#92mm

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Nikon D610; 1/400; F/4.5; ISO 100; 92mm

17/04/2024

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About The 92mm Doob Tubes

Traditionally, these tubes were made from plastic. However, as sustainability and environmental concerns have gained traction, there is a shift towards eco-friendly alternatives. Many manufacturers are now producing Doob Tubes from recyclable and biodegradable materials, such as paper, cardboard, and plant-based plastics.

The use of sustainable materials aligns with the growing demand for environmentally responsible packaging options within the cannabis industry. This change not only reduces the carbon footprint but also enhances the appeal of cannabis brands to environmentally conscious consumers.

Safety has always been a top priority in cannabis packaging, and 92mm Doob Tubes are no exception. While the traditional design featured basic push-and-turn child-resistant caps, there have been advancements in child-resistant mechanisms. Many newer designs feature innovative push-and-slide mechanisms, which provide a higher level of security while remaining user-friendly for adults.

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Arctic Cooling’s Freezer 7 Pro has been around for 10 years. In that time it’s seen Intel’s legendary Sandy Bridge, the introduction of DDR4, and AMD igniting a core count war with Zen. Now though, as a new decade starts, Arctic have seen fit to finally replace it. The new Arctic Freezer 7 X aims to outshine its predecessor with a host of tweaks and improvements.

Meet the Arctic Freezer 7 X

A 5-blade pressure-optimised fan replaces the old 7-blade airflow optimised design

The base features two direct touch heatpipes and preapplied MX-2 thermal paste

The fan shroud includes a full plastic cover for aesthetics

One interesting change for the Freezer 7 X is the move from three 6mm heatpipes to two. On paper a downgrade, Arctic have offset this by offsetting the heatpipes. With the heatpipes staggered rather than in a straight line, they have their own area of fin to transfer heat to and get the full benefit of the airflow. The straight line seen previously, on the other hand, leaves the second and third heatpipes in a “dead zone”. This seems like a very smart way to improve the design at the same cost.

The 0.4mm thick aluminium fins have small dimples to add surface area. When manufacturing the fins Arctic probably use a stamping process, where fins are cut from a sheet of aluminium like cookies from dough. This would make it possible to add the dimples without any extra steps in the factory, another clever bit of engineering.

The new 92mm 5-blade fan has PWM control up to 2000rpm and uses a fluid dynamic bearing. Arctic prefer to use “sone” for their noise ratings, a unit that reflects how obtrusive noise is, rather than physical sound pressure. The claimed 0.3 sone should be unobtrusive, and around the level of normal background noise in a calm room.

Compatibility

Arctic list compatibility with Intel sockets 775, 115X and, interestingly, 1200 – the upcoming Comet Lake socket. On the AMD side FM1/2/2+, AM3/3+ and AM4 are officially supported. Since the brackets are the same, older AMD sockets would presumably work as well. Being only 132.5mm tall, clearance shouldn’t be an issue in all but the smallest of cases.

Availability

The Arctic Freezer 7 X is available at time of writing from amazon.co.uk for £16.99. Arctic are also planning a “CO” Continuous Operation variant, which will feature upgraded bearings, in the near future.  The Freezer 7 X hasn’t made it to amazon.com yet at time of writing, but you can search to see if that has changed.

It's a new decade, and time for change. The new Arctic Freezer 7 X aims to outshine its predecessor with a host of tweaks and improvements. Arctic Cooling's Freezer 7 Pro has been around for 10 years. In that time it's seen Intel's legendary Sandy Bridge, the introduction of DDR4, and AMD igniting a core count war with Zen.

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OcUK Tech Labs New Asetek Gen6 AIO Cooler Bundles

Overclockers UK is proud to announce its new range of high performance cooler bundles, featuring the new Asetek Gen6 AIO cooler, with radiator sizes from 92mm to 360mm.

Now Available at Overclockers UK 

OcUK Tech Labs Extreme AIO Cooler Bundles

Available in a range of sizes and including Asetek’s new Gen6 92mm AIO cooler, designed in collaboration with Dan Cases.

Overclockers UK is proud to announce its new range of high performance cooler bundles. Featuring the new Asetek Gen6 AIO cooler, with radiator sizes from 92mm to 360mm, they’re perfect for cooling even…

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[moddersinc]

[section_title title=Introduction and Specifications]

CoolerMaster’s MasterLiquid Maker 92 takes the term all-in-one a little too seriously as it integrates a liquid cooling radiator paired with a pair of 92mm fans directly on top of a CPU pump block. This approach renders the AIO unit almost completely chassis agnostic as its clearance concerns are only limited by height. Cooler Master then turns this idea on its head, almost literally, as it gives the MasterLiquid Maker 92 the ability to operate both vertically or horizontally like a tower type or a C-type air cooler. Being different and new is nice, but being functional and effective is better especially since the compact AIO space is still terra incognita for cooling manufacturers, so a review is in order to see where and how this cooler fits in the market.

[sc:sponsor sponsor=”Cooler Master” product_link=”http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/cpu-liquid-cooler/masterliquid-maker-92/” product_name=”MasterLiquid Maker 92 CPU Cooler” product_price=”$99.99″ ]

Cooler Master has dropped their old purple color on white packaging and have adopted a totally gray with blue product numbering with their Master-generation product line. Printed on the side is the specifications table and a dimensional overview is provided at the lower part of the back.

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Inside is a dual-compartment design with the MasterLiquid Maker 92 unit housed at the top and the accessories contained in a smaller box at the bottom. The AIO unit is protected with folded cardboard on all four sides with added foam on the backside and a see-through hard-shell plastic sheet at the top. A pair of 92mm fans come pre-installed on the radiator body with screws and require no further assembly.

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The accessory box is very organized with the mounting accessories contained and pre-sorted in a clear hard-shell container. The backplate and documentation are also stored in their own zip-lock bags.

The accessories aside from the pre-installed 92mm fans includes:

1x fold out documentation for installation

1x MasterGel Maker Nano thermal compound in a small tube

4x nuts

4x backplate screws

4x LGA2011 screws

4x backplate screw clips

1x dual-input cable (SATA + 4-pin fan connector)

1x universal backplate

Specifications:

Model Number: MLZ-H92M-A26PK-R1 Socket: INTEL: LGA 1150 / 1151 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / 2011-V3 Power Connector: SATA and 4-Pin Radiator Material: Aluminum Vertical Dimension (LxWxH): 99.9 x 81.6 x 167.5 mm Horizontal Dimension (LxWxH): 99.9 x 142 x 118.8 mm Fan Dimension 2x Ø95 x 25.4 mm Fan Speed: 550 – 2,600 RPM (PWM) ± 10% Fan Air Flow: 49.7 CFM (Max) Fan Air Pressure: 6.4 mmH2O (Max) Fan Noise Level: 30 dBA (Max) Fan MTTF: 350,000 hours Fan L-10 Life: 50,000 hours Fan Rated Voltage: 12 VDC Pump Noise Level: <12 dBA (Max) Pump MTTF: 175,000 hours Pump L-10 Life: 50,000 hours Pump Rated Voltage 12 VDC Weight(with Fan): 875g

[section_title title=A Closer Look at the Cooler Master MasterLiquid Maker 92]

A Closer Look at the Cooler Master MasterLiquid Maker 92

The Cooler Master MasterLiquid Maker 92 is a lot more compact than a typical all-in-one CPU cooler considering it is comparable in size to a slim tower air-cooler. Like an air cooler, the radiator is directly on top of the CPU block but unlike other AIO units, the pump is located on the radiator. Oriented vertically, it stands 167.4mm tall and is only 81.6mm wide. Oriented horizontally parallel to the mainboard, the Maker 92 measures a compact 118.8mm tall and 141.9mm wide.

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The radiator body is mounted to the block via a swiveling bracket that allows for up to a 90 degree rotation. This enables the Maker 92 to function in both vertical and horizontal modes. Since the radiator is mounted on the block, this greatly improves case compatibility since it does not require additional mounting other than the CPU block.

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A pair of 92mm Cooler Master fans with product number FA09025L12LPB are pre-installed. Unlike the 92mm fan used on the MasterAir Pro 3, there are only five fan blades designed for high-static pressure on the FA09025L12LPB and the mounting frame is designed specifically for the MasterLiquid Maker 92. The five impeller blades are much wider as it goes further from the 35.5mm hub. The curve is also quite steep from the center but relaxes as it reaches the outer area. It ramps up to 2600 RPM and is a PWM fan connected to the pump-hub.

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Both 92mm fans ramps up to 2600 RPM and are PWM connected to the pump-hub. This hub then connects to the supplied SATA+4-pin fan header cable which supplies power and controls the fan PWM function. The SATA connector fully powers the fans and the pump while the 4-pin fan header only uses the PWM and tach functions of the 4-pin PWM header in order to delegate fan speed when necessary.

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The radiator is aluminum and the coolant inside is formulated so that the self-contained unit can function within its designated lifetime (with 5-years of warranty compared to the typical 1-year AIO warranty) without reacting negatively with the copper coldplate. Distributing the coolant from the block to the pump and radiator and back again are two 10mm diameter FEP flexible tubes connected on both sides of the pump at the top. For a more premium look, Cooler Master has also sleeved these tubes.

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The connectors for the hose can be rotated to accommodate the swiveling movement of the radiator unit. Because of the bracket built into the pump block, the MasterLiquid Maker 92 freely stands on its own unlike other compact AIO units such as Corsair’s H5. If users want more clearance horizontally, the top fan can be removed but it is recommended that this “push” fan moved to the other side and have it blowing through the radiator for better cooling rather than pulling air from the radiator.

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Underneath, the contact surface is exposed copper with a raised surface providing further clearance for the pump and the motherboard’s components. The actual contact square measures 40.10 x 40.20mm which is more than enough for all current desktop CPUs since Intel’s LGA2011 has a 38x38mm IHS surface area. There are faint rounded machining marks on this surface.

[section_title title=Installation Procedure and Clearance Compatibility]

Installation of the Cooler Master MasterLiquid Maker 92

Before proceeding with installation, lay out all accessories and cross reference the package content with the illustrated user’s guide. With the exception of Intel LGA2011 mounting, the Intel LGA 115x installation requires the use of the universal backplate provided. One side is for AMD and one side is for Intel but since the MasterLiquid Maker 92 only officially supports Intel sockets, the other side will not be used. This is the same backplate used with Cooler Master’s other liquid cooling units, hence the shared design.

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First, the mounting posts must be assembled at the tip of the corresponding mounting hole and it is made up of the metal post and the plastic lock that holds it in place. If you find that the mounting post is not fitting correctly through the motherboard mounting hole, make sure that the post and the plastic lock is secured completely with no gaps on the edge.

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With the backplate assembly done, it can be put in place on the motherboard and it should be snug enough to hold in place even on a vertically mounted motherboard. On LGA2011 systems, instead of this backplate assembly, users simply just need to install the LGA2011 stand-offs instead. The brackets are already pre-installed so after the stand-off assembly is completed and in place, the next step is just attaching the MasterLiquid Maker 92 to the motherboard.

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Remove the plastic covering the contact surface, apply some thermal compound and then place the MasterLiquid Maker 92 with the mounting bracket going through the protruding stand-off mounting posts. After it is in place, secure all four posts with the locking nut and tighten partially each corner in a criss-cross fashion so as to evenly distribute weight and pressure on the CPU integrated heatsink surface.

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The last step is plugging in the unit so attach the bundled cable into the pump hub on one end and then attach the 4-pin fan header and SATA power connector on the other. The SATA header powers the entire MasterLiquid Maker 92 unit including the fans, the fan headers are for the PWM control from the motherboard so that users can control it instead of running them at 100% all the time.

Clearance Compatibility

The test motherboard is an ASUS Maximus VI Gene micro-ATX motherboard and measuring from the edge of the socket (the gray plastic part), there is a 31mm gap between the CPU socket and the first DIMM slot as well as a 52mm clearance between the CPU socket and the topmost PCI-E x16 slot where the graphics card is installed.

Both vertical and horizontal mount provides unobstructed clearance for all four DIMM slots to be populated. On the horizontal mount, the first DIMM slot has an additional 36.75mm of clearance from the top of an installed bare PCB DDR3 module until it gets obstructed by the edge of the MasterLiquid Maker 92.  The tallest DDR3 module I know of is the first-generation Kingston HyperX Predator DDR3 kits which stand 53.90mm tall from PCB contact to heatspreader top so the 66.75mm clearance that the Maker 92 has on the first DIMM slot is not going to be a problem at all.

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PCI-E clearance is not an issue as well with only the tubes going as far as the top end of the bottom DIMM latch. With a video card installed, users can also easily reach the release latch on the PCI-E slot since there is a lot of space between the AIO and the video card.

[section_title title=Test System and Benchmarks]

Test System and Benchmark Results

Test System:

Processor Intel Core i7-4770K (Retail) Motherboard ASUS Maximus VI Gene Z87 Motherboard (1603 BIOS) Memory Mushkin Stealth 1600MHz DDR3 Drive OCZ Agility 4 256GB SSD Video Card Intel Integrated Graphics Thermal Compound Noctua NT-H1 Case DimasTech Mini v1 Power Supply Corsair HX850W Operating System Windows 7 x64 Pro

Test was conducted on a DimasTech MiniV1 open-air test-bench for parity performance between tower-style coolers and C-type downward or upward blowing coolers. Ambient temperature is measured at the fan intake and kept as constant as possible (room controlled temperature). All case and heat sink fans were benchmarked with fan control settings disabled and running at 100% unless otherwise specified.

To get closer to real world performance, a retail Intel i7-4770K CPU was used (non-delidded). Stock settings use a constant 1.1Vcore voltage while overclock settings use a constant 1.2Vcore voltage with EIST disabled (1.28Vcore OC test added for high-end air coolers). The Intel core i7-4770K integrated graphics was used for display output and no discrete graphics card was installed to prevent additional heat sources from contributing inside and outside the case. Multi-core enhancement is enabled in the BIOS by default and left on (ASUS Turbo Core policy used instead of Intel standard). Note that performance results on this setup are not directly comparable with any benchmarks from some of the previous reviews as the UEFI BIOS on the motherboard has been updated and now has a much tighter control on the Vcore voltage.

Mushkin Stealth DDR3 modules ensure full compatibility with any CPU cooler tested as its heatspreaders only add ~1.5mm to the standard JEDEC module height of 30mm compared to other modules which limit cooler compatibility.

Temperatures are averaged (last minute) from individual core temperature results monitored by AIDA64 after 15 minutes using the default CPU, FPU, Memory and Cache simultaneous load. AIDA64 is able to use the latest instructions including AVX and AVX2, etc unlike other older CPU load tests so it is also a lot more “future proof” as more software start to utilize it. FPU-only load average is used to simulate worst case scenario load levels similar to Intel Burn Test or OCCT. Please keep in mind that this test is brutal and not even close to real-world load (especially not that constant for that amount of time), so not many CPU coolers are expected to pass this test but the ones that do are exceptional. Results marked “100″ and in red means thermal limit was reached and the CPU was throttled, even for just but a second. This includes results where even just the first core reached the limit and even if it briefly happened. It is marked as 100 in red in the review if it happens three times. Three runs are conducted per cooler and a fourth run is done after a remounting to verify. Last minute average is taken instead of peak because it represents the averaged behaviour of the thermal performance instead of worst-case scenario or a snapshot. Temperature delta results are used to account for variance since not all heatsinks can be conducted on the same day.

Screenshot of the Noctua NH-U9S under FPU-only load surviving 15-minute run in AIDA64. Getting the thermal behaviour presents a more accurate performance assessment than a single second snapshot or a mere peak temperature recording.

The Corsair HX850W power supply’s fans only ramp up when system load is past 20% making it an excellent power supply to use for when testing the CPU cooler’s noise levels. Any load under that and the fan does not spin at all, effectively acting in passive mode.

The American Recording Technologies SPL-8810 meter is placed 20-inches/50cm from the source fan to measure sound level. The entire test unit is moved to an acoustically treated room to get the ambient noise as low as controllably possible for real-world results. All other fans are disabled to eliminate sound sources that are not from the cooling unit itself that is being tested. This includes all case fans and all other component fan is shut off. The boiler during winter or the air conditioner during summer is also shut off to eliminate ambient noise further and sound testing is conducted from 2AM to 5AM so sound traffic from the outside is minimized as much as possible. Fan levels are controlled manually via software and at a separate time from the temperature testing.

A FlirONE Thermal Imaging Camera was used to observe thermal behaviour under load. This is a lower-cost thermal imaging unit equipped with a low resolution thermal lens working in conjunction with a regular resolution camera lens to produces a composite image. Because of the FlirONE’s low resolution performance, it is not used as a benchmarking tool to measure temperature but rather a tool for observing thermal behaviour under load.

Temperature Benchmarks:

    Sound Profile (Fan RPM vs Noise Level) – Room ambient noise is 34.8dBA:

Fan Speed 2x 92mm Cooler Master FA029025L12LPB RPM dBA 2600 41.1 2500 40.7 2400 39.4 2300 39.1 2200 38.8 2100 38.6 2000 38.4 1900 38.3 1800 38.3 1700 37.8 1600 37.7 1500 37.5 Pump-only 37.4

  [section_title title=Final Thoughts]

Final Thoughts about the MasterLiquid Maker 92

Although compact in size, the Cooler Master MasterLiquid Maker 92 is not short on ambition. Instead of attacking the high-end segment of the liquid cooling market where there are many players currently introducing their own brand of large radiator wielding self-contained units with expandability, Cooler Master was wise to seek innovation in the unexplored space of compact liquid cooling. Obviously, the demand in this space is not quite there yet with only a few coolers competing including some slim 120mm AIOs and Corsair’s H5 which is specifically designed for mini-ITX systems, so there is still a lot of room for growth.

The downside with AIO’s in this space is of course the cost. Complexity grows as manufacturing liquid coolers goes smaller compared to larger AIO coolers, so the cost does not necessarily shrink like it would relative to size with air coolers. The MasterLiquid Maker 92 retails for $99.99 and that price is easily its greatest weakness when it comes to attracting users. Its closest competitor is the blower-style fan equipped Corsair H5 which retails for $79.99.

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The advantage with the MasterLiquid Maker 92 is that it is versatile with its vertical and horizontal option. This allows it to fit in almost any case without modding and if need be being actually reasonably easy to mod. It is bundled only with an Intel mounting bracket but it is locked in place only by a screw so users can actually just screw in an AMD mounting hardware kit from a different Cooler Master AIO unit (requires drilling holes) so that they can install it on an AMD system. Both mounting positions are very clearance friendly to every component and there are no difficulties with installing around it.

The fans bundled with the MasterLiquid Maker 92 is quite sensibly tuned acoustically, topping out at only 41.1 dBA on full blast. Normally, manufacturers would use a higher RPM fan to score higher in the benchmarks but since the MasterLiquid Maker 92 is designed for compact units, Cooler Master seemed to have kept that in mind. The best part is that the built-in fan hub can operate the fans in PWM mode while the pump is fed full 12V power via SATA so users only need to manage a single cable passing through rather than dealing with multiple ones on a typical AIO.

Overall, the MasterLiquid Maker 92 is an interesting piece of new design. It has enough versatility that it is very functional, and its fans are very quiet for a compact AIO. The pump could stand to be quieter but then that would affect performance too much. Once inside a case, it will operate at a relatively low noise. Temperature-wise, it is pretty much where I expected a compact AIO to land. There is only so much one can do with the physical limitations of cooling without resorting to ultra high-RPM fans or ground-breaking new technology so its cooling abilities did not come as a surprise.

[sc name=”recommended_hardware_award” ]

Cooler Master MasterLiquid Maker 92 Review: Palm-Sized Liquid Cooling CoolerMaster’s MasterLiquid Maker 92 takes the term all-in-one a little too seriously as it integrates a liquid cooling radiator paired with a pair of 92mm fans directly on top of a CPU pump block.

[moddersinc]

[section_title title=Introduction and Specifications] The Silverstone Argon series of heatsinks comprise of value-minded CPU air cooling solutions available in tower-style or heatpiped low-profile models. Of the three that use a low-profle design, the Argon AR06 is the more capable cooler equipped with four heatpipes compared to the dual-heatpiped AR05 and AR04. With a 92mm fan designed for quiet operation, the Argon AR06 fits well with Silverstone’s current SFF ecosystem of slim cases and compact power supplies. The price also happens to be very competitive at only $39.99 .

[sc:sponsor sponsor=”Silverstone” product_link=”http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=505&#8243; product_name=”Argon AR06 CPU Cooler” product_price_link=”http://amzn.to/1YSWnbz&#8221; product_price=”$39.99 (MSRP)” ]

Despite the budget pricing, Silverstone did no hold back on the packaging with a full-color box and form-fitting foam to hold the AR06 cooler and accessories inside. The box design uses a light blue color scheme with off-white trim and is unmistakable from other current CPU cooler series.

The 92mm fan comes pre-attached to the AR06 heatsink body and the accessories include:

1x small tube of thermal interface material

1x fold out users guide/installation manual

4x hex screws

4x round nuts corresponding with hex screws

2x matching Intel mounting bracket

2x matching AMD mounting bracket

4x base screws for bracket

4x rubber spacers with adhesive side

4x hex nuts

Specifications:

Model No. SST-AR06 Material Copper heat pipes with aluminum fins Application Intel Socket LGA 1150/1151/1155/1156 AMD Socket AM2/AM3/FM1/FM2 Heat Pipe Type Ø6mm heat-pipe x 4 Cooling System 92mm x 92mm x 15mm fan Dimension w/fan 105mm (W) x 92mm (D) x 58mm (H) (with fan) Noise 20 ~ 28.3dBA Bearing Rifle Bearing Net Weight 263g (without fan) Voltage Rating (V) 12V Start Voltage (V) 7V Air Flow (CFM) 40.2CFM (Max.) Speed (R.P.M.) 1200 ~ 2500RPM PWM Life Expectance (hrs) 40,000 hours

[section_title title=A Closer Look at the Silverstone Argon AR06]

A Closer Look at the Silverstone Argon AR06

The Silverstone Argon AR06 measures 105mm x 92mm and stands 58mm tall with the fan 92mm installed. The fan bundled has a slim frame of only 15mm so if this was replaced with a standard 25mm thick fan, the total height will be 68mm.

The contact surface has four flattened direct contact copper heatpipes with a 1.15mm gap in between them. Total contact surface area measures 34.5 x36.10mm. The heatpipes are 6mm in diameter and curve to form a “C” shape all on one side, distributing to the 52-fin aluminum array. There is no gap between the solid aluminum primary stage holding the direct contact heatpipes and where the aluminum array begins.

The fan is secured via four Phillips counter-sunk screws and the metal fan mounting mechanism can be removed from the heatsink body as well by undoing two pairs of Phillips round-head screws on each side. The counter-sunk screws included can only be used for a slim 15mm thick 92mm fan. Users would have to provide their own longer screws if installing a regular 25mm thick 92mm fan.

The bundled fan has the model number DF0921512RFMN and is a rifle-bearing 92mm fan with a lower profile 15mm thick frame. The center hub is relatively small, measuring 32.9mm with an eleven piece shallow curve blades. The struts are straight on the exhaust side and the connector cable is sleeved.

Readings from ASUS Fan Xpert II show the real-world controllable PWM range from ~1000 RPM to ~2200 RPM and verified with a hardware fan controller. This is lower than the stated specs from the Silverstone Argon AR06 product page of 1200 to 2500 RPM:

[section_title title=Installation Procedure and Clearance Compatibility]

Installation of the Argon AR06

Both Intel and AMD installation share all components and installation steps with the exception of the type of mounting bracket used. The long, single hex option end is the AMD mounting bracket while the Intel bracket has three variable mounting holes for holding the hex bolt. This variable mounting hole makes the Silverstone Argon AR06 compatible with older LGA1366 and LGA775 motherboards as well physically, but Silverstone only officially supports LGA115x sockets due to the TDP limitation of the Argon AR06 heatsink design.

First step is to push through the hex screws through the proper holes on the bracket. For LGA115x motherboards, this is the center part of the tip. The hex side has to match the sunken hex crevice of the bracket tip so that it is held in place. These hex screws are secured onto the bracket with rounded nuts which can be secured with just a thumb. The next step is to then screw these assembled brackets in place on the base of the heatsink using the counter-sunk base screws.

The mount is locked at the rear but first the rubber spacers must be attached to the hex nuts so that the motherboard does not get scratched when secured. These rubber spacers have an adhesive on one side which can either be used to attach to the motherboard or to the hex nuts. The hex nuts are more preferable so that it can be reused later on.

Apply thermal compound on the AR06 heatsink contact surface (do not forget to remove the plastic cover) then place the motherboard facing down on top of the heatsink with the heatsink facing upward. Lineup the hex screws to the mounting holes of the motherboard and secure each corner with the insulated hex nuts in a criss-cross fashion until fully secured.

The fan is already pre-installed so the last step simply involves plugging the fan into a motherboard header and then powering on.

…but wait, how come the metal rounded nuts on the other side are not insulated to the motherboard?

Because it will not make contact with the motherboard surface at all. When secured properly, these rounded nuts will appear “floating” when the hex nuts at the rear are fully locked in place (see photo below)

  Clearance Compatibility

The test motherboard is an ASUS Maximus VI Gene micro-ATX motherboard and measuring from the edge of the socket (the gray plastic part), there is a 31mm gap between the CPU socket and the first DIMM slot as well as a 52mm clearance between the CPU socket and the topmost PCI-E x16 slot where the graphics card is installed:

Because of the heatpipe curve, the Silverstone AR06 is limited to two options when installed on a motherboard with a VRM heatsink at the top or bottom such as this motherboard: with the heatpipe curve facing south or the heatpipe curve facing the DIMM slots. Both allow for full RAM compatibility, although the heatpipe curve facing the DIMM slot will be touching the RAM module heatspreader if the kit has one. On bare modules such as the one pictured below, there is still a tiny gap separating the contact on this specific motherboard.

PCI-E clearance is not an issue as well with 20.25mm of space left before reaching the topmost PCI-E x16 slot with the heatpipe curve facing downward.

Since there is no backplate, the Silverstone AR06 has no clearance issues to worry about in the rear, even on mini-ITX motherboards.

[section_title title=Test System and Benchmarks]

Test System and Benchmark Results

Test System:

Processor Intel Core i7-4770K (Retail) Motherboard ASUS Maximus VI Gene Z87 Motherboard (1603 BIOS) Memory Mushkin Stealth 1600MHz DDR3 Drive OCZ Agility 4 256GB SSD Video Card Intel Integrated Graphics Thermal Compound Noctua NT-H1 Case DimasTech Mini v1 Power Supply Corsair HX850W Operating System Windows 7 x64 Pro

Test was conducted on a DimasTech MiniV1 open-air test-bench for parity performance between tower-style coolers and C-type downward or upward blowing coolers. Ambient temperature is measured at the fan intake and kept as constant as possible (room controlled temperature). All case and heat sink fans were benchmarked with fan control settings disabled and running at 100% unless otherwise specified.

To get closer to real world performance, a retail Intel i7-4770K CPU was used (non-delidded). Stock settings use a constant 1.1Vcore voltage while overclock settings use a constant 1.2Vcore voltage with EIST disabled (1.28Vcore OC test added for high-end air coolers). The Intel core i7-4770K integrated graphics was used for display output and no discrete graphics card was installed to prevent additional heat sources from contributing inside and outside the case. Multi-core enhancement is enabled in the BIOS by default and left on (ASUS Turbo Core policy used instead of Intel standard). Note that performance results on this setup are not directly comparable with any benchmarks from some of the previous reviews as the UEFI BIOS on the motherboard has been updated and now has a much tighter control on the Vcore voltage.

Mushkin Stealth DDR3 modules ensure full compatibility with any CPU cooler tested as its heatspreaders only add ~1.5mm to the standard JEDEC module height of 30mm compared to other modules which limit cooler compatibility.

Temperatures are averaged (last minute) from individual core temperature results monitored by AIDA64 after 15 minutes using the deafult CPU, FPU, Memory and Cache simultaneous load. AIDA64 is able to use the latest instructions including AVX and AVX2, etc unlike other older CPU load tests so it is also a lot more “future proof” as more software start to utilize it. FPU-only load average is used to simulate worst case scenario load levels similar to Intel Burn Test or OCCT. Please keep in mind that this test is brutal and not even close to real-world load (especially not that constant for that amount of time), so not many CPU coolers are expected to pass this test but the ones that do are exceptional. Results marked “100″ and in red means thermal limit was reached and the CPU was throttled, even for just but a second. This includes results where even just the first core reached the limit and even if it briefly happened. It is marked as 100 in red in the review if it happens three times. Three runs are conducted per cooler and a fourth run is done after a remounting to verify. Last minute average is taken instead of peak because it represents the averaged behaviour of the thermal performance instead of worst-case scenario or a snapshot. Temperature delta results are used to account for variance since not all heatsinks can be conducted on the same day.

Screenshot of the Noctua NH-U9S under FPU-only load surviving 15-minute run in AIDA64. Getting the thermal behaviour presents a more accurate performance assessment than a single second snapshot or a mere peak temperature recording.

The Corsair HX850W power supply’s fans only ramp up when system load is past 20% making it an excellent power supply to use for when testing the CPU cooler’s noise levels. Any load under that and the fan does not spin at all, effectively acting in passive mode.

The American Recording Technologies SPL-8810 meter is placed 51cm from the source fan to measure sound level. The entire test unit is moved to an acoustically treated room to get the ambient noise as low as controllably possible for real-world results. All other fans are disabled to eliminate sound sources that are not from the cooling unit itself that is being tested. This includes all case fans and all other component fan is shut off. The boiler during winter or the air conditioner during summer is also shut off to eliminate ambient noise further and sound testing is conducted from 2AM to 5AM so sound traffic from the outside is minimized as much as possible. Fan levels are controlled manually via software and at a separate time from the temperature testing.

Although the graphs include the sound level in bar graph form with the temperatures, please understand that this is only done for the sake of convenience. Sound level measurement is logarithmic so technically it should be on a separate graph than temperatures because it is on a completely different scale.

Benchmarks:

Sound Profile (Fan RPM vs Noise Level) – Room ambient noise is 34.8dBA:

Fan Speed 1x 92mm slim fan RPM dBA 2200 39.8 2100 38.9 2000 38.2 1900 37.6 1800 36.9 1700 36 1600 35.7 1500 35.3 1400 35 1300 34.9

[section_title title=Final Thoughts]

Final Thoughts about the Silverstone Argon AR06 CPU Cooler

Silverstone has prioritized silence with the Argon AR06, cooling with impressively quiet performance even at full speed. The installation was also very accommodating for mini-ITX builds, ditching a full-size universal backplate for a more reasonable hex nut locking mechanism. Manufacturers tend to use the same mounting mechanism design for all their coolers from the highest end to the more lower profile models so what usually happens is that many of the smaller heatsinks get saddled with unnecessarily large mounting parts which then cause clearance issues for smaller heatsinks. Thankfully, Silverstone is a lot more attuned to the needs of the SFF/HTPC crowd as evident from their current product line so the Argon AR06 fares well in the compatibility department.

Since the Argon AR06 is designed primarily for silent operation and compatibility however, the performance skews toward the warmer side. This is not necessarily an issue as long as the right CPU is used (don’t use with a 125W AMD FX CPU for example). To be fair to Silverstone, this heatsink is not marketed at all to be for overclocking of any kind. The Argon AR06 fits into compact spaces and ideal with cases such as the RVZ01 and RVZ02, requiring very good airflow if performance slightly above the 95W TDP description is expected.

The Argon AR06 accepts standard 92mm fan replacement if need be, although the included screws are only for the bundled 15mm thick slim rifle-bearing fan which is fairly good in its own right, with a smooth PWM operation across its RPM spectrum. Ultimately, for $39.99, the Argon AR06 is a decent option for a low-profile cooler, especially if a silent range of operation on a mini-ITX system is a concern.

[sc name=”recommended_hardware_award” ]

Silverstone Argon AR06 CPU Cooler Review: Prioritizing Silence The Silverstone Argon series of heatsinks comprise of value-minded CPU air cooling solutions available in tower-style or heatpiped low-profile models.

[92mm]

oops

[moddersinc]

[section_title title=Introduction and Specifications] It is compatibility, not performance that is the top priority when it comes to low-profile coolers. This is why you won’t see me comparing $30 low profile coolers with dual-tower giant heat sinks. It simply does not make sense when the product class is not put into context and this is very important when the cooler is going to operate in tight spaces. In small form factor builds, height is often a limitation and the use of a mini-ITX motherboard limits component compatibility as well. Noise level is also a concern because part of the idea behind building a small PC is that it must operate discreetly.

At a height of only 47mm, CRYORIG’s C7 is a compact cooling solution compatible across all current AMD and Intel 115x motherboards. The flexibility of this compatibility extends toward component clearance as well for the CRYORIG measures a scant 97 x 97mm square so that there is no RAM or PCI-E mounting interference. Priced at $29.99, the CRYORIG C7 also carries a 3-year warranty should it ship with a defect out of the box, lost parts or should the built-in 92mm slim fan stop working.

[sc:sponsor sponsor=”CRYORIG” product_link=”http://www.cryorig.com/c7_us.php&#8221; product_name=”CRYORIG C7 CPU Cooler” product_price_link=”http://amzn.to/1YLFobN&#8221; product_price=”$29.99 (MSRP)” ]

The  CRYORIG C7 ships in an equally compact 92 x 116 x 122mm box with full specifications including heatsink dimension measurements printed at the back.

The contents are housed in a secondary box that holds things in place and acts as shock absorber in lieu of foam padding. Considering the $29.99 price tag, this is not surprising. The box offers decent protection against drops by folded corners isolating the heatsink fins so that they don’t get damaged.

Most of the CRYORIG C7 assembly comes part of the main heatsink body already so there are minimal extra accessories to fiddle about. Aside from the actual C7 heatsink, accessories in the package include a fold-out installation manual, full-size thermal interface material, four hex nuts, universal AMD/Intel backplate, hex nut driver and a sealed product registration card. Signing up as VIP (free) and registering the product on CRYORIG’s website doubles the standard warranty, extends customer support as well as render the user eligible for VIP member prize draws.

Specifications:

HEATSINK SPECIFICATION Dimension ( with fan ) L97 mm x W97 mm x H47 mm Weight ( with fan ) 357 g Weight ( without fan ) 295 g Heat pipes 6mm heatpipe x 4 units Fin T = 0.4 mm ; Gap = 1.2 mm Fin Pcs 57 pcs Copper Base C1100 Pure copper nickel plated RAM Height Limit Limitless TDP 100 W

FAN SPECIFICATION Dimension L92 mm x W92 mm x H15 mm Weight 62 g Rated Speed 600 ~ 2500 RPM ±10 % Noise Level 30 dBA Air Flow 40.5 CFM Air Pressure 2.8 mmH2O Ampere 0.2 A

[section_title title=Closer Look at the CRYORIG C7]

A Closer Look at the CRYORIG C7

The CRYORIG C7 has four 6mm heatpipes arranged alternately in pairs and stems moderately upward, curving toward each other but not protruding past the aluminum fin set. Heat from the contact surface travels from these heatpipes and are distributed to the 51-piece aluminum fin array which rises up to 32mm from the base.

The sides of the CRYORIG C7 have an open-style fin arrangement except for the folded spine row on the side. The CRYORIG C7 conforms with a 95 x 95mm square layout within the Intel LGA115x keep-out zone but there are notches from where the built-in 92mm fan latches on to plus the plastic assembly which extend it to 97 x 97 mm square at the top.

Out of the box, the stand-offs come pre-attached for LGA115x systems but this can easily be unscrewed and moved to  different slot if installing on an AMD or different socket.

The nickel plated copper contact surface measures 37.95 x 37.95 mm and has rounded visible fine machined marks that are not centered. This contact surface protrudes slightly from the rest of the base.

To minimize noise from vibration of the 2500RPM 92mm fan, there are rubberized pads on four corners although the latching part of the fan mount is part of the plastic housing and not padded. This fan hugs on tightly to the heatsink body and does not come off easily hence the padding is on the corners not on the actual latch.

The fan bundled is a slim 92mm fan that measures 15mm tall compared to standard fans which are 25mm thick . It has 11 white blades that has a steeper upward curve as it moves toward the hub. The hub measures 33mm while the distance from the hub to the frame is 29.5mm. The intake side of the frame has acceleration channels that help feed air into the blades and are semi-segmented  to draw air from the sides as well. Functionally, the backside of these acceleration channels also serve as cable management routing channels for the sleeved fan cable.

Readings from ASUS Fan Xpert II confirm the real-world controllable PWM range:

[section_title title=Installation Procedure and Clearance Issues]

Installation of the CRYORIG C7

Before installation layout the accessories. Out of the box, the CRYORIG C7 is already configured for Intel LGA115x socket use since the stand-offs are already pre-installed. AMD users would have to re-arrange the stand-off bracket itself with a screw driver prior to proceeding and remove the default AMD mounting gear on their motherboard.

Prior to thermal compound application, the contact surface cover must be removed first. Once the thermal compound is applied, the user just needs to place the CRYORIG C7 on the CPU so that the stand-offs protrude at the back. Then place the backplate until the stand-offs line up and push through it. For Intel systems, position the backplate so that the Intel can be read from the back while AMD users need to flip it to the other side. Otherwise, the steps from here on out are similar.

To secure the backplate to the heatsink, fasten the assembly with the four hex nuts provided. The bundled hex nut locking tool comes very handy for this. Just make sure that you position the nut with the round part facing toward the motherboard first. Screw each nut in place partially one at a time in a criss-cross fashion so as to distribute weight evenly until it cannot be secured further.

The last step is of course plugging in the fan to a CPU fan header.  The minimum fan speed is 600RPM so it should not trigger a low-speed fan warning on most motherboards but in case this happens, go to the BIOS and set the fan speed warning to something lower than 600RPM.

  Compatibility and Clearance Issues

The CRYORIG C7 measures 97mm square and 95mm square not including the fan assembly so it is well within the 95x95mm Intel keep-out zone for LGA115x systems. There should be no clearance issues for both DRAM and PCI-E devices unless for some reason the motherboard manufacturer did not follow Intel specifications.

ITX Clearance:

CRYORIG uses an ASUS H87i-PLUS on the CRYORIG C7’s product demo video but aside from the actual total PCB measurement, there is no ITX standard when it comes to layout so some ITX motherboards will have a CPU socket that sits closer to the PCI-E.

This Gigabyte H55N-ITX motherboard for example leaves no room between the Intel keep-out zone and the PCI-E and DRAM but the CRYORIG C7 still sits quite comfortably with a video card and a tall DDR3 module right beside it.

The real worry is actually on the backside of most ITX boards. Since space is a premium on ITX, many manufacturers have surface mounted components that can pose clearance issues with certain heatsink backplates such as the one used on the CRYORIG C7:

Luckily, the backplate is plastic so there is no risk of short circuiting the motherboard but the pressure is still off-loaded onto the component because of the backplate area. Compare this to the Noctua NH-L9x65‘s NM-IBP2 backplate which comes close but is clear of touching any component in the back:

Another possible solution for the CRYORIG C7 is to use an insulated washer instead of a full backplate with the nut or to only use mounting screws for the rear. The total weight of the C7 including the fan and the metal stand-offs is only 364 grams weighed (official stated specification is at 357 grams) so it can get by without a backplate for additional support. The Noctua NH-L9i for example is heavier at 420 grams yet does not use a backplate. The Gamerstorm Deepcool Gabriel also employs a similar backplate-less mounting and it is also heavier than the CRYORIG C7 at 426 grams with the fan installed.

[section_title title=Test System and Benchmarks]

Test System and Benchmark Results

Test System:

Processor Intel Core i7-4770K (Retail) Motherboard ASUS Maximus VI Gene Z87 Motherboard (1603 BIOS) Memory Mushkin Stealth 1600MHz DDR3 Drive OCZ Agility 4 256GB SSD Video Card Intel Integrated Graphics Thermal Compound Noctua NT-H1 Case DimasTech Mini v1 Power Supply Corsair HX850W Operating System Windows 7 x64 Pro

Test was conducted on a DimasTech MiniV1 open-air test-bench for parity performance between tower-style coolers and C-type downward or upward blowing coolers. Ambient temperature is measured at the fan intake and kept as constant as possible (room controlled temperature). All case and heat sink fans were benchmarked with fan control settings disabled and running at 100% unless otherwise specified.

To get closer to real world performance, a retail Intel i7-4770K CPU was used (non-delidded). Stock settings use a constant 1.1Vcore voltage while overclock settings use a constant 1.2Vcore voltage with EIST disabled (1.28Vcore OC test added for high-end air coolers). The Intel core i7-4770K integrated graphics was used for display output and no discrete graphics card was installed to prevent additional heat sources from contributing inside and outside the case. Multi-core enhancement is enabled in the BIOS by default and left on (ASUS Turbo Core policy used instead of Intel standard). Note that performance results on this setup are not directly comparable with any benchmarks from some of the previous reviews as the UEFI BIOS on the motherboard has been updated and now has a much tighter control on the Vcore voltage.

Mushkin Stealth DDR3 modules ensure full compatibility with any CPU cooler tested as its heatspreaders only add ~1.5mm to the standard JEDEC module height of 30mm compared to other modules which limit cooler compatibility.

Temperatures are averaged (last minute) from individual core temperature results monitored by AIDA64 after 15 minutes using the deafult CPU, FPU, Memory and Cache simultaneous load. AIDA64 is able to use the latest instructions including AVX and AVX2, etc unlike other older CPU load tests so it is also a lot more “future proof” as more software start to utilize it. FPU-only load average is used to simulate worst case scenario load levels similar to Intel Burn Test or OCCT. Please keep in mind that this test is brutal and not even close to real-world load (especially not that constant for that amount of time), so not many CPU coolers are expected to pass this test but the ones that do are exceptional. Results marked “100″ and in red means thermal limit was reached and the CPU was throttled, even for just but a second. This includes results where even just the first core reached the limit and even if it briefly happened. It is marked as 100 in red in the review if it happens three times. Three runs are conducted per cooler and a fourth run is done after a remounting to verify. Last minute average is taken instead of peak because it represents the averaged behaviour of the thermal performance instead of worst-case scenario or a snapshot. Temperature delta results are used to account for variance since not all heatsinks can be conducted on the same day.

Screenshot of the Noctua NH-U9S under FPU-only load surviving 15-minute run in AIDA64. Getting the thermal behaviour presents a more accurate performance assessment than a single second snapshot or a mere peak temperature recording.

The Corsair HX850W power supply’s fans only ramp up when system load is past 20% making it an excellent power supply to use for when testing the CPU cooler’s noise levels. Any load under that and the fan does not spin at all, effectively acting in passive mode.

The American Recording Technologies SPL-8810 meter is placed 20cm from the source fan to measure sound level. The entire test unit is moved to an acoustically treated room to get the ambient noise as low as controllably possible for real-world results. All other fans are disabled to eliminate sound sources that are not from the cooling unit itself that is being tested. This includes all case fans and all other component fan is shut off. The boiler during winter or the air conditioner during summer is also shut off to eliminate ambient noise further and sound testing is conducted from 2AM to 5AM so sound traffic from the outside is minimized as much as possible. Fan levels are controlled manually via software and at a separate time from the temperature testing.

Although the graphs include the sound level in bar graph form with the temperatures, please understand that this is only done for the sake of convenience. Sound level measurement is logarithmic so technically it should be on a separate graph than temperatures because it is on a completely different scale.

Benchmarks:

Sound Profile (Fan RPM vs Noise Level) – Room ambient noise is 34.8dBA:

Fan Speed 1x 92mm slim fan RPM dBA 2500 46.5 2400 45.4 2300 44,5 2200 43.1 2100 42.5 2000 41.4 1900 40.4 1800 39 1700 38.2 1600 37.3 1500 36.7 1400 36 1300 35.7 1200 35.3 1100 35.2 1000 35 900 34.9

[section_title title=Final Thoughts]

Final Thoughts about the CRYORIG C7 CPU Cooler

The CRYORIG C7 takes on the topic of clearance head-on with a compact but capable solution that is also as user-friendly as they come. That is clearance in terms of installed component conflict and clearance in terms of getting such an option for only $29.99 compared to its low-profile peers. Surprisingly, it comes packed with a full-size thermal compound and an option to extend its warranty up to six years total; which is beyond what most CPU coolers offer.

While the CRYORIG C7 does a lot of things well, it is not without its shortcomings especially when it comes to the bundled 92mm fan which is not readily swappable nor particularly quiet unless undervolted or forced to run at 1800 RPM or lower. The 15mm thick 92mm slim fan is built into the mounting frame and there are no alternate mounting options for any other 92mm fan should this one fail or should the user want to replace it with a quieter option. It gets exponentially louder as it spins faster than 1900 RPM and peaks at a very distracting 46.5 dBA at 2500RPM. This is not the acoustic characteristic expected or sought after from a low-profile cooler which typically finds its home inside HTPC and SFF systems.

On the plus side, at 1800 RPM, it manages to hang close to the more expensive Noctua NH-L9x65’s performance at the same fan speed; giving away a degree or two but dropping the fan noise level significantly at only 39dBA.

There is also the slight issue of possible rear PCB component clearance on ITX mainboards posed by the backplate as outlined in the installation page. Maybe a future revision can incorporate a true full clearance solution since the CRYORIG C7 is light enough that backplate support is not as crucial.

All things considered, the CRYORIG C7 is a strong alternative for those with very limited vertical clearance as it can fit in tight spaces with its 47mm height. The very low price also makes it an easy choice to make considering it can hang close to the more expensive Noctua NH-L9x65 even when the fan is limited to only 1800 RPM. This is the preferable operating speed for the CRYORIG C7 anyway since 2500RPM is simply too loud.

The CRYORIG C7 is a few points shy of earning our Editor’s Choice award but maybe if a future revision could replace the full backplate with a simple mounting screw and if an alternative fan mounting solution is presented, it can easily earn that crown. For now, the CRYORIG C7 version 1 gets the Modders-Inc. ‘Must Have’ award.

[sc:must_have_award ]

CRYORIG C7 CPU Cooler Review: On the Topic of Clearance It is compatibility, not performance that is the top priority when it comes to low-profile coolers. This is why you won’t see me comparing $30 low profile coolers with dual-tower giant heat sinks.