Cryorig R1 Ultimate CPU Cooler Review
Cryorig R1 Ultimate CPU Cooler – A Closer Look
At first glance, the R1 Ultimate looks similar in design to other dual-tower design coolers, though the entire unit evokes a very high quality feel. With the fans installed, the unit is truly massive and will fill up the CPU area of a motherboard quite well. Cryorig includes a compatibility tester on their website that will let you see if the R1 Ultimate is going to fit on your motherboard, which is really thoughtful. Even though at first glance the R1 Ultimate seems similar to other coolers, there are some definite differences when you look closer.
The two towers on the R1 Ultimate are surrounded by a removable black cover that serves aesthetic purpose in addition to holding the fans via clips. There are reasonably-priced ($12) replacement tower covers for the R1 Ultimate available from Newegg to better suit your systems color motif, including the ever popular red.
Looking at the R1 Ultimate with the tower covers removed, rather than having the two towers balanced evenly over the base, we can actually see that the towers sit off-base quite a bit, with there being an odd weight distribution of the cooler, though this shouldn’t cause any issues or be of concern. This is done for memory clearance purposes and it definitely helps. When compared to a cooler like the NH-D15, the Cryorig has clearance for tall memory modules and the cooler itself doesn’t actually protrude over the DIMM slots on most boards, only the fan protrudes over these slots. This gives the Cryorig R1 Ultimate a lot of versatility and a better chance of being compatible with certain motherboards and tall memory modules being used.
We notice that the fin arrays are two different colors. The outer row of black fins are more dense, which should allow for added heat dissipation capability. The inner rows being less dense will mean there is less resistance to airflow, thus allowing lower noise operation while not sacrificing cooling performance.
Once we remove the protective cover, we find the base of the R1 Ultimate is flat and clean, leaving a desirable surface to mate with the CPU. Though it is far from a mirror-polish surface and that enthusiasts may take to lapping the base on their R1 Ultimate units, we feel the surface is more than adequate and there are no surface variances or pits. CryoRig has taken a very high-end approach with the R1 Ultimate and the attention to detail across the board with this unit is nothing short of excellent and this extends to the base.
The nickel-plated copper heatpipes of the R1 Ultimate flow quite nicely and complement the overall look of the R1 Ultimate. The heatpipes flow between each tower and down into the base of the unit, where they are closely grouped together in order to provide a nice contact area. This is a very good design and Cryorig really did well to maximize the use of space here, as the heatpipes cover a large amount of area and contact the fin arrays and base very well, lending themselves well to dissipation, while not being obtrusive.
The base of the Cryorig R1 Ultimate features a crossbar attachment that is screwed into the center of the base, along with two spring-loaded screws that secure the R1 Ultimate the the MultiSeg mounting hardware. This mechanism is very solid and the hardware is well-built and seems to be durable. With two solid screws and solid hardware holding the Cryorig R1 Ultimate in place, end users can rest well knowing their heatsink will stay in place.
The XF140 fans included with the R1 Ultimate feature rubber anti-vibration material built into the corners to help assist with noise-reduction. The cable for the fan has been wrapped in a nice, tightly woven black sleeve, lending well to aesthetics. The edge of each fan blade has been smoothed to allow for turbulence reduction, a feature that I almost overlooked. The XF140 features what Cryorig has branded a “High Pressure Low Noise (HPLN)” bearing, which is basically a high quality bearing that should lend to a long lifespan and low noise thanks to an increased magnet count within the mechanism. The XF140 is rated for a nice 76 CFM at 23 dBA maximum, so two of them should be able to cool off the R1 Ultimate quite well and do so without making a lot of noise.
The R1 Ultimate really has a lot to offer in regards to design quality and aesthetics. Everything evokes a high quality feel and the premium price point of the heatsink is definitely felt in the materials. We really like the look and style of the R1 Ultimate and the XF140 fans really complement the R1 Ultimate quite well. There aren’t any negatives to point out about the manufacturing quality, design or style of the CryoRig R1 Ultimate, as it is equal to or better than premium offerings from companies like Noctua and Prolimatech in all of these regards.
Next page we’ll take a quick look at the Cryorig R1 Ultimate installed on our test bed and look at some Prime 95 temperature results.