Gelid Black Edition CPU Cooler Review

Posted March 7, 2013 by Will in Cooling

Rating

Price

Performance

Installation

Warranty

PureOC

Total Score

Overview

Hardware: Cooling

Manufacturer: GELID Solutions

Price at time of Review: $74.99 at Performance-PCs

WHAT WE LIKED:

Great performance, quiet, small footprint, 5-year warranty, did I mention quiet?

WHAT WE DISLIKED:

Installation is tricky with only two hands, forget about installing it while the motherboard is in a case.

BOTTOM LINE:

The Gelid Black Edition was the best performing cooler we've tested under stock clocks and the quietest as well. If you're looking for a quiet performer that's smaller and less expensive than the top-shelf Noctua units while giving similar performance the Gelid Black Edition is the cooler you've been looking for.
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by Will

Full Article

Features and Specifications

7 Power Heatpipes
Unique Heatpipes Arrangement
Multi Award-Winning Slim 12 PWM & Silent 12 PWM Fan
Up to total 3 Fans attachable
GC-Extreme Thermal Compound
5 Years Warranty

Air Flow (CFM/CMH):	Slim 12 PWM: 52.4 / 89.1 max. / Silent 12 PWM: 58 / 98.6 max
Bearing:	Hydro Dynamic Bearing
Cable Length (mm):	350
Current (A):	Slim 12 PWM: 0.2 max. / Silent 12 PWM: 0.18 max.
DC Voltage (V):	12
Fan Dimensions (mm)	Slim 12 PWM: 120(l) x 120(w) x 15.8(h) / Silent 12 PWM: 120(l) x 120(w) x 25(h)
Fan Life Time MTTF at 40C (h):	50’000
Fan Speed (+/- 10% ) (RPM):	Slim 12 PWM: 750 – 1600 / Silent 12 PWM: 750 – 1500
Heat Sink Dimensions (mm):	109(l) x 126(w) x 160(h) (incl. Fans)
Noise Level (dBA):	Slim 12 PWM: 25.4 max. / Silent 12 PWM: 25.5 max.
Static Pressure (mmAq):	Slim 12 PWM: 1.35 / Silent 12 PWM: 1.6
Warranty (years):	5
Weight (g):	990 (Heatsink & Fans)

Applications:

Intel™ Socket 775, 1155, 1156, 1366 & 2011:
CPU: All Pentium D/ Pentium 4/ All Celeron D/ All Pentium Dual-Core/ Extreme/ All Core 2 Extreme/ Core 2 Quad/ Core 2 Duo, Core i5, Core i7

AMD™ Socket AM2/ AM2+/ AM3/ AM3+/ FM1/ FM2:
CPU: All Athlon 64 X2, Athlon 64, All Athlon II, All Sempron, Phenom, Phenom II, All A Series AMD APU Llano

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Design Concept:

Traditional heat pipe arrangement of high-end heatsink heatpipes are usually soldered on one row. Therefore the heat absorption capacity of the outer heatpipe will be negatively affected when there are more than 5 heatpipes.

To solve this problem a special array of heatpipes was used on “The Black Edition” to take full advantage of all 7 6mm heatpipe heat transfer capacity. On “The Black Edition” two heatpipes were soldered on top of three middle heatpipes.

Traditional heatpipe arrangement.

Unique heatpipe arrangement on “The Black Edition” to take full advantage of all 7 heatpipe.

Slim 12 PWM & Silent 12 PWM:

The Slim 12 PWM (120 x120 x 15.8mm) features a unique Hydro Dynamic Bearing. This bearing ensures silent operation and ensures long lifetime. The optimized fan blades generate high air flow.

Designed for advanced users GELID Solutions Silent 12 PWM fan provides additional airflow by using Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) to automatically adjust fan speed according to the CPU load. The fan can be idled down and thus be much quieter. An intelligent IC had been integrated into the fan’s PCB to exploit your mainboard’s BIOS software. This technology is more efficient and convenient than using an external fan controller to adjust the voltage.

Up to total 3 fans can be mounted on the heatsink of the “The Black Edition”.

Let’s unbox this beast and check it out!