Weird $40 CPU Cooler: Jiushark JF13K Diamond Flat Tower Review

[@GamersNexus]

Cooler review playlist is here! kzbin.info/www/bejne/n4PIaa2MeM92hNk Support our in-depth reviews and grab our new Project & Soldering Mat! In stock & shipping now! store.gamersnexus.net/products/gn-project-soldering-mat Or pick up the ever-popular Large 'Volt' Modmat! store.gamersnexus.net/products/modmat-volt-large

[@Ebolachicken]

Does this work as a GPU cooler?

[@jackrabbitping]

Thank you lmao, just left a comment today requesting you guys to review this.

[@evtimgaydarov2267]

Maybe the noise is from that the screws bending the frame of the fans on the corners and make some pressure on them

[@Jive-1]

BTW isn't Jiushark a word play for monster shark

[@tzandels]

@@evtimgaydarov2267 Yes, I was thinking exactly the same thing when the video shows those corners.

[@HerbaMachina]

Looks pretty solid for cases with limited height for aircoolers

[@GamersNexus]

Agreed! It's got the downdraft style, just utilizes more length.

[@zxbc1]

Yes! I actually have a slim case and most tall air coolers are borderline touching the side panel. This would absolutely solve the issue, even if you slap two normal thickness fans onto it. Speaking of which, I wonder if performance will increase with some better fans? Most people probably have some spare 120mm fans lying around, too.

[@brandontrost8888]

@@GamersNexus yeah hopefully this review gets other companies to make a similar design. This design might suck to install, but for a SFF/HTPC you don't upgrade often this is probably one of the best coolers you can stuff in something like that.

[@tyguy94920]

I immediately want to slap some Noctuas on this for instant improvement

[@anasevi9456]

Yeah this cooler looks like a godsend for people whom want to do compact mATX builds or horizontal ATX builds. Any rate looks like a solid cooler even for traditional builds, hope the fit and finish improves, fan issue surprised me as those looked like they had pricy bearings in them.

[@-opus]

An air cooler that clears ram, what a revolutionary idea

[@-opus]

@@BlackhatAudio Congratulations on never using the first dimm slot I guess

[@-opus]

@@Username-2 That simply isn't true, most people only use 2 dimms anyway though.

[@Nalianna]

LPX for the win.

[@Jdogg4089]

@@Username-2 You're right man

[@TheWhoamaters]

@@-opus 3:20 shows it on a mobo with all 4 dimms full, but go off

[@IngwiePhoenix]

I admire the fact that you go and review what is first percieved as a meme product with your full suite and testing force. THAT is dedication, a rock solid methodology and what one might call "a well oiled machine". And, also super impressive! Thanks for the video, I am actually very interested in this thing now - I love the asthetics of it!

[@GamersNexus]

Thank you! We apply ourselves even to the 'weird' products -- you never know which ones will turn out to be impressive.

[@SenatorBanana]

@@GamersNexus based

[@Rekhan4242]

​@GamersNexus I also find them the most interesting because they are often so "out of the box" thinking that really finds unique solutions.

[@Anankin12]

@@GamersNexus or to be extremely hilarious

[@damasterpiece08]

there are no bad products, only bad prices

[@Johnny2Gats]

Kinda surprised we haven’t seen more of this with air coolers. Especially with ITX builds becoming more and more popular.

[@dragonsyph2557]

Considering it covers everything, kinda defeats the purpose of having nice motherboard and ram.

[@FateSoulzZ]

@@dragonsyph2557 most itx builders don't care much about the ram or motherboard looks to be fair, I think it's fine

[@elu9780]

@@dragonsyph2557 I'd rather have my system cooled well than look at my RAM or motherboard once in a year if that.

[@devilmikey00]

Honestly, the biggest barrier for entry on ITX right now is GPU's. Most ITX cases that are actually small can barely fit a 3 slot card in if they can at all. Now every damn card being released is some nearly 4 slot behemoth. You're pretty much stuck with the forever out of stock Nvidia founders cards for some SKU's.

[@elu9780]

@@devilmikey00 I hope we'll enter the era of smaller, more efficient GPUs that don't need massive cooling. Honestly, I want more half-height GPUs that are at most 2 slots thick.

[@PCXPARTS]

When your CPU wants to be a GPU

[@GamersNexus]

hahaha

[@discipleofdagon8195]

When you want a gpu but all you have is a 5600g

[@TheWunder]

@@discipleofdagon8195 nahaha

[@tresnonugroho6397]

CPU be like: "I identify myself as GPU. My pronoun is ge/force."

[@Endymion.]

You read my mind

[@FateSoulzZ]

It would be interesting to see how well the cooler performs with different fans, maybe a fan normalized testing could see the thermal capacity or potential of this cooler

[@swampje1985]

I agree! Perhaps a couple of Silent wings...? 😇

[@Vegemeister1]

25mm fans and an inlet duct to prevent recirculation would make this thing potentially monstrous.

[@codygrinnell8676]

@@Vegemeister1 nope. just get those fans you should fear because they can shread anything... if you know, you know which ones I'm talking about

[@alecs5255]

don't expect much improvement from larger fans. Look at noise normalised vs full speed testing. There is not enough surface area to make a difference

[@FateSoulzZ]

@@alecs5255 noise normalized testing and full speed testing could be quite different depending on the fan used, using a better static pressure and lower noise fan would probably make the noise normalized charts better. I could be wrong as the JF13K might have already been using a very good fan.

[@longinuz]

YESSSS! Nice, the waiting is over at last hehe, I was waiting for you guys to review this cooling system for a while now :)

[@GamersNexus]

Glad we were able to deliver! It took a while to get to us!

[@longinuz]

@@GamersNexus yup, I know because it is only avaible in China rn, so dont worry, and thanks once more for the review!

[@dreamcat4]

@@longinuz well technically i *can* buy it (over on aliexpress)... but then the price is like way way higher. dammn shame that, hope it gets a better (more affordable) international distribution over time

[@k.i.a.n]

love how thorough you and your team's testing methodology is, not only for CPU coolers but literally everything y'all do. it's awesome to see an outlet value repeatability and objectivity this much.

[@spambot7110]

i really love this form factor, i really hope to see more just like it. seems absolutely perfect for sff. i can imagine that basically covering up an entire ITX board with just enough clearance for a GPU to peek out. i'd love to see what it looks like on an ITX board and I'd also like to see what its performance is like with nicer fans

[@thelittle]

just be aware that the cooler have a 240mm lenght, and the ITX board only has 17cm, so it will pass the board size and maybe wont fit some compact cases. Also, the CPU socket have a little bit different positioning in most ITX boards because of its size. This means that since the socket coud be closer to the I/O side of the MB, this huge cooler could hit the case panel. I have a similar size and design cooler (old coolermaster geminii 2 with 2x120 fans) and was unable to use on my raidmax itx case.

[@rovannerb]

It reminds me a lot of the old (16 years by now) Cooler Master Geminii and variants. Even the installation bracket is very similar with the same tool. I can confirm that on both Geminii and Z600 the thermal paste spreading was kinda uneven, but after a few trials and patience I was able to pretty much nail it. I still love these giant CPU and GPU coolers, even if they're not that trendy anymore.

[@facebag666]

I thought I was the only person that remembered the geminII or the scythe God hand style coolers.

[@qazwsx000xswzaq]

Yeah it resembles a lot to the Cooler Master Geminii. It would be great if GN can dig the Geminii out and try to test it with modern hardware haha

[@christopherjames9843]

I had a Geminii for my Core2 Quad rig back in the day.

[@xtaps]

Had the dual geminii. Awesome kit as i rember

[@yensteel]

@@facebag666 The Scythe God hand is definitely a top down cooler alright! What a beast of a cooler, over 1 kg! The Scythe Susanoo was similar too, and the released model.

[@CGE10]

Reminds me of the old Cooler Master Gemini II cooler I had like 10 years ago, it was also a 2x 120mm cooler like this. Worked pretty well from what I remember.

[@primuseklips]

Identical, only painted white.

[@oogieboogie232]

Yep also owned this for a core 2 E6750(?) system. It served well for the time as a quiet cooler due to the 120mm fans, although it massively underperformed considering the sheer airflow and fin mass. However it did lower surface temperature of the mobo significantly. Definitely wouldn't overclock with it though.

[@huzudra]

This is a godsend for small form factor and desktop form factor builds! Please, manufacturers, more like this!

[@jesseraphael2423]

Thats what i was thinking, i just changed my mid tower into the fractal ridge. Had to downsize to the box cooler, but its only a 5600X anyway. If i upgrade my build definitly consider this. Maybe theyll have a slightly improved design on this by then too

[@bjn714]

VRM & RAM cooling included is a nice bonus, especially if you're using a low end board with crap VRMs with no heatsink, or like to overclock your RAM. I will definitely be using this in some SFF builds (not all, since many of them still have a height clearance of maybe 70mm or so).

[@andrewazar484]

Agreed. Although I have the space to run a tower cooler in my system, I'm excited about this form factor, and hope to see some refinement and other competing products come to market. It seems like a great option for people who have budget motherboards that would like some extra peace of mine when it comes to vrm cooling.

[@Mack_Dingo]

Those look like InWin Mercury fans, w/ z-height of 20mm. But without the loop around the blades

[@bjn714]

@@Mack_Dingo they're 15mm. They could be made by the same ODM that manufactures the fans for InWin-that isn't out of the question-but they're definitely different fans.

[@bunkymunky]

I'd add nvme cooling as well, I think PCIe 5.0 drives are going to cause issues in ITX cases I also hate the tiny fans that come for chipset cooling with some ITX morherboards, wondering if this type.of cooler could help.

[@joshifukyeah]

It would be very interesting to see the coolers performance with some decent 25mm fans, some arctic P12s for example. Good job as per usual.

[@wrt142]

Throw on some noctua industrials haha

[@aftermax01]

Exactly, Arctic P12 PWM

[@facebag666]

Just replaced all of my 10+ year old coolermaster fans with the arctic p12 and p14 pwm fans. While the rpm isn't as high as the 300rpm+ blade aster fans they are completely silent in comparison even at similar rpm while the p12 can keep up.

[@carnsoaks1]

Agreement abounds.

[@Top_Weeb]

@@facebag666 The problem with the P12 is the whining sound they make around 1,000 RPM

[@august1870]

i hope someone who worked on this product sees this video and the unexpected praise its getting (as well as the constructive criticism). this product is awesome and i really hope we can see small innovations like this more in pc hardware

[@OniDasAlagoas]

This looks so pretty. Imagine a build using that and a vertical mount gpu.

[@grrkaa8450]

just had the same thought - a slim-ish case with tinted glass...

[@FreshApplePie]

lol, i'd show my friends and tell them my pc is just 2 gpus and no cpu for maximum gaming

[@padnomnidprenon9672]

@@FreshApplePie worth the 40$ I'd say lol

[@kaiseralbrecht6099]

I have one on a 7800X3D and I love it, i had 2 Noctua NF-A12x15 Chromax installed on it. Thanks for the review Steve.

[@TheZoenGaming]

Looks like it might work well in a SFF system. Well, a large SFF system at least. Just replace the fans with Noctua fans, slim or regular, and the rattle issue would go away.

[@GamersNexus]

Definitely! As long as it's got clearance for it, it'd maximize surface area!

[@TheZoenGaming]

@@GamersNexus Aww, my heart went away when I edited it to mention the Noctua fans. LOL I have to remember to stop editing my comments when they get hearts!

[@TheZoenGaming]

It'd be nice if this convinced Noctua to update the NH-L12S and the NH-L9x65 to a dual fan design.

[@Soddus.]

@@TheZoenGaming reheart the man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@Criiies]

@@TheZoenGaming You fool. You bafoon.

[@Triaxx2]

I'm glad this did so well. As much as you're all about the technical testing and believe me, that's important, I'd love to see even still images of coolers like this installed in a handful of 'known' cases. Maybe some modified with pinhole cameras to get side views.

[@Krynis]

Cool to see people thinking differently, this could support a lot of setups the tall coolers do not it also looks quite nice imo.

[@crysto25]

@Clint L it's called "borrowing" happens all the time.

[@bdhale34]

@@clintl1672 it's significantly different than the cooler master Gemini cooler double the fans more heat pipes different base and mounting, no court in the world would give them any amount of trouble over the design of the shark.

[@qazwsx000xswzaq]

@@bdhale34 Check the original Coolermaster Gemini from 2007/8.

[@igorfiuza144]

I had an oddly similar cooler from Coolermaster, somewhere around 2010. The name was GeminII (I was never sure if it meant Gemin2 or Geminii). What makes me feel ever weirder is that even the mounting system was EXACTLY the same, even the hex to Phillips thingy was the same!

[@Ranger_Kevin]

This might be exactly the cooler I have been looking for for a specific use case that I have. Nice to see that some manufacturers are not afraid to think out of the box. I don't think the fan noise would be an issue, as I would probably replace those with non-RGB Arctic fans anyway.

[@josephoberlander]

This isn't outside the box, it's exactly what they do in your vehicle. Large and thin rectangle with fans on it. Increase the surface area facing the air stream as much as possible versus adding more layers and depth.

[@Anankin12]

You're literally me :p

[@madmax2069]

​​@@josephoberlander ahh, when it comes to CPU coolers this design is outside the box sir. We're not talking about anything else here other than PC cooling.

[@josephoberlander]

@@madmax2069 It's been done several times before, though not quite this large. It also need to have larger fans pulling air UP through it. Otherwise you're just pushing air against the normal flow towards the rear fan. The first thing I'd do as GN is try this. I bet they get much better results.

[@maniacal1870]

Saw these for the first time today while wishlisting. I knew either you or Jay would have touched on them, only 2 channels I listen to for tech advice / reviews.

[@SylvainDuford]

Itt would be interesting to see how it performs with better fans, like the Arctic or Noctua slim fans, or even with regular thickness fans since there's plenty of room. And that might even solve the rattling problem?

[@zivzulander]

Scythe Kaze Flex slim ones are also good. I might try those if I get this cooler (likely will).

[@JAT985]

i bought this a few weeks ago and tested it myself. however i dont have the necessary longer screws to attach some 25mm fans to it unfortunately.

[@madmax2069]

​@@JAT985 go to your nearest hardware store and get longer screws

[@GrimpakTheMook]

@bruh in the US, yes, but in Europe, you might need to dig a bit more. Maybe a more specialized hardware store. It's not impossible, sure, but it might be a bit harder.

[@Dommifax]

Somehow I read that as "LTT" instead of "It(t)" and was confused for a while

[@rustyrogue]

I appreciate how entertaining this was for something as dry as an air cooler review. It's always fun when GN reviews some weird shit.

[@pluesch.]

Looks like an interesting option for something like the Fractal North with the mesh side panel.

[@HilltopGaming]

I actually kind of dig this cooler. It's different, looks decent, could definitely have its place in a nice sff build.

[@kuyache2]

I like the design, known brands are very afraid to create unique products like this. Kudos to this brand for the courage to try something the others wont.

[@facebag666]

Coolermaster had one like this called the geminII

[@bdhale34]

Known brands are trend chasers, at one point no one made tower coolers now they all do. It's why we ended up with a metric ton of cases that have heavily restricted airflow in order to have shiny glass panels that show off the build. If something becomes popular enough you can bet every major player in the game will want their own product to get a piece of that pie.

[@Vandelgard]

It's illusion of choice at it's best definition.

[@arugulatarsus]

Great to see Steve sharing the spotlight. We love you. All the other players bring their own special sauce. At around 17:00 it was mentioned to use the spacers, but it was hard to see (black on black). but it is visible later.

[@depression_daily]

Glad to see a different-style cooler that actually performs well. Looks like it might be great to use in SFF

[@generalawareness101]

Not different though, but glad to see a design I loved from years ago return. I had one in an old system for Intel (still have the heatsink/fan just no longer the pc) I hated giving up because it not only cooled the CPU it cooled the ram, and all the chips around the CPU.

[@tbrowniscool]

Yeah it looks great, It could be even bigger and black (as that sheds heat much faster)

[@Honerkamp]

​@@tbrowniscool I want you to really think about what you've just said.

[@tbrowniscool]

@@Honerkamp darn it! I'm so rude! 😔.

[@ksolo614]

I have the Cooler Master version of this from about 10 years ago. I am surprised that they never updated it. Had it on my 3700x ryzen on the Asus crosshair x370 motherboard that had AM3 compatibility. It worked great.

[@Sin3xtreme]

did it fit on the am4 boards

[@ksolo614]

@@Sin3xtreme Only the boards that had the AM3 mounting holes. Only three of them exist.All of them by Asus

[@Marleyismydog420]

i remember having that cooler aswell, it was really good!

[@chubbysumo2230]

I also has the Geminii(gemini 2) in like 2006ish, and it was a fantastic cooler.

[@potatorigs2155]

@@chubbysumo2230 same

[@michaelthompson9798]

Wow!😱🤩🤯 Aaaaaall that testing ….. is this Steve (Steve of both GN and HUB) named thing …… make the testing as intensive and accurate as possible, doing the job of 5 people and a weeks work in a 24-hour sitting …..🤯… great testing methodology you both have for your hobbies / passion etc. We all appreciate the intensive work you do to give consumers and enthusiasts a better understanding 😇👍of the products they’re looking at purchasing. Cheers and thanks 🍻🥂

[@andrewszerbiak7330]

id have loved to see what sort of cooling this would do with normal 25mil thick fans or even the phantek 30mil thick fans!

[@zxbc1]

Yes! With quieter and higher airflow fans this cooler could potentially dethrone the best in class, especially with the added advantage of providing better airflow to VRM .

[@Thunterise]

Yeah, same. Seems to have good potential.

[@hayo7073]

I have this cooler with the 30mm fans and it performs not only way better but its also basically silent at load

[@andrewszerbiak7330]

@@hayo7073 that's what I figured considering the size of it

[@maozedowner5915]

This with 25mm fan is gonna be neck and neck with a PA120 I think

[@Rodox2k10]

Such a nice review, great job. Now if only there was some kind of mechanism that would allow one to install this cooler in a way that would distribute pressure effectively every time the cooler is installed...

[@WooShell]

That looks like a great solution for e.g. HTPC builds in hifi-style cases, where single-fan flat coolers like the Scythe Shuriken struggle with the heat load from more recent CPUs.

[@generalawareness101]

FINALLY, we are going back to this cooler design as I had one in an old system for Intel that I hated giving up because it not only cooled the CPU it cooled the ram, and all the chips around the CPU.

[@mikeydk]

I wish more would make coolers like this. In my server I use a Noctua NH-L12, I chose it because it blows air down around the cpu socket to cool the components around it, and also provide some air around memory. Nothing gets worryingly warm with another style of cooler, but for something running 24/7 I want to provide as good as possible conditions for the various components.

[@psychosis7325]

Really hope to see a V2 of this cooler. Looks COOL as for air OC on light weight systems and boards. Be nice to see it tested on a board with particularly poor vrm cooling

[@taznz1]

Heatsink is basically a modern version of Cooler Master GeminII from back in 2007.

[@lanceripplinger8352]

Always enjoy your coverage of these funky CPU coolers. Looking forward to whatever products like this you look at in the future!

[@zxbc1]

Now, a cool thing to go off on this would be a case that integrates something like this as an exhaust or intake setup through the side panel.

[@chubbysumo2230]

if this sits right by your rear exhaust vent, it will likely push air out.

[@chayze3009]

I really appreciate the amount of time and effort you put into all your product reviews. I think there's too many channels out there, which post "reviews" that don't contain a single graph with numbers or any other performance metrics. Keep up the excellent work! If I was ever to build a SFF PC, I'd consider this cooler.

[@jasonjavelin]

Man this thing is pretty crazy! I’ve always like the flat style fans even though they sometimes don’t have the best performance. The low profile stuff is cool to me. The mod mat is killer btw! Using it today while I do a wheel bearing replacement on my wife’s car

[@MrUnknownPunk]

dang i havent been here in a while, omg the upgrade, steve's hair is not as curly no more, looking like jean grey. there's like some smooth movement from the camera, the background is amazing, the transition. im so happy for yall. keep up the good work as always, i really wanted this cooler, but with that AM5 installation, i might not. i do have an itx system tho. TECH Jesus keep em coming.

[@the-wert]

OK, it's looking quite interesting. This could be nice development for air coolers

[@CaveyMoth]

This is PERFECT for SFF cases that use side-mounted intake fans, as long as they line up with the fan slots of the case.

[@falcie7743]

I wonder how this would do if you replaced those slim stock fans. There's a lot of potential there.

[@Axeiaa]

Stick some BeQuiet Light Wings (white version obviously) on there and it would look pretty darn sleek. Also a good excuse to get those fans reviewed hehe. (Alternatively Alpenföhn Wing Boost 3 fans in white would be nice as well, but I don't think Alpenföhn has much international reach making it less interesting to GNs widespread viewership). Or some of Lian Li's offerings for easy cable management.

[@FavoritoHJS]

That thing you said about the fans ocassionally rattling... it reminded me of something I have an old laptop that started doing that when the fans ramped up. Usually a quick knock fixed it, but with time it became more frequent, and the likelihood of a slap fixing it lowered so low that, by the time it was decommissioned, I recall it being very difficult to stop, and it would start rattling up again anyways. In short, might want to budget in some replacement fans if noise is of any concern.

[@kcgunesq]

For the right use, this could be a real winner and it could easily be improved with a second generation. Nice to see someone taking a chance on a new design.

[@-A-M]

I’ve been waiting for this review. Thank you GN🤧 Would like to see this cooler with standard noctua fans if possible!

[@Lishtenbird]

0:33 ...or it will become a Knock-tua cooler.

[@GamersNexus]

Fine! Take your upvote!

[@giraty50]

Happy to see this get reviewed, I've been curious with it ever since it got released. Love how apart from minor issues, this cooler works good

[@evlkenevl2721]

This looks like it was fairly well thought out. It reduces stress on the mobo by having the mass closer to the socket. It's ideal for RGB junkies. It's also begging for better fans. I'd like to see a reversed-flow test with the fans blowing away from the board. (BTW, if you've ever had dirt-cheap case fans, like upHere, you've probably heard that noise before. A good way to locate rattles is putting a paper towel tube to your ear and put the other end near a potential source.)

Super cool review. Love how you guys take the time to point out small things that may confuse the user, and to mention the installation to help out anyone that might need. Super complete review.

[@chemmustang656]

I really like the fact that with the white cooler and fans they actually used white cables. I would like to see them use black or white screws for the fans instead of silver, but minor detail. Overall it seems like a very decent cooler for the price. I really like these budget minded off brand reviews. Thank you Steve and team for your great work.

[@pirojfmifhghek566]

Wooooooooah, what the hell is THAT. Nice find. I'm glad to see people are continuing to innovate on tower cooler designs, especially since we're coming across a lot of problems trying to keep the board components cool. The shape and fan orientation solves so many problems arising from VRM cooling, RAM cooling, RAM height. The only disappointment is that it would be PERFECT for also cooling an M.2 SSD if it had just a little more overlap. The need for more than simple passive cooling is beginning to be a problem for pc builders. Then again it may be unwise to rely entirely on secondary cooling for gen5 SSDs and up. Damn do they kick off a lotta heat now.

[@Titokhan2]

and unless I'm mistaken.. there is the possibility of, if case design allows of course, swapping out the thinner fans for normal standard thickness (whether it be noctua's or any other decent volume moving 120's which in theory should improve the thermal performance a bit

[@shanksisnoteventhatstrongbruh]

This + T30s + 3rd party ram heatsinks = killer setup

[@joeydehart3429]

Your channel is one of the best out there with objective analysis with multiple use cases thought of. I have been a fan of your since I saw you overclock a CPU in the mid 2000's with liquid nitrogen.

[@derx6666]

I'm curious how those coolers would do with the same fan on it (lets say a Noctua NF-A12 / 14). That way you can also focus on cooler design without having to worry about fan efficiency. The design of this cooler is very interesting for height restrictive cases, but I have a feeling the "cheaper" fans might be letting it down a bit.

[@depth386]

The Height and VRM cooling aspects of this are interesting characteristics. I’d like to see it without Torx screws and in black or plain naked aluminum and copper heat pipes, and with 25mm standard thickness fans and fan clips.

[@rattledroar2426]

This looks really interesting. Also I know you mainly review coolers for cpus. But would you consider reviewing Raijinteks Morpheus 8069 GPU cooler?

[@GamersNexus]

Definitely would consider! We'd just need to figure out what GPU to test aftermarket solutions on.

[@rattledroar2426]

@@GamersNexus that makes sense. I could see something similar to the cpu testing. With one “flagship” and hot card and one midrange.

[@blazingliger2246]

@@GamersNexus I would love to see some aftermarket GPU cooler reviews. Feels like those were more common back in the day and then they kinda disappeared as the cooling solutions cards came with got better. It would be interesting to see if modern ones still have value.

[@novocainDaimon]

Maybe I'm blind, but I would've loved to see the RAM temps in comparison to other air coolers. But that aside: nice review, thanks Steve (and everyone else involved!) Note: I am also a great fan of "normalized" fans, or "stock fans vs reference fans" as mentioned in the other comments!

[@slowlanegamer]

My thing is that there are not a massive amount of lower profile coolers that have this much area, most are thin and tiny If you just swap in some noctua low profile fans or something along those lines it looks like a great option for certain builds especially with the whole smaller case getting so popular and there are just so man nice tiny cases online! I hope it cools well! Edit: Honestly if you are using AM4 or intel that cooler install seems way easier than I was expecting it to be and really straight forward especially with this video. I think all cooler companies should include a QR code with a little video like this! But honestly I almost feel like the AM5 "problems" are more of an AM5 downfall opposed to being the coolers fault right like there are bound to be coolers and times where you need to remove that back plate and I didn't actually realize that it was made this way where its basically permanent unless you are taking the whole thing apart. Seems like they could have made that differently idk... not really the coolers fault that is different than every other motherboard in the world basically, aside from prebuilt like Lenovo where they glue the backplate on. I would say that this cooler was most likely made and engineered before the AM5 socket was really out initially. But who knows lol ...I will say that the backplates for the AM5 mounting hardware are nice and look very stable, I feel like that massive metal piece is very different from the other styles of back plate and its nice that this company even included one in the box being that this is a small company with sort of limited products and stuff

[@TabraezCoatwala]

Some times their is a no display problem and you have to reseat the RAM and for that in this cooler you have to remove the motherboard to get access to the RAM. This is a huge problem you dint mention. By the way a Huge Thanks for the wonderful work you r doing for this community.

[@Blutzen]

You can go ahead and add my name to the giant list of "This cooler deserves some more testing" comments, because it's so unique and interesting and I think deserves a closer look at how much changing to better fans would help it, and how much being in a normal case with a typical fan layout might hurt it since the CPU cooler is no longer helping direct air through the case.

[@michaelthompson9798]

As an itx / sff builder of many years and more compact pc builds, these sorta coolers are things I love to see and appears to offer vg value foe me.🥰💪🤩👍. great f8nd and something I’m definitely going to add to my supplies 👍😇

[@jvanbelle]

I would be interested to seeing how this affects airflow in a case (I'm assuming these tests were done at a test-bench), as the regular tower coolers will tend to aid air moving through the case whereas this would likely cause a lot of hot air re-circulation.

[@jgorres]

Yeah, I'm thinking this cooler might not leave enough room for a rear exhaust fan.

[@tobiwonkanogy2975]

some cases now focus top vent so in that instance would probably work better.

[@ricdintino9502]

Thanks for explaining your test validation process again. Your work is appreciated.

[@ZeroHourProductions407]

There is definitely strong potential with a revival of this kind of design. Maybe some thicker fans would get enough static pressure going to improve its efficiency.

[@liftsalot]

This is really cool. Can't wait to see SFF builds that really match the cooler I could copy :)

[@GLAJMAN]

Would changing the fans have a bigger influence on performance? Like how would it do with Arctic P12 or similar affordable fans?

[@marcogenovesi8570]

Normal height fans have better airflow than low height, for obvious reasons, so that would increase performance

[@OOJokerOO1991]

Could please think about adding a standarized test with the same fans on a cooler? To remove the variable of specific fans and more at the different coolers cooling capability (as you do with the noise-normalized tests). Also thanks for your continued great work!

[@katherinesilens2994]

I know this is asking more time of you, but would you guys consider re-testing coolers that are interesting (like this) with standardized fans? If I were to buy this I would definitely be swapping the fans for T30-120s, Noctua A12x25, or A12x15 depending on clearance. It would help to understand how this compares against competitors like Noctua L coolers or the Alpenfohn Black Ridge from a "metal only" perspective. It would also be very helpful for SFF to see performance by max height.

[@comethiburs2326]

honestly, running "standardized" fans is not what most people will ever do (unless, like me, they run a 212 evo for a decade and burn the og fans out) so it's kinda pointless. it excuses manufacturers who cheap out on fans. Pretty sure at 50 euros worth, any reasonnable cooler can perform like an expensive one... because they'll cost what an expensive does!

[@katherinesilens2994]

@@comethiburs2326 If you use a 212 for a decade, then such a test isn't geared towards you. It's for people who want to maximize cooling efficiency with high-end/novel coolers for hot chips, or for SFF. It also helps build an understanding of what the metal underneath the fans performs like, it doesn't "excuse" manufacturers for cheaping out on fans--the standardized testng is already there to show how the stock fans perform.

[@hanyoukimura]

That's actually a really interesting cooler. Even better than it's a legitimate product. Speaking of interesting CPU coolers, clicking the amazon link in your description yields this cooler: IceGiant ProSiphon Elite CPU Cooler. I've never seen it before, but that looks like it would make for a good review candidate.

[@joescalon541]

Would be interesting to see if cooling improves with decent fans installed.

[@nezara.almugren6980]

I replaced the fans with Noctua fans and it's the same performance, I will try 25mm fans and see if it's better.

[@fonsui]

always refreshing to see steve & co pleasantly surprised

[@win2kpioneer]

I interesting it did so well despite the design, especially made from 9 sharks…

[@Isamu27298]

This cooler looks so cool! Thank you for testing it for us.

[@AmitSharma-lh3pm]

If I had a nice looking motherboard, I could never put this over it haha

[@GamersNexus]

hahaha, well, at least it doesn't block the lower portion... that part is blocked by modern 4-slot GPUs instead!

[@mattliston1215]

Missed this review. Id like to see this with a pair of server fans during overclocking benchmarks. The fact it was less than 5 degrees away from a Noctua D15, AND gives you direct cooling for ram, means this could be a very nice cooler for those who craze the absolutely best ram timings, since some ram sticks can be picky over as little as 2*C changes

[@Redmage913]

I have a i7-2600 on an Intel DH67BL board whose non-heatsinked VRMs heat far quicker than the chip, leading to a temporary 1600MHz limiter until they cool during stress testing. I think this cooler would solve the issue. Thank you for reviewing this!

[@KaosArbitrium]

Very interesting and novel design. I'd love to see Noctua experiment with something in this kind of form factor

[@ffwast]

It's about time one of these was readily available.

[@PorscheRacer14]

This is the kind of cooler I was dreaming about when I tried to piece together an all white system many years ago with my FX-60 and potentially a Sapphire PURE CrossFire PC-A9RD580 motherboard. That dream died and now when I build systems it's more of a workstation server aesthetic. But things like this bring that spark back. This with all white components and case with a chromed interior and a white LED lamp to showcase... Maybe one day it comes together.

[@Granhier]

I hope other companies learn from this and refine it. I'd love it for my InWin901, which is on the larger side of an ITX but doesn't quite have the depth for a full tower air cooler.

[@terr281]

From a looks, and in some cases.. airflow, perspective, this is a wonderful cooling option and I'm glad a good one has come back to market. I used to use Cooler Master GeminII S RR-CCH-PBU1-GP 120mm's in small gaming machine builds for clients for a reason. (The cases used with them were "office" smaller form factor cases, regular ATX sized MB, with the ability to have standard PSUs and a downflow fan on the case lid right above the cooler itself.) In effect, not everyone needs, has room for, or even can physically manage a standard mid sized tower case machine... more or less a full tower machine.

[@Frederic91fr]

Awesome segment from Mike. Thanks!

[@ironhead2008]

Slick design. Good for those stuck with boards with so so VRMs (a little airflow can make all the difference with them) and more airflow over the memory is never a bad thing.

[@smoke1659]

Changing the Cooler in a way to make assembly way easier seems pretty easy. Just work in some holes through the fins so you can reach the screwholes with a screwdriver. Seems like a design with potential, at least for certain builds

[@ryancondie283]

This would synergize really well with the Fractal North and its perforated side panel.

[@Spacialvekter]

15:00 This is a fantastic way to handle this issue. I would say the only better thing to do would be to have someone who's never touched it try to install it, but I get wanting to keep things mostly professional and condensed. This is still way, way better than just saying "the installation is difficult". Showing us why is much more effective.

[@outsidein3206]

Thanks for the work on this one, liked, comment, something something algorithm.

[@jamesmiscellaneous]

Because the fans are screwed into the heatsink and not using custom clips for those slim 120s, that's a good thing since you can just add your own 120mm fans with the standard 25mm thickness. You can probably space them too which is surely what the rattling sound is with blades touching a fin.

[@camotech1314]

I hope this design catches on! Nice to see your noise normalized testing is like a suburban street at 3am, prime gamer time!!

[@JosiahBradley]

I absolutely love these out of nowhere new style coolers. I still have that 25$ special as my backup air cooler. You get two fans for a great price and that must help VRMs etc.

[@Axeiaa]

The 'rattle' sounds like my old Scythe Shuriken 2 Rev B did with a Prolimatech Ultra Sleek Vortex mounted on it did (also just sometimes). I think the fan blades might be touching the heatsink fins ever so slightly at certain speeds, at least that's always been my best guess. I remedied it by putting some foamy double sided tape along the mounting screws which slightly raised the fan off the heatsink. That's a really nice white paintjob btw (the dripper excluded), looks like a nice white and good coverage. I have sometimes wondered why no one has made a cooler like this. Figured there isn't any standard for motherboard component clearance other than RAM making it difficult to make something universal/risk high return rates. Pretty cool that someone did, there's definitely some uses cases where this could be the best available option (SFF builds). Pretty impressive results, added bonus of a ton of airflow on the motherboard components as well.

[@zenstrata]

Don't worry steve, I don't need to email you, because you are always funny man ;) (that's a good thing!)

[@kelownatechkid]

This is a great design. With some added holes and changes to mounting design this would be a total winner, as of now it's great for the types of cases that need a slimmer cooler!

[@BakerStudiosIndy]

Very impressive performance for the form factor and price. I'm building a media PC for our church sanctuary with a 9th gen i7 (sun-100w) and a 2080 GPU. Primary use is display of video on the LCD panels, with occasional light video editing in Resolve. Budget is nearly non-existent, and small case size is a priority. I have an AK620 on hand but this would provide ample cooling in a smaller tower at a seriously reasonable cost. On a serious gaming or video production rig with a serious CPU, probably not... But on a modest medium duty machine, I see a great deal of potential. Despite it's minor imperfections, I have to say I'm impressed with the design and the performance. It's good to see this sort of creativity.