NZXT Kraken G10 GPU Bracket

If you are looking for an easy way to watercool a burning hot video card without spending a ton of money, make sure you read this review of the NZXT Kraken G10 GPU bracket.

What if I told you that a $30 part can help improve your GPU’s temperatures by around 46°C at load compared to stock cooling? Crazy, right? Well, NZXT’s Kraken G10 might be nothing more than a steel bracket and mounting hardware, but pair it with a compatible AIO CPU water cooler, and you’ve got the hottest cooling equipment combo ever.

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I have 2 of these on order, along with 2 h90's to go on my 780 lightning SLI.

Too bad the g10 is on back order until the end of january

Bah, no H review

This one was kind of rudimentary. No VRM temps or anything.

Oh well. Still excited for all of my stuff to arrive.

Looks like a good substitute since Dwood disappeared.

Plus this one has support and a warranty if you need it.

Pugetsystems has so far been the only one I've seen that showed VRM temps, with the 290x VRM hitting 112C in furmark. Gaming it was lower at least.

Cr4ckm0nk3y said:

Looks like a good substitute since Dwood disappeared.

Plus this one has support and a warranty if you need it.

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Maybe it's his product under a reputable name

Sold it and he is on the beach now...

How many slots does is cover anyway? 2 or 3?same size as an ACX cooler?

Kovalen said:

Pugetsystems has so far been the only one I've seen that showed VRM temps, with the 290x VRM hitting 112C in furmark. Gaming it was lower at least.

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http://www.legitreviews.com/nzxt-kr...oler-review-on-an-amd-radeon-r9-290x_130344/4

also has some VRM temps.
I have had a G10 bracket for about two weeks and have similar results with the VRM temperatures, with them rising into the 70s with cryptocurrency mining. Purchased some heatsinks though, so I should see a decline.

[L]imey;1040516154 said:

I have 2 of these on order, along with 2 h90's to go on my 780 lightning SLI.

Too bad the g10 is on back order until the end of january

Bah, no H review

This one was kind of rudimentary. No VRM temps or anything.

Oh well. Still excited for all of my stuff to arrive.

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Did they tell you a ship date? I ordered one for my 290 but I don't have a shipping date. Going to pair it with a h55 I got at bob for $40.

Kovalen said:

Pugetsystems has so far been the only one I've seen that showed VRM temps, with the 290x VRM hitting 112C in furmark. Gaming it was lower at least.

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And the question I still have about this is unanswered. How much clearance do you have between the VRMs (which with this unit have NO heatsink) and the fan? If you added your own copper sinks, what kind of change would this make? Is no one else curious?

No I haven't been able to get a ship date.

I submitted a ticket and I got a generic (batch 3 is slated for late january) reply. Same info as is on the order page.

I'm interested in the vrm results, but my card is a little different as the 780 lightning has a front plate that acts as a heatsink for VRMS. So with my ghetto dwood bracket that doesn't even have a fan mount, I haven't had VRM problems, even with my SLI setup (top card has AIO, bottom is stock)

Once I get the g10's, I'm confident I won't have any problems.

My h90's arrive tomorrow, the wait on the g10's is killing me. At least I can mount one of them with my dwood bracket for the time being and see how temps compare to the TT performer I have on there now (it's going on my cpu)

This is silly fun for me, I just want my g10's ASAP.

[L]imey;1040516899 said:

No I haven't been able to get a ship date.

I submitted a ticket and I got a generic (batch 3 is slated for late january) reply. Same info as is on the order page.

I'm interested in the vrm results, but my card is a little different as the 780 lightning has a front plate that acts as a heatsink for VRMS. So with my ghetto dwood bracket that doesn't even have a fan mount, I haven't had VRM problems, even with my SLI setup (top card has AIO, bottom is stock)

Once I get the g10's, I'm confident I won't have any problems.

My h90's arrive tomorrow, the wait on the g10's is killing me. At least I can mount one of them with my dwood bracket for the time being and see how temps compare to the TT performer I have on there now (it's going on my cpu)

This is silly fun for me, I just want my g10's ASAP.

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I didn't see a ship date either on the website.... Only a time frame of "2nd batch shipping mid January"

Where are you putting the radiators? Will a cpu water cooler reach up to where the rear fan is located in the case?

Well I tore down my case last night and I am a little bummed that my new psu sticks out so far that it blocks my bottom fan slot.... I was planning to put the bottom cards rad down there. New plan is cpu rad top mounted, 1st Gpu rad mounted in 5.25 bays under did drive and bottom Gpu rad rear mounted.

It looks promising and it's a successor to dwood's bracket since NZXT said they compensated him for the design. The biggest problem I have is that it looks like it takes a lot of space which my next case won't be able to fit.

Someone on OCN linked this thread:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1203528/official-nvidia-gpu-mod-club-aka-the-mod#post_16252161
Could someone here tell me what advantage the bracket has over that mod (when done properly of course)? It seems to me like you could just jerry rig a fan onto it, too, and you'd actually be better off because you wouldn't need to fit that huge bracket on and potentially bend your board. Plus zip ties are...uh... relatively inexpensive, to put it mildly. With shipping, the G10 is like 40$. That would be.. um... ~40$ total.

StoleMyOwnCar said:

Someone on OCN linked this thread:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1203528/official-nvidia-gpu-mod-club-aka-the-mod#post_16252161
Could someone here tell me what advantage the bracket has over that mod (when done properly of course)? It seems to me like you could just jerry rig a fan onto it, too, and you'd actually be better off because you wouldn't need to fit that huge bracket on and potentially bend your board. Plus zip ties are...uh... relatively inexpensive, to put it mildly. With shipping, the G10 is like 40$. That would be.. um... ~40$ total.

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Lack of mod skill, time, asthetics may come into play, better fan on VRAM.

Dwood made/makes these brackets, nzxt just did one em selves cause they seen potential.

BroHamBone said:

Lack of mod skill, time, asthetics may come into play, better fan on VRAM.

Dwood made/makes these brackets, nzxt just did one em selves cause they seen potential.

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Dude, you can choose what fan you jerry rig to it. Also the mod is (from what I see in the picture anyway) just taking 4 zip ties, tying them to a fifth that wraps around the cooler, and then securing on the other side of the PCB. Like, it looks derp simple. >_>

Aesthetics I can see, but three slots of NZXT LOGO WITH CORDS HANGING OUT AND POSSIBLY A BENT PCB isn't something that looks appealing to me.

They should have just taken Dwood's more simple version and then just maybe added a small logo on the side...

StoleMyOwnCar said:

Like, it looks derp simple. >_>

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It is!

I tried this mod a while ago since I had a spare 620 and didn't like the fit at all. I then moved to Dwood's bracket and preferred the fit and ability to evenly tighten each side slowly.

Besides aesthetics that was the only reason I went to a metal bracket.

StoleMyOwnCar said:

Aesthetics I can see, but three slots of NZXT LOGO WITH CORDS HANGING OUT AND POSSIBLY A BENT PCB isn't something that looks appealing to me.

They should have just taken Dwood's more simple version and then just maybe added a small logo on the side...

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Unless you over tighten the bracket you shouldn't get a bend in the PCB. Even moving to the Hybrid my PCB's have never bent unless I over tightened the screws.

Dwood made a bigger bracket, with logo of your choice, very similar to the NZXT and no one reported bending. The NZXT bracket looks like an exact copy of Dwoods bigger custom bracket. But I agree 3 slots just for a logo is insane.

The NZXT version has some nice area for routing cables and tubing. I have one of Dwood's original brackets with no fan mount right now. Given my cards (780 lightnings) I can make do with the basic one. But I like the look of the krakens, and I wanted to support a company that is doing something like this.

The zip tie method certainly works, but being able to screw down the block is much easier.

My cards also have a front and back plate, so bending of the pcb is unlikely. I agree that it's not ideal for all applications. You can swap the fan out on the Kraken as well if you so choose. I'm going to give the default fans a chance and I'll get something quieter if i have a problem.

Right now the biggest problem with the G10 is availability

StoleMyOwnCar said:

Someone on OCN linked this thread:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1203528/official-nvidia-gpu-mod-club-aka-the-mod#post_16252161
Could someone here tell me what advantage the bracket has over that mod (when done properly of course)? It seems to me like you could just jerry rig a fan onto it, too, and you'd actually be better off because you wouldn't need to fit that huge bracket on and potentially bend your board. Plus zip ties are...uh... relatively inexpensive, to put it mildly. With shipping, the G10 is like 40$. That would be.. um... ~40$ total.

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I am sure the wire ties will not hold up. I've used them for various things over the years and I'm sure the heat will make them fail.

I ordered one (2nd batch) for my GTX 780 Lighting. Given the memory/vrm plate on the lightning is very stout I am not worried about the vrms temps at all. I will have to remove the gpu reactor on the back in order for the bracket to work - unless I buy some longer screws. I don't think the reactor does a whole lot anyway, the new 290X Lightning doesn't have it so now worries here. Looking forward to paring this up with an H55 or Antec 620. Dashit on here has a similar setup and runs in the low 50's running @ 1400Mhz with 1.3v on his lightning with only an H55.

I ordered one too. We will see how it works out.

FYI I just chatted with NZXT sales. They told me that the 2nd batch will start shipping on 1/25. Not quite "Mid January" but oh well. At least it's a date.

[L]imey;1040533646 said:

FYI I just chatted with NZXT sales. They told me that the 2nd batch will start shipping on 1/25. Not quite "Mid January" but oh well. At least it's a date.

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i just got that email

"Hello Rick,


That batch you ordered from was the 2nd pre order which should be shipping out on Jan 25th.

The Xmas batch was of the 2nd pre-order.


Sincerely,


NZXT Support "

it took them a weeks to give me that response!!

Stinks...... sounds like end of January to me.

If you were to do a little dremel or drill press action to cut down that extra unnecessary metal where the logo is, and use a 92mmx25mm fan do you think it could all fit in two slots?



I don't know if this is a 32mm or 25mm width 92mm fan, but it's close.

Face2Face said:

Stinks...... sounds like end of January to me.

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It didn't make a ton of difference to me as I ordered on 12/27, so I was thinking I was "batch 3" anyway.

But when I talked to the rep, he said I was batch 2. Bummer batch 2 isn't like next week though.

Oh well, 2 more weeks till shipping!

King Icewind said:

I don't know if this is a 32mm or 25mm width 92mm fan, but it's close.

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If it's the fan that comes with it...

Fan Dimensions 92 (W) x 92 (H) x 25 (D) mm

Taken from the site

Also photos on there installed on mobo. Only 1 straight shot, but is blurred zooming in.

Yeah I saw the dimensions after posting. My dreams are crushed for the time being.

How are we measuring slots? My ASRock extreme 4 has Pcie card slot 1, then a round mobo batter where I assume another slot could have gone, then a pci slot, then my 2nd pcie card slot.

Does that make mine "3 slot" since the count from card 1 to card 2 is 1(battery) 2(pci) 3(2nd gpu) ??

I was able to fit both cards in with their stock coolers even with the GPU reactor on the back of both cards, so I'm thinking space won't be a problem for me (hoping so anyway)

Deleted

Hmm... I'll take it back about the zip tie thing being easy to install. I tried it out on my bottom card, and I first got it on there just fine. Then I noticed my temps weren't really dropping that much so I tried shifting the block on the core a bit and got it down to 50C max load, but then when I tried putting it in the case, the rigidity of the rubber connectors caused the block to scoot around while I was shoving the thing in there. I think the issue is that I put the zip ties on wrong, so they weren't tight enough. I had to try to slide the thing around again to try to find a good spot, but I couldn't ever find one again. Lowest I got it to was about 62C on high loads, and that's after encountering a few blue screens due to temps going into the 90's or so temporarily under load. I realized I didn't have enough zip ties to try it again anyway so the only choice I had at the time was to reassemble the old cooler and put it on there. Unfortunately now my stock temps with the old cooler appear to be worse under load (though the idle is just fine). That's kind of weird.

Right now I'm just chalking it up to doing a bad paste application (in my haste) and seating job of the stock cooler... maybe. I'm also not sure if this Dynex thermal paste is any good. They didn't have anything else at Best Buy. These GPU's don't suffer rapid thermal degradation when blue screening at high temps, do they? Naturally I shut the thing down immediately in such scenarios (not that I needed to it blue screened in the 90-99's anyway), but I'm curious as to the higher load temps with the stock cooler now (and we're talking quite a bit higher). If they do, I think I'll forgo trying the zip tie method again, in favor of the G10. I'll use this Corsair H55 for it when it gets here.

Also, it was fairly easy (though time consuming, because it has so many screws) to prepare the EVGA card for the cooler. Not very warranty friendly but I just took off the PCB heatsink temporarily and used a pair of pliars to twist the metal bits that would be near the core off. It was pretty easy, and gave it ample clearance. The only thing to watch out for is making sure the twisted metal doesn't scrape anything when putting on. Might have to straighten it out a bit afterwards; make sure it doesn't scrape any resisters going down or something. But using this I was able to keep the PCB heatsink while putting the AIO unit on there. I just think I didn't have enough zip ties going in, and thus I made some hasty decisions which compromised the seating situation a bit. I didn't realize that any small sliding this way or that way in the GPU would cause such drastic differences in temperature.

Just a bit worried my chip didn't suffer any degradation while I was playing around...

http://keplerdynamics.com/

an alternative to the G10/Cable Ties.

Have one on my 290X w/ an H90. No VRM or VRAM heatsinks, a 140MM fan blowing air at the middle of my card from around 8 inches away. Everything runs fine

core 35c
vrm1 32c
vrm2 46c

max load (1100mhz, stock mem)
core 53c
vrm1 93c
vrm2 56c

Is that site secure? Looks awfully barebones... Kinda like they just took a template site and used it...

I bought one... if it comes in.. it's worth it's weight in gold for 35 bucks shipped....I already have a spare Water 2.0 Pro.

As a self admitted 'newb' for this sort of stuff I've been reading up on, among may other things, this bracket since I first heard about it and it left me curious about when it'd be worthwhile. Specifically I've been wondering if one has the intent to supply their own third party cooling system for a card vs using what came stock with the card; under what circumstances do you think it may or may not be it be more advisable to pick up a cheaper reference card to alter rather then a non-reference card?

Vrm 1...isn't that high?

StoleMyOwnCar said:

Is that site secure? Looks awfully barebones... Kinda like they just took a template site and used it...

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I've spoke with the guy that runs the company via email. He seems legit. He doesn't do any advertising or trolling in forums to spread the word; but says his orders are picking up (about a month ago).

I plan to get one of the http://keplerdynamics.com/ brackets and also mount this fan assembly from the egg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835192026. You can stretch out the fans; however the fans are weak and I plan to replace them. Between the two it will be a true ghetto mod.

I'm just worried about submitting all that info through some web form to some dude.... it'd be nice if he just set himself up as an Ebay service. That would be really nice, in fact.

Doesn't have to have ebay, just at least Paypal.