Cooler Master GeminII review

[sladesurfer]

In a constant war of one-upsmanship, Cooler Master certainly has a winner here. The GeminII not only slays my XP-90, I am betting a fair share of water cooling setups would lay victim to this heatsink’s supremacy as well. Cooler Master’s claims that this will cool your entire motherboard is not unfounded: while the chipset seemed to see little benefit, the PWM benfited greatly, especially at high loads. The large size will appeal to the enthusiast community, as will the adjustable fan rails. The price will be a downer for some, as the cost of the heatsink plus the cost of two quality 120mm fans could easily exceed $80. If Cooler Master could fix the problem with horizontal mounting on K8 platforms as well as the poor instruction manual, the GeminII would be deserving of a perfect 10.

http://www.cluboverclocker.com/revie...inII/index.asp

[Speederlander]

Is the heatsink pushing against that card?

[Brother Esau]

@sladesurfer....why are you double posting this?

[Rattle]

we need c2d results on a p5b-d

[Rol-Co]

we need c2d results on a p5b-d

i did some tests

x6800 extreme edition
2x coolermaster aquagate mini fans 106 cfm full speed 2700 rpm
asus commando
room temp 21 degrees C

3600mhz 5h orthos 1.45v bios, 59/63 degr coretemp fans at 1000 rpm
3700mhz 1h orthos 1.50v bios, 67/68 degr coretemp fans at 1000 rpm

i don't like this , too much heat so changed fanspeed too 1500 rpm

3700mhz 3h orthos 1.50v bios, 62/63 degr coretemp fans at 1500 rpm
3800mhz 1h orthos 1.55v bios, 67/68 degr coretemp fans at 1500 rpm

to much heat again changed to full speed 2600-2650rpm

3800mhz 3h orthos 1.55v bios, 60/62 degr coretemp fans at full speed
3900mhz 2m orthos 1.60v bios, 70/69 degr coretemp fans at full speed (fail)

lowered room temp from 21/22 degrees too 16/17 degrees

3900mhz 2h orthos 1.60v bios, 62/63 degr coretemp fans at full speed.

end of test, qx6700 next

i can say thats pretty impressive , i have all big aircoolers overhere but never seen it cool like this.

[ether.real]

Is the heatsink pushing against that card?

No, it is not.

(I wrote the review).

[Brother Esau]

Then what on earth did you do to you're card then?

[ether.real]

Are you referring to the RAM sinks? It's an eVGA 7800GTX with the Arctic Silencer and RAM sinks on the back side...

[Brother Esau]

No it looks as if the card is flexed and pushed down due to the heatsink.

[LuckyNV]

No it looks as if the card is flexed and pushed down due to the heatsink.

dodgy camera angle

[ether.real]

Nah, there is about a half inch of clearance between the video card and the fan, and about an inch and a half between the video card and the heatsink.

[Brother Esau]

I'm still trying to figure out why they made it so its not applicable the other way on AMD install? Stupid ....there goes half of the entheusiast maket right there!

[xB0n3s]

And I thought my heatsink was big

[pisles2]

I was ready to buy this beast, based on reveiws and my own assemement of the design, but it won't fit in my case (not with 2x120mm fans installed).

I think it will fit the BadAxe2 MB ok, but my iTower 930 has a hot swappable SATA drive bay with a cooling fan in the rear that extends over the MB, leaving me only about 185 mm width to work within. If I would try to mount it vertically, the video card is in the way. I could try just using one fan, but would I be better off performance-wise getting another smaller footprint heatsink?

The others I have been considering are:
TT BT (I like the downward blowing design)
TT BT VX (too heavy for that style of mount?)
TR SI-128 (lighter, but how does it compare to others)
TR Ultra-120 (a known top performer, height could be issue in my case)
Enzo Ultra-X (good reviews, limited availablility)
CM Eclipse (haven't seen any reviews of this heat sink)

or wait for the TR Ultra-120 Plus or TR IXF-14!

Running stock on the QX6700 right now, which can get quite hot.

Suggestions?

[Slaymate]

The fan assembly slides, so it is adjustable for clearances. Plus it
can be mounted horizontally instead of vertically :-)

[Rattle]

i did some tests

x6800 extreme edition
2x coolermaster aquagate mini fans 106 cfm full speed 2700 rpm
asus commando
room temp 21 degrees C

3600mhz 5h orthos 1.45v bios, 59/63 degr coretemp fans at 1000 rpm
3700mhz 1h orthos 1.50v bios, 67/68 degr coretemp fans at 1000 rpm

i don't like this , too much heat so changed fanspeed too 1500 rpm

3700mhz 3h orthos 1.50v bios, 62/63 degr coretemp fans at 1500 rpm
3800mhz 1h orthos 1.55v bios, 67/68 degr coretemp fans at 1500 rpm

to much heat again changed to full speed 2600-2650rpm

3800mhz 3h orthos 1.55v bios, 60/62 degr coretemp fans at full speed
3900mhz 2m orthos 1.60v bios, 70/69 degr coretemp fans at full speed (fail)

lowered room temp from 21/22 degrees too 16/17 degrees

3900mhz 2h orthos 1.60v bios, 62/63 degr coretemp fans at full speed.

end of test, qx6700 next

i can say thats pretty impressive , i have all big aircoolers overhere but never seen it cool like this.

thanks, how much of an improvement over a tuniq? doesnt seem like a much

[Brother Esau]

I would say the additional benefits of it cooling other components on the motherboard would be the plus side to owning it over the Tuniq Tower.

I would like to see a side by side comparison of the Tuniq and Gemini faceing off on a DFI board just wish it would install the other way instead of vertically!

[pisles2]

The fan assembly slides, so it is adjustable for clearances. Plus it
can be mounted horizontally instead of vertically :-)

In my case, I can only fit something no more than 200 mm wide if mounted horizontally or 170 mm vertically. Two 120 mm fans would be 240 mm wide - won't fit either way.

[Jodiuh]

So it can't be mounted hori to cool the RAM on certain boards or socket? I would love to stick a 120mm over my RAM, that Dominator fan's a joke.

[Brother Esau]

You have a Intal board so you are good to go! The AMD folks have no option as to mount it horizontilly.

[Jodiuh]

Nice. I've been trying to get some more airflow over the RAM wo/ dangling a 120mm from the ceiling of the Stacker.