Performance
Performance has been tested on already mentioned Intel Skylake platform. Test setup includes Intel Core i7 6700K processor overclocked to 4.2GHz at 1.25V. Tested voltage let to overclock these processors up to 4.5-4.6GHz (what of course depends from luck as not all processors will overclock so high).
All tests were performed outside of PC case in a room temperature of about 23°C.
To test mixed load, we have used PCMark 8 benchmark which is based on popular applications and less demanding games. This is what you usually see while playing games or other daily work.
Maximum temperature is what we have seen after one hour of the latest version of Prime95. It’s one of the most demanding applications which heats up processor much more than any game. We can say it’s maximum load for current generation of processors.
Test results are as good as I was expecting. My main question before I started to test R1 Universal cooler was if it’s good enough to compete with water cooling kits. If not these most advanced then at least with most popular AIO which are not cheap.
As we can see, test results are about as good as these achieved on custom water cooling which is better than popular AIO with 240mm radiators. At the same time most AIO kits cost more than CRYORIG R1 and generate more noise. Even if fans are quiet then we can’t eliminate noise which is generated by pump in most water cooling kits.
Better in our tests was CRYORIG A80 which is based on 280mm radiator but is more noisy than the R1 Universal, especially at 1500 RPM.
In most tests fans in R1 cooler were not spinning faster than about 800 RPM. In a closed case you can say they’re silent even when in room are no other sources of sound. It’s amazing that CRYORIG could mix so good performance and silent work.
We have to remember that in games and most other applications, processor is not loaded at 100%. Maximum temperature which we have seen is unreal during daily work.
On the below graph you can see that idle temperature is not important as in all cases it’s not much different. Also in mixed load tests all higher performance coolers are offering similar performance. Difference will raise when we use higher wattage CPU or perform maximum load tests. Then CRYORIG R1 Universal is clearly better than all other air coolers and is nearly as good as water cooling kits.
CRYORIG R1 Universal is a great cooler which can replace most popular water cooling kits and is clearly one of the best options on the market if you are looking for a high performance air cooling for your processor.
