Importantly, thermosiphon cooling technology is used to transfer heat away from the aluminium evaporator (baseplate/cold plate, if you like). We highlight VRM temperatures when using each cooler on our Gigabyte B550 Aorus Master motherboard with the overclocked Ryzen 9 5950X. VRM cooling performance from the AIOs varies as it is heavily influenced by the precise roof mounting position for the 240mm units. Yes, these results do highlight that the big 360mm Phanteks AIO handles things better than the lower fan speed air coolers, for example.

Next in the hierarchy is our first air cooler – the IceGiant ProSiphon Elite – which ties with the 240mm Cougar AIO. However, we found that the sheer dimensions and weight of the pump-block unit made it difficult to adjust into position and therefore limit the tubing and orientation flexibility. That said, depending on where you’re coming from you might still have the impression that DeepCool is a budget brand and that has never been the case.The Asetek design pump-block unit is then sat over these pillars and hand-tightened using female threaded screws. As such, we have a look at some test results with the noise levels locked to 40dBA on each CPU cooler. Plus, the RAM slots are fully accessible on our test motherboard even with the cooler installed – a nice bonus. It also emphasises that a better cooler can indeed deliver lower temperatures plus higher clock speeds, as shown by the 360mm AIOs. Evidently, though, there is an argument that the AIOs are simply forcing their way to the top of the chart with higher-speed and louder fan solutions.

A simple, braided 3-pin 5V RGB header allows for straightforward ARGB lighting control through motherboard software.

As the name suggests, this version of the cooler only comes in the PLUS model which means it comes with 2 fans out of the box.

It is a step design with the upper section running to the entire length of the fins whereas the lower or stepped down portion terminates leaving some gap on both ends. The larger 360mm units spread across more of the chassis and therefore shift more air in the vicinity of our motherboard VRM heatsink. Which result is best is down to individual preference on whether you want headroom cooling availability or generally the most out of the cooling power that you paid for.Silverstone highlights compatibility with hefty HEDT chips as well as power-hungry mainstream parts including our 5950X. This is thanks to their abilities to move the concentrated heat load away from the Ryzen CPU whilst also dissipating the energy across a large surface area with high-speed fans. The six 6mm heatpipes interact with a CPU heatspreader via the direct touch method that we often see with cheaper, lower-end CPU coolers, albeit with some benefits.

The cooler is compatible with the Intel LGA1200/115x/20xx and AMD AM4/AM3+/AM3+AM2+/AM2/FM2+/FM2/FM1 sockets. This could well be due to many factors like mounting pressure, thermal paste application, varying ambient temperature. Thankfully, the side-mounted tubes just missed the VRM heatsink on both our Gigabyte and MSI B550 motherboards. It also features monitoring and logging for troubleshooting problems and performance analysis as well.

Regardless, the cooler is a five-heatpipe tower cooler that offers ARGB lighting via an attractive top-plate design and dual 140 mm fans for maximum performance. Reviewing coolers is a very divided topic so its best to always serve with as much context as possible.