Early Verdict
The R1 Ultimate from Cryorig provides the most powerful cooling of any heatsink and fan combo we’ve tested, but at the cost of increased noise. It’s got our seal of approval for users who really need that last bit of cooling performance to reach their overclocking goals.
Pros
- +
Top cooling performance
- +
Easy Installation
- +
Offset sinks with adjustable fan height for extra DIMM clearance
Cons
- -
Somewhat noisy
- -
Heavy coolers require extra care when moving PCs
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Introducing The R1 Ultimate
Specifications
The best way to reach out to our readers and into their wallets is with a value message that focuses on quality. Cryorig has been doing that for a couple years, yet the first cooler it sent to this lab is not one of its cheaper models. Instead we find a dual-tower cooler competing in the $90 to $100 price segment.
R1 Ultimate buyers get a big cooler with two heatsinks connected via seven U-shaped heat pipes, Intel and AMD mounting brackets, a fan power splitter, extra fan clips, a tube of CP7 thermal compound, an extra-long #2 Phillips screwdriver, all the hardware needed to install the mounting brackets, and an alcohol pad to clean the CPU and cooler base.
The cooler body is offset towards the rear, but measures dead center with its fan installed. Since the fan clips allow the fan to slide up and down, you can get up to 1.6” of clearance for your DIMMs, or as little as 6.6” of installed height to clear their case’s side panel. Make sure to add the 140mm fan size to your DIMM height when determining installed height, since sliding the fan up to clear 1.5” DIMMs would result in a mounting height of just over 7”.
The R1 Ultimate base is finely machined but not polished, which isn’t a problem for me since I prefer a very light texture to help keep my paste in place. I’ve found that some older thermal compounds would shrink away from gaps when used on polished cooler bases.
The R1 Ultimate includes two sets of standoffs. Users of non-2011 motherboards need to hold their support plate to the back of the motherboard while screwing the standoffs onto the support plate’s studs. LGA-2011(x) users can simply screw the other set of standoffs onto their motherboard’s integrated CPU cooler bracket. Two bars are placed across the studs and secured with included cap nuts.
Unlike similar designs, Cryorig does not require removing its center fan to access the spring-loaded screws of its CPU cooler retention mechanism. The company instead adds stylized fins to the back of its heat sinks, with grooves that align very nicely (though not perfectly) to those retention screws.
Once again we remind you that total installation height will be at least 140mm greater than DIMM height, since the fan can only be pushed down until it contacts the DIMM. The fan’s mounting holes are spaced for 120mm fans, however, and user with tall DIMMs are welcome to seek additional clearance by swapping out its front 140mm fan for a 120mm model. Doing so should allow most users to fit modules up to 2” tall, or fit a 1.8” module set within the cooler’s 6.6” minimum height.
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