GELID Solutions GX-7 CPU Cooler review

[siopao1984]

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GELID Solutions GX-7 CPU Cooler review by VR-Zone.com

Manufacturer features and specifications

• 7 Power Heatpipes
• Unique Heatpipes Arrangement
• Optimized Heatsink with Multi Air Channels
• Wing 12 PL Blue Fan
• PWM Fan Control
• 3 Years Warranty

[siopao1984]

Gelid supplies the GX-7 CPU cooler inside sturdy, serious-looking cardboard box. The artwork on the box is focused on a picture of the cooler itself and a subtle abstract background. A wealth of information on the product’s features and specifications can be found at the sides and rear of the box.



Bundled with the cooler you will also receive the main backplate and the necessary metallic retention brackets needed for the installation of the cooler, metallic clips for mounting one or two 120mm cooling fans, a small syringe of GC-2 thermal compound and a very basic black and white manual.

[siopao1984]

Much like most modern high performance CPU coolers, the Gelid GX-7 is a tower-style cooler. The body of the cooler is considerably tall but not very wide, resulting to a relatively compact cooler. The aluminum fins of the GX-7 cooler are cut to a V shape, a technique proven to reduce the noise created by air turbulence.



At the top of the cooler Gelid placed a thick plastic cover, serving mostly as an aesthetic enhancement and covers the ends of the heatpipes. A blue colored V can be seen at the middle of the plastic cover, right above a small sticker with the company logo.



The base of the cooler is made out of pure copper and it is very smooth, although not machined down to a mirror finish. There are seven heatpipes moving through the tiny copper base split in two “layers”, five inline at the lower layer, close to the CPU, and two at the upper layer acting as a support.



The fan supplied with the GX-7 is the Wing 12PL 120mm cooling fan which Gelid also offers as a stand-alone product. It features a “Nanoflux Bearing”, which is an improved form of the standard ball bearing with superior long-term reliability; at least that’s what Gelid says, we do not have 100.000 hours at our disposal in order to test and confirm the long term reliability of such a device. This fan has a maximum rotational speed of 1800RPM and also features blue LED lighting.

[siopao1984]

Although the installation of the Gelid GX-7 cooler requires tools and some time, it is not a complex procedure. To begin with, the user needs to screw the metallic retention bracket for the correct CPU slot onto the base of the cooler. Gelid drilled holes at all four sides of the retention brackets, allowing the end user to choose the orientation with the cooler is facing at.



The motherboard does not have to be removed from the case if the motherboard tray is cut open behind the CPU area. The universal backplate have to be placed at the rear of the motherboard and is being held into place by locking head screws.



Moving to the forward side of the motherboard, the washers and the locking nuts have to be installed. The locking head screws will not turn around once they are locked onto the backplate, therefore you can install the locking nuts and washers without holding the screws from behind the motherboard.



Finally, one has to spread a thin layer of thermal compound on the CPU, place the cooler on the CPU and secure it using the springs and screws. The screws can be tightened by hand but in order to secure them tightly one has to use a very long Philips screwdriver.



Gelid’s GX-7 cooler is relatively compact and will not cover everything near the CPU area when installed on a motherboard. As a matter of fact, it does not even block the RAM module slots and would allow the end user to install tall high-performance RAM modules in all of the motherboard’s slots, unless the slots are placed very close to the CPU area.

[siopao1984]

In order to provide you with the most professional and accurate reviews, we are using the following equipment to test the performance of coolers. The system automatically calculates the Delta T temperature, which is the difference between the ambient temperature and the temperature at the top of the thermal core.

Custom copper thermal core with automatic power controls
Watlow heat generation rods
PT100 temperature sensors
Lutron DW-6091 Power Analyzer
SL-5868P digital sound level meter
CompuLAB interface
MyPClab thermal interface
Custom calibration box
Custom software
More information about our testing equipment and methodology can be found in this article.



Gelid also provided us with a syringe of their premium thermal compound, the GC Extreme, which is supposed to be notably better than most other premium thermal compounds, including the GC-2 bundled with this cooler. We have tested the GX-7 by using both the included GC-2 thermal grease and the provided GC Extreme thermal grease.



Gelid’s GX-7 cooler surprised us; we did not expect a “run of the mill” looking tower cooler of that size to perform this well. The GX-7 outperformed other, much larger and more expensive competitive products even when we used the included GC-2 thermal compound. Using the provided GC Extreme thermal compound did move the cooler to the top of our list, which means that a very good thermal grease certainly has a significant impact on a cooler’s performance; however we can only assume that if we were to apply such a thermal grease while we were testing the other coolers, they would outperform the GX-7 once again.

[siopao1984]

Quality (30% of the total score)

We found the quality of the GX-7 to be more than adequate, although there is some room for improvements. The body of the cooler itself is very well made and strong, without any significant manufacturing defects, yet we would prefer it if the four corners of the cooling fins were not as sharp. Perhaps it is because we receive an engineering sample but the four edges of the cooling fins of the sample we received would easily pierce skin with the slightest sign of pressure. We can only suggest caution while handling this cooler. Furthermore, we found the base of the cooler very smooth and well made but a large percentage of enthusiasts would argue about it not having a good mirror finish, even though it has little to do with the actual performance of any cooler.

Quality Score 8.5/10



Performance (40% of the total score)

We certainly did not expect to see the medium sized Gelid GX-7 at the top of our chart, even while using an aftermarket thermal compound. The cooler certainly performed significantly better when we used the GC Extreme thermal grease but it is only fair that we compare its performance against other coolers only while we were using the supplied GC-2 thermal compound. Still, even while using the supplied thermal compound, the Gelid GX-7 manages to outperform much larger competitive products and easily competes with some of the best coolers currently available. Its Wing 12PL fan is certainly audible while rotating at 1800RPM but it actually is quieter than other fans running at speeds close to that, meaning that Gelid’s noise reduction techniques really paid off.

Performance Score 9.5/10



Aesthetics (20% of the total score)

While the main body of the GX-7 looks like any other tower cooler, the plastic top cover and the blue LED Wing 12PL fan do give a very unique look to this product. We found the Gelid GX-7 to be very well aesthetically balanced; fancy enough to easily draw attention but without overdoing it and end up looking kitschy.

Aesthetics Score 9.0/10



Value (10% of the total score)

The MSRP suggested by Gelid for the GX-7 cooler is 65 USD / 45 Euro, which does not make it a cheap cooler but the price seems fair; especially when considering that the Gelid GX-7 cooler ships with a Wing 12PL cooling fan included. Unfortunately this cooler does not support the upcoming Intel Socket 2011 processors, which might be a problem for people who upgrade to cutting-edge technology systems frequently but we strongly believe that most potential customers will not be worried by this.

Value Score 9.0/10

[fractal]

pila na boss

[street_of_no_return]

naa abot nani dri CEBU siopao.?

[Cabzjr20]

nice.. big cooler jd ni boss...

[gerain04]

asa ni mapalit? ug tagpila sad?