NZXT Kraken Elite 240 RGB 2024 AIO CPU Liquid Cooler

I've only had mine up for a short time now, installed on a B650 Gigabyte Aorus Elite AX motherboard with a 7800x3D in an NZXT H6 Flow case, but it's been perfect for what I wanted. The AIO itself is probably overkill for a 7800x3D, so if you're strictly looking to cool your fancy shmancy new processor you don't have to spend this much to do it. Go for a Thermalright Phantom Spirit or something inexpensive; this is only really necessary if you want the aesthetic that it provides. Since I live in an old house with no AC, an AIO can be a nice help in the hot summer months and the ease of airflow in and out of the case makes keeping the entire system relatively cool a lot easier, but still... it's a premium price for the look you want more than the functionality. This AIO does include brackets for AM4, AM5, and for Intel LGA1700 installs, and it's deceptively easy to install; the instructions aren't particularly clear, and I've normally just stuck with air cooling in the past so this was a new one for me. Since I installed it on AM5, it was just a matter of removing the plastic CPU brackets on the motherboard and then screwing in the dual-post screws (long side toward motherboard, instructions are unclear on this) with the AIO's included plastic brackets for each facing in the indicated way for AM5. The metal bracket on the CPU cooler twists off easily, and you can then just replace it with the version you need if the pre-installed bracket wasn't what you wanted. Thermal paste is pre-applied to the cooler, and the pipes from the cooler to the radiator are flexible enough to be adjusted to however you need them to be. And that's pretty much it, just screw it on with the provided thumb screws and you're done. Watching an install video can help if you're a first timer or uncomfortable with the process, but it's much easier than it appears at first glance and was much more simple than dealing with some of the annoying backplate support designs that some air coolers have. The NZXT CAM software has been easy to use and has plenty of useful information on it, you can rotate and customize the display of the CPU cooler to show what you want (I use GPU/CPU temp information on mine, looks nice and functionally useful). No complaints about the software at all, sometimes that sort of thing can be futzy to deal with but this was very simple to set up and understand how to use. Overall, it's outstanding. The install was easy, the fans aren't silent but aren't any louder than my case fans, it keeps everything very cool even on a warm day.... couldn't ask for much more. If something like this looks cool to you for the build you're doing and you can afford the price difference over air cooling, I can't imagine anyone being unhappy with this one.