Review Amazon Basics CPU Cooler Review: Quiet Air Cooling for Mainstream Rigs

[Admin]

True to its name, the performance of the Amazon Basics CPU Cooler is basic. But it’s also one of the quietest coolers we’ve tested.

Amazon Basics CPU Cooler Review: Quiet Air Cooling for Mainstream Rigs : Read more

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Oh brother.

 

[-Fran-]

Haha! Nice job, Albert!

I'd love to see how this one compares to the Vetroo V5 TBH, but it does seem like it's not a terrible buy; quite competitive in fact.

That fan though... The plastic used gives me the feeling it will crackle/break rather soon when exposed to heat. I wish you could test that theory, but it gives me that feeling. Maybe I'm wrong. In any case, it's easy to swap if it breaks or isn't enough.

Regards.

 

[PlaneInTheSky]

So the Amazon cooler cools the exact same as the Thermalright but it's quieter and it's 30% cheaper.

Nice job.

 

[evdjj3j]

So ease/difficulty of installation is both a pro and a con?

 

[PlaneInTheSky]

So ease/difficulty of installation is both a pro and a con?

I think the argument is that it is simple because it's clear how installation works. But it's not that easy to do.

Kind of like how riding a bicycle is a simple to understand concept, but it's not that easy to do.

 

[evdjj3j]

I think the argument is that it is simple because it's clear how installation works. But it's not that easy to do.

Kind of like how riding a bicycle is a simple to understand concept, but it's not that easy to do.

Then it's a con.

 

[PlaneInTheSky]

Then it's a con.

It's both a plus and a con. The process is simple, you don't need a degree to understand the simple concept of riding a bicycle. So that's a plus. But actually doing it is not that easy. So that's a con.

 

[Amdlova]

I have this cooler is the same coolers master 412r. 200w? What kind of voodoo you guys use?
My little fellow here gives me Temps 90 degree celcius. Cheap do the work but I can't belive 200w max 125w before goes to the sun

 

[pixelpusher220]

"to dial up performance and power until it richest that thermal result "

 

[Dr3ams]

Let Amazon cool my rig?

No thanks.

 

[razor512]

Horrible value for a cooler considering that is loses by a wide margin against a number of other cheaper coolers.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

I don't really agree with the conclusion that this can "cool" 200w. The CPU was constantly throttling below that due to it sitting at 104c if you add the 23c ambient to the 79c delta t. That's not exactly a CPU that is being "cooled" adequately.

I would not buy this cooler and instead buy something from thermalright, or even some others.

The Thermalright Assassin 120 SE is a significantly better cooler in my opinion. For starters, it simply is better at cooling here, delivering 21c lower temps than this Amazon basics. It also looks nicer with a better looking proper ARGB fan as well as a black cover for the top of the heatsink. In my experience it's very simple to install. Pricing wise it is $19.90, where the Amazon basics is $28.49, so the Amazon Basics is 43% more coin which is pretty bad.

You can argue the amazon one is quieter, however it is quieter while much cooling less. You could reduce the fan speed to make the Thermalright quite a bit quieter before its performance becomes worse than the Amazon Basics. Some noise normalized testing here would have been a good inclusion. Including the Vetroo V5 would have been a good comparison since it is similarly priced.

I've also used the Deepcool Gammaxx 400 V2, and ID Cooling SE-214 XT which are not here for comparison but I probably would prefer these since they are cheaper.

 

[drivinfast247]

"At $28.49 USD, this basic air cooler costs less than a tank of gas"? You drive a moped?

 

[Albert.Thomas]

I have this cooler is the same coolers master 412r. 200w? What kind of voodoo you guys use?
My little fellow here gives me Temps 90 degree celcius. Cheap do the work but I can't belive 200w max 125w before goes to the sun

The amount of watts the cooler can disappate will vary depend on the CPU it's paired with.

Cooling 200W on an i9-13900K is relatively easy

Cooling 200W on a Ryzen 7700X is impossible.

 

[Albert.Thomas]

"At $28.49 USD, this basic air cooler costs less than a tank of gas"? You drive a moped?

Haha, a moped would only take like $15 to fill up

I drive a Chevy Sonic. IIRC it takes about $40 to fill it up.

 

[Albert.Thomas]

I don't really agree with the conclusion that this can "cool" 200w. The CPU was constantly throttling below that due to it sitting at 104c if you add the 23c ambient to the 79c delta t. That's not exactly a CPU that is being "cooled" adequately.

CPUs hitting TJMax isn't anything to worry about, they are designed to handle those temperatures.

Yes, at 23c it could "only" handle 198W in long term workloads - but really, that still provides ~90% of the performance of a fully unthrottled i9-13900K in the most demanding workloads. In more common workloads, you won't notice a lick of difference.

I did a power scaling overview of the i9-13900K on Boring Text Reviews, if you're interested.

Intel i9-13900k Power and Cooling Scaling Overview

In gaming, enforcing a 95 watt power limit results in a 5.7% performance loss. More intensive workloads will cause the decifit will increase, in Cinebench imposing a 95 watt limit results in a 30% …

boringtextreviews.com

I would not buy this cooler and instead buy something from thermalright, or even some others.

The Thermalright Assassin 120 SE is a significantly better cooler in my opinion.

No argument here! Thermalright's air coolers have unbeatable value.

 

[RedBear87]

Let Amazon cool my rig?

No thanks.

Honestly, as long as we're talking about a fairly entry level rig, I guess it's safer than many amazon basics appliances that caught fire... I would still look at the PWM power cable of the fans from time to time, though!

 

[dimar]

They should sell a version without the fan, so I can pickup my own fan of choice.

 

[ThatMouse]

Amazon Basics is hit or miss. This one missed by about $15.

 

[Misgar]

Back in December 2022 when I bought an NH-D15 Chromax Black (five times the price of this Amazon Basic cooler), the Noctua heatsink was cheaper than 60 litres of fuel for my car in the UK. Similarly, 20 litres of E5 Super Unleaded for my motorcycle was more expensive than the Amazon Basic heatsink.

I'm not sure comparing the cost of a tank of fuel with the price of this heatsink will influence people choosing an air cooler. I have a number of very cheap coolers in low power rigs, but for high power systems I prefer Noctua (new or second hand).

 

[jefferzbooboo]

Honestly, as long as we're talking about a fairly entry level rig, I guess it's safer than many amazon basics appliances that caught fire... I would still look at the PWM power cable of the fans from time to time, though!

It's made by Cooler Master, it'll be fine.

 

[Brian D Smith]

Let Amazon cool my rig?

No thanks.

Congrats on the 'Uninformed Quote of the Day' award!
You...do know Amazon doesn't 'make' anything, right?

 

[DSzymborski]

"At $28.49 USD, this basic air cooler costs less than a tank of gas"? You drive a moped?

Just to nitpick, it's less than a tank of gas, not a tank of gas. If your SVU takes $150 to fill up, it's less than a tank of gas.

 

[DSzymborski]

Haha! Nice job, Albert!

I'd love to see how this one compares to the Vetroo V5 TBH, but it does seem like it's not a terrible buy; quite competitive in fact.

That fan though... The plastic used gives me the feeling it will crackle/break rather soon when exposed to heat. I wish you could test that theory, but it gives me that feeling. Maybe I'm wrong. In any case, it's easy to swap if it breaks or isn't enough.

Regards.

I'm not overly excited how the plastic looks either, but given how poorly plastic conducts electricity if your heatsink fan is getting very hot, you probably have a much bigger problem than a cheap fan!