bartvandenberg
03-28-2007, 04:44 PM
Well, since there are so many new heatsinks on the market these days, and everyone one of them states to "be the best", i figured id take a few moments to write my 2 cents on a new Heatsink (well, new to north america.its been in japan for some time now)
Since more people know what heatsinks are good, (thermalright, zalman, scythe and the like) these seem to get all the attention and i just want to shed some light on one that maybe people havent thought about.
The coolermaster gemin II
this is the mother of all heatsinks, and is actually sold as not only a heatsink, but also with the potential of being a ram and chipset cooler as well.
http://hardwarelogic.com/articles/reviews/cooling/Cooler_Master_Gemini_II/retail.jpg
Model
* Cooler Master GeminII
Compatibility
* Socket AM2/754/939/940/LGA775
Heatsink Dimensions
* 175x124.6x81.5mm
Heatsink Weight (without fans)
* 847g
Now, obviously a heatsink this size is goin to be a heavy weight, and this hs does not dissappoint. with its 847g weight, i would not suggest this heatsink to someone building a lanparty comp. I know that there are goin to be a lot of people that see the weight, and write this off as a serious risk to cracking your pcb, but.. in fact is not. The mounting is sufficient enough to allow a heatsink this weight to not cause damage, even with this heatsinks high centre of gravity, and the fact that both AMD and INTEL list 450g as the maximum weight for cooling solutions on their current motherboards:rolleyes: :rolleyes:
in comparison to other high end coolers, this wins tops spot for size. here's a comparison i yanked off a review done by hardwarelogic.com.
Cooler Master Gemini II (No fans) - 847g
Thermaltake Big Typhoon (One 120mm fan) - 813g
Thermalright Ultra 120 (No fan) - 745g
Zalman 9700 (one 110mm fan) - 764g
Zalman CNPS9500 (92mm fan) - 530g
keep in mind also that adding 2 120mm fans on this thing,(average weight of 120mm fan ranges from 170-200) will take that 847g, and put it roughly 1247 g which is 2 pounds 12 ounces.
But enough about the weight.. lets move on. We already know this thing is a monster, but will it perform like a monster?? so.. moving on to installation...
Installation was not the easiest. ive installed many heatsinks in the past, raning from stock amd and intel heatsinks, to scythe ninjas and thermalright ultra 120. This heatsink is without a doubt the biggest pain of them all. not that its any more comlex than a regular heatsink, but.. the size of it in general is the only problem.
i installed this on a new system build, and already had the motherboard installed in the case. well.. since im using socket 775, you need to have motherboard out of the case to access the back. (the only downside to installation)
Simply screw the 775 bracket to the heatsink, apply thermal paste, insert into holes of pcb, and tighten screws on the back. everything is provided for your, even a little "socket" to prevent overtightening the nuts.
I must warn everyone that although it "seems" to install very very easily without any headache, keep in mind the problems i ran into. ill show a pic to point them out....
NOTE: this is installed in a fairly roomy case - Thermaltake Tsunami Dream, and i know the rear fan is outside of the case. i wanted the hd to sit where it sits in the pic, and the rear fan got in the way, but.. in the end, the side wouldnt close, so.. out came the whole deal, just to move the hd down
http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/8088/smallcomppic1ey4.jpg
The main thing im goin to say yet about installation is, make sure that everything that will be covered by the heatsink, gets installed or plugged in first. i made the mistake of not installing ram first, and i could not get it in properly (and safely) with the heatsink in the way, so i had to remove the whole system again, just to install ram.
Now, for performance. This Heatsink/motherboard/chipset/ram cooler works excellent. Im running 2 Coolermaster 120mm 47cfm (21db) fans on it,(only running half speed) and my motherboard/chipset temps went down by 7 Degrees Celsius. I have a E6400 C2D underneath it which was overclocked to 3.2 (now sittin at 2.9 for stability) and i did not ever see temperatures raise about 42-43 degrees full load, and sittin for 30 mins idle temps were anywhere from 25-30 Celsius (depending on ambient room temp)
Well. i think ive said enough.. so to sum it up....
Verdict: Excellent cpu heatsink in general, but in my books, rises above all other when i see noticeable temp drops in passive heatpipes from chipset, ram and literally anything else within blowing distance. For the same price as "the other guys', but with added benefit of an "Everything Cooler", this IMHO, would be a great choice. Just be sure to plan out your build according to its size.
Pros
Looks very cool
Excellent cooler
Great Price
Easy Install
High Quality/Nice polished base needed no lapping *phew*:redface:
Cons
Its Very Large and Heavy (which makes for a few problems)
Its size makes it a higher risk for those lanparty types
Overall rating is a 9/10. It looses that 1 point for the headaches it can cause for a tight fit.
http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/9259/smallcomppic3xh7.jpg
Since more people know what heatsinks are good, (thermalright, zalman, scythe and the like) these seem to get all the attention and i just want to shed some light on one that maybe people havent thought about.
The coolermaster gemin II
this is the mother of all heatsinks, and is actually sold as not only a heatsink, but also with the potential of being a ram and chipset cooler as well.
http://hardwarelogic.com/articles/reviews/cooling/Cooler_Master_Gemini_II/retail.jpg
Model
* Cooler Master GeminII
Compatibility
* Socket AM2/754/939/940/LGA775
Heatsink Dimensions
* 175x124.6x81.5mm
Heatsink Weight (without fans)
* 847g
Now, obviously a heatsink this size is goin to be a heavy weight, and this hs does not dissappoint. with its 847g weight, i would not suggest this heatsink to someone building a lanparty comp. I know that there are goin to be a lot of people that see the weight, and write this off as a serious risk to cracking your pcb, but.. in fact is not. The mounting is sufficient enough to allow a heatsink this weight to not cause damage, even with this heatsinks high centre of gravity, and the fact that both AMD and INTEL list 450g as the maximum weight for cooling solutions on their current motherboards:rolleyes: :rolleyes:
in comparison to other high end coolers, this wins tops spot for size. here's a comparison i yanked off a review done by hardwarelogic.com.
Cooler Master Gemini II (No fans) - 847g
Thermaltake Big Typhoon (One 120mm fan) - 813g
Thermalright Ultra 120 (No fan) - 745g
Zalman 9700 (one 110mm fan) - 764g
Zalman CNPS9500 (92mm fan) - 530g
keep in mind also that adding 2 120mm fans on this thing,(average weight of 120mm fan ranges from 170-200) will take that 847g, and put it roughly 1247 g which is 2 pounds 12 ounces.
But enough about the weight.. lets move on. We already know this thing is a monster, but will it perform like a monster?? so.. moving on to installation...
Installation was not the easiest. ive installed many heatsinks in the past, raning from stock amd and intel heatsinks, to scythe ninjas and thermalright ultra 120. This heatsink is without a doubt the biggest pain of them all. not that its any more comlex than a regular heatsink, but.. the size of it in general is the only problem.
i installed this on a new system build, and already had the motherboard installed in the case. well.. since im using socket 775, you need to have motherboard out of the case to access the back. (the only downside to installation)
Simply screw the 775 bracket to the heatsink, apply thermal paste, insert into holes of pcb, and tighten screws on the back. everything is provided for your, even a little "socket" to prevent overtightening the nuts.
I must warn everyone that although it "seems" to install very very easily without any headache, keep in mind the problems i ran into. ill show a pic to point them out....
NOTE: this is installed in a fairly roomy case - Thermaltake Tsunami Dream, and i know the rear fan is outside of the case. i wanted the hd to sit where it sits in the pic, and the rear fan got in the way, but.. in the end, the side wouldnt close, so.. out came the whole deal, just to move the hd down
http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/8088/smallcomppic1ey4.jpg
The main thing im goin to say yet about installation is, make sure that everything that will be covered by the heatsink, gets installed or plugged in first. i made the mistake of not installing ram first, and i could not get it in properly (and safely) with the heatsink in the way, so i had to remove the whole system again, just to install ram.
Now, for performance. This Heatsink/motherboard/chipset/ram cooler works excellent. Im running 2 Coolermaster 120mm 47cfm (21db) fans on it,(only running half speed) and my motherboard/chipset temps went down by 7 Degrees Celsius. I have a E6400 C2D underneath it which was overclocked to 3.2 (now sittin at 2.9 for stability) and i did not ever see temperatures raise about 42-43 degrees full load, and sittin for 30 mins idle temps were anywhere from 25-30 Celsius (depending on ambient room temp)
Well. i think ive said enough.. so to sum it up....
Verdict: Excellent cpu heatsink in general, but in my books, rises above all other when i see noticeable temp drops in passive heatpipes from chipset, ram and literally anything else within blowing distance. For the same price as "the other guys', but with added benefit of an "Everything Cooler", this IMHO, would be a great choice. Just be sure to plan out your build according to its size.
Pros
Looks very cool
Excellent cooler
Great Price
Easy Install
High Quality/Nice polished base needed no lapping *phew*:redface:
Cons
Its Very Large and Heavy (which makes for a few problems)
Its size makes it a higher risk for those lanparty types
Overall rating is a 9/10. It looses that 1 point for the headaches it can cause for a tight fit.
http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/9259/smallcomppic3xh7.jpg