 Ultimate, Extreme S, Extreme, Pro, Performer Water 2.0 Extreme, Pro, Performer |
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| Zalman | LQ-320, LQ-315, LQ-310 | ||||
| Warranty | 2 Years | ||||
In fact, the Kraken G12 is not the first product of the kind from NZXT. Several years ago it released its Kraken G10 bracket for then-contemporary coolers and video cards. The Kraken G12 just expands the list of compatible components, uses a new fan with a lower rotating speed and adds a white option. From a technical point of view, making the Kraken G12 compatible with LCSes from five different suppliers is not a problem as compliant closed-loop liquid coolers are designed for standard CPU sockets and are made by Asetek, so, their constructions are similar.
The NZXT Kraken G12 will be available towards the end of the month for $29 in the USA.
Related Reading:
- NZXT Kraken G10 Review: Liquid Cooling for Your GPU
- Closed Loop AIO Liquid Coolers: 14-way Mega Roundup Review
- Closing the Loop: Contained Liquid-Coolers from Corsair and NZXT Compared
- The NZXT Manta mITX Case Review
- NZXT H440 "EnVyUs" Edition Chassis Announced: H440 Gets an e-Sports Edition
- NZXT Unveils Fully Customizable Aer RGB LED Fans
- Raijintek Shows Off Pumpless Liquid Cooling System
Source: NZXT
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Aerodrifting - Friday, April 14, 2017 - link
Nice add. I always hated how most high end GPU fans spin up to audible level due to heavy load in games. For a long period of time I always thought X70 are the best "overall" cards since they offer very similar performance to flagships while staying around 150W, With aftermarket coolers like Windforce / ACX they can remain <75C loaded while remaining reasonable quiet.Shadow7037932 - Monday, April 17, 2017 - link
It can keep it cooler than that. I have a AIO water cooler hooked up to a R9 290 and it never goes above 56-58C under normal gaming loads and never go above 63C under benchmark/stress test.nagi603 - Monday, April 17, 2017 - link
The problem is not keeping it cool. It's keeping it cool enough AND remaining quiet. Granted, the last part is different to almost everyone.HomeworldFound - Friday, April 14, 2017 - link
Having bought a big phantom in the past, I'm not sure I'd trust NZXT and water in the same computer.Makaveli - Friday, April 14, 2017 - link
I'm still using a G10 on my 7970Ghz its been great.Looking forward to trying this new one on VEGA.
wolrah - Saturday, April 15, 2017 - link
Then you can buy the CLC from any of a number of other vendors. At that point you're trusting NZXT for a piece of stamped steel attached to a standard sized fan.Xajel - Saturday, April 15, 2017 - link
Damn, this will require 3 slots already... I was hoping to keep the dual slot configuration.. and better single slot but the back IO is already dual+ slots for 99% of these cards ( I saw only one 1070 single slot card )ES_Revenge - Saturday, April 15, 2017 - link
What do you mean, "adds a white option"? The G10 was available in white, black, red, and blue (blue was the most rare). This seems to be only available in black and white. That means it *subtracts* the red and blue options.Only differences really are matte finish instead of shiny, and a different design. This does seem slightly more modern. The slower fan probably makes sense with the lower power requirements (will result in less noise) but the G10s fan wasn't exactly high speed or high noise. In fact, the included fan was not powerful enough to cool some VRM components well.
Other problem they don't seem to have addressed is a lot more cards have the VRM area "on the other side" now, don't they? Meaning the VRM components are on the slot/bracket side and not the edge side. The problem for the G10 on those type of cards (which were fewer before) was the fan simply doesn't blow over that area at all. This is the same with the G12, only now I think there's more cards designed like that.
Dizoja86 - Sunday, April 16, 2017 - link
Well, I'd seriously hope that most potential buyers looking into aftermarket coolers understood the needs of their hardware. If they had rear VRM's and still really, really wanted to have this specific cooler, I guess they could jury-rig a case fan to the back.CookieBin - Monday, January 15, 2018 - link
I think that's pretty ridiculous. If your going to buy whatever card, and it has VRMs on the non-heat sinked area. That's on you as the buyer, buying a inferior product not designed to handle high wattage for an extended duration. I suppose we can thank the crypto miners for making manufacturers work harder to keep cards reliable.