Reviews by our members

• 5

  5 out of 7 members found this review helpful

  Konstantinos_Daglaroglou

  2020-11-09

  Verified purchase

  My case is narrow (18.5 cm) and I wanted a large cooler to keep the R3 3100 as cool as possible without the fan having to work too hard. The only solution was a low profile cooler.
  The Black Ridge is very well-made and impressive, heavy, with careful finishing and very good metal processing.
  Its installation is nothing special, it is similar to all good modern coolers, but a disadvantage for me is the fact that if you want to remove it to change the thermal paste, for example, you have to remove the motherboard as well.
  After its installation, it does not interfere with the placement of the memory modules. It comes with a 92mm fan, which is placed between the two heatsinks, resulting in the height remaining extremely low. However, because I did not have a significant space issue and I wanted the most silent and efficient operation possible, I did not install it, but I put a Bequiet! 120mm fan on the top heatsink in a push configuration.
  I imagine that if I had also installed the 92mm fan, its performance would have skyrocketed, but the machine is not struggling, so I considered it excessive.
  With the 120mm fan, the result is that it keeps the R3 3100 stock at 33-45 degrees Celsius (room temperature 23 degrees) during browsing and simple tasks. In terms of noise, I simply cannot hear anything from my workstation. If I put my ear close to the open case, I can hear a soft hum.
  I would describe it as the "Bequiet! Dark Rock TF for the poor," which I have in another PC. If you have a narrow case and do not need absolute top-notch cooling, the Black Ridge will cover your needs. Its price is at the upper end of the mid-range or at the lower end of the high-end, depending on how one sees it, but it is definitely worth its money. I will buy it again for a similar project that I am preparing.

  Translated from Greek · Show original

  • Effective cooling
  • Silent
  • Construction quality
  • Value for money
  • Volume

  • Installation

  • 
  Did you find this review helpful?YesNo

  Report
• 5

  2 out of 14 members found this review helpful

  nikiforospro

  2020-05-27

  (update) I put a Scythe 120 RGB 1800 RPM fan with a 55 CFS fan on it. The fan has 3 modes: Standard, Performance, and Overclock. The modes are adjusted based on the position of the fan. In Overclock mode, I increased the max speed to 66, and when I say max speed, I mean 30+ degrees in Celsius.

  On the first day of installation, I didn't have a 120mm fan installed. During a stress test on the 1700x 3.8GHz, it reached 80 degrees Celsius with the stock fan, which didn't even make a sound. I was amazed. Of course, I have good airflow with 6 fans in the case, but it's still exceptionally good for low noise, as it performs better than the Wraith Prism I had in silence mode. In overclock mode, the Wraith Prism performs better, but in overclock, I wouldn't put it on anything, as it's better to move to an airport.

  Also, it is literally low, the photos make it look big, so be careful with the RAM, otherwise, you will have to install it upside down like I did to fit the RAM. But in small (mATX) motherboards, it will definitely cover the PCI-E slot. I have Trident G-Skill RGB RAM, and it barely fits, touching the fan a little, but it doesn't cause any issues.

  Translated from Greek · Show original

  • Effective cooling
  • Installation
  • Silent
  • Volume
  • Value for money
  • Construction quality
  Did you find this review helpful?YesNo

  Report
• 5

  ewpsoldier

  2021-10-21

  Verified purchase

  • Effective cooling
  • Construction quality
  • Value for money

  • Installation
  • Volume

  • Noisy
• 5

  iraklideas

  2021-08-23

  • Effective cooling
  • Installation
  • Volume
  • Construction quality
  • Value for money

  • Moderate noise