Introduction
So it’s time for my next review. What have we got?
Today it’s the Cooler Master Gemin II SF524. A mixture of high performance and top down cooler. We’ve seen quite a few companies try this style of cooler and they have some real advantages such as being able to cool RAM modules or the VRM area. The disadvantage is that the heat has further to travel along the heatpipes compared to a tower style cooler. Will that affect the results? Only one way to find out.
Specifications
CPU Socket support: Intel LGA 1366 / 1156 / 1155 / 775, AMDFM1 / AM3+ / AM3 / AM2+ / AM2
Dimension (W / H / D): 144 x 144 x 105 mm (5.7 x 5.7 x 4.1 inch)
Fan Dimension (W / H / D): 120 x 120 x 25 mm (4.7 x 4.7 x 1 inch)
Fan Speed: 1,300 RPM ± 10% (900RPM with silent mode adapter)
Fan Airflow: 52.6 CFM ± 10% (36.4 @ 900RPM)
Fan Life Expectancy: 40,000 hours
Fan Noise Level (dB-A): 22.5 dBA
Bearing Type: Long Life Sleeve Bearing
Connector: 3-Pin
Unboxing
Again we see great box design from Cooler master. It clearly displays the information you need to decide if this cooler is correct for you.
Click to Enlarge
The back has information in multiple languages and some technical drawings of the cooler.
Click to Enlarge
The bundled items include: a manual, AMD and Intel mounting parts, thermal compound and nuts, rubber rings, nut setter and the silent mode adapter.
Click to Enlarge
The provided mounting system is another variant of Cooler Master’s mounting solutions. It is the simplest and easiest of theirs that I’ve used so far. The four included rubber rings needed to be stuck to the motherboard to ensure there is no metal contact.
The mounting solution for a cooler is becoming more and more important as part of a bundle like this. It’s good to see Cooler Master trying lots of different systems.
The thermal paste is the same standard thermal paste Cooler Master provides with all of their coolers. It’s of a high quality and has a good viscosity for a thermal compound, making sure it spreads well when you mount it.
I really liked this review. But I think that you had notice about existing Cooler Master Gemini II S524 (not SF524). Many people could make a mistake with that.
And it would be very interesting for me to see a such test for CM Gemini II S524.
And you have to check, that in testing screens you wrote “CM Gemini II S542”, when it is “524”. Yeah, that is a small mistake, but it also can cause some misunderstanding.
Thanks for the comment Kot. We’ll look into fixing these errors.
yeah the s 542 has a pmw fan and spins up to 1700rpm and coolermaster rates it up to 72cfm versus the cfm of the sf version which is 56 or close to it would be nice to see diference between them