Not too bad, but not too good.
review by
ayymd
I traded a Dualshock 4 for this thing, this better be good.
Test System Used
- CPU: AMD FX-8350 (OC: 4.6GHz @ 1.49V)
- Motherboard: ASUS M5A97 R2.0
- Memory: Kingston HyperX FURY 16GB
- GPU: Sapphire R9 280x Tri-X TOXIC @ 1.2/1.7GHz
- Case: Cooler Master HAF X
- PSU: Corsair HX750
- Software: SpeedFan / Prime95 / CPU-Z / Windows 10 Professional
Installation
Getting this thing on was a task because my friend who lent it to me didn't include the backplate. I had to zip-tie it on, which you can see in the photos below, and that's not easy when you're using a full tower, in a cramped space, and you're kind of a small person. So I'm not biased about having to zip-tie it on, I asked my friend to rate installation out of 10, and he gave it an 8. Otherwise, this thing would've gotten a big fat zero.
Noise Level
When I ran two fans on this thing (the stock fan and my CRYORIG QF120), and even then, it was still really, really quiet. I mean, it's not as quiet as the Macho X2, but damn, it was still really, really quiet. I couldn't hear either of the fans, the pump, or anything. I'll give this thing a 10 for not making a sound. Good freaking job Corsair.
Performance
Okay, so here's the part that took me the longest to measure. I had to install it so many times, and that took a good 3 hours of my time alone, but here are the benchmarks.
IDLE:
- Stock:
- Minimum: 24?C
- Maximum: 33?C
- Average: ~31.5?C
- Overclocked:
- Minimum: 27?C
- Maximum: 35?C
- Average: ~33.5?C
LOAD:
- Stock:
- Minimum: 41?C
- Maximum: 48?C
- Average: ~47?C
- Overclocked:
- Minimum: 54?C
- Maximum: 82?C
- Average: ~75?C
So, yeah, pretty decent numbers. I'll give this a 8.5 here, mostly because it's performing how I suspect a 212 EVO would, but it costs $50. It'd be a 10 if it was less than $45USD.
Aesthetics
When my friend gave this to me, my first reaction was that it is so much better looking than my old Alienware liquid cooler I had. I really liked the tubes, and he said that they aren't even sleeved, but that doesn't matter. Smooth tubes are B-E-A-UTIFUL. This sexy creation deserves a 10.
Closing
So, this was a new experience for me. I've never once in my life used a liquid cooler that actually fit, and was made by someone I know (like Corsair, NZXT, Thermaltake, Fractal Design, etc). I felt pretty special installing something with zip-ties, even though it's been done so many times before.
Scoring
- Installation: 8
- Noise Level: 10
- Performance: 8.5
- Aesthetics: 10
- Final Score: 9.125
Pros | Cons |
---|
It was quieter than I expected, looks nice | Performance was merely average, even with two fans, somewhat of a pain to install normally |
Ratings