INTRODUCTION

   Believe it or not there was a time when you'd step into a computer store and see no after-market CPU coolers if at all since most only offered boxed CPUs. That however was well over 15 years ago just before the "big bang" in the computer industry. Today as you all know things have changed for the best so the moment you Walsh into a computer store you will find yourself in front of a very large number of CPU coolers, some from the very well-known and established manufacturers and some by the not so popular ones. Still if I’ve learned anything during all the time in this industry it's that even new players can produce very good products just as long as they put their mind to it. CRYORIG is one such player with an excellent track record so far and today we'll be testing one of their latest CPU Coolers the H5 Universal.

   Officially founded in 2013, CRYORIG is a fresh new comer to the PC peripherals and Cooling market with a core team of seasoned veterans. The team’s resumes include experiences with renowned brands such as Thermalright, Prolimatech and Phanteks. The members are overclockers and PC modding enthusiasts, with a passion to strive for nothing but the best. With the long experience and drive for innovation and improvement, CRYORIG is about applying RESEARCH and innovative IDEAS making the coolest GEAR possible.

   Just a quick look at the H5 Universal and you can easily tell that it's not a CPU cooler model aimed towards overclockers but rather one aimed towards people who are looking for a cost-effective solution to keep their stock systems running cool without much noise. However that's not all CRYORIG brings to the table with the H5 Universal since it also offers zero clearance issues with memory modules something which as you all know is the "weak" point for most models in the market especially larger ones. Easy installation and compatibility with most available CPU sockets are also two of the pros the H5 Universal has while the proprietary Hive Fin design promises improved cooling efficiency. How do all these translate in real use is something we're about to find out.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

A large picture of the upper part of the H5 takes up most of the front of the box.

The main features are mentioned in detail on the right side of the box.

You can find the product specifications and socket compatibility at the rear of the box.

Along with the H5 CPU Cooler CRYORIG also bundles a tall Philips screwdriver, thermal paste tube, product registration card, two extra fan clips, two installation guides (for Intel and AMD), mounting hardware warning paper, two backplates with their mounting hardware and all the necessary screws needed for installation on Intel LGA 775/1150/1155/1156/1366/2011 and AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3+/FM1/FM2/FM2+ mainboards.

THE H5 UNIVERSAL

The H5 Universal is actually a mid-sized CPU cooler since along with the thin 140mm pre-mounted fan it's 98mm thick, 143mm wide and 160mm tall with a weight of 853g.

CRYORIG has used a low-profile 140mm fan that can spin up to 1300RPM to produce up to 65CFM of airflow with just 24dBA of noise.

A plastic shroud with two large holes used to install the mounting hardware with the help of the bundled Philips screwdriver is placed on both the top and bottom of the H5 Universal (the company logo is placed at the top).

As you can all see the heatsink is made out of 38 aluminum fins (each 0.4mm thick) which are bend on both sides to hold air inside and thus improve cooling efficiency.

The proprietary Hive Fin design should improve cooling efficiency always according to CRYORIG.

The H5 Universal makes use of four 6mm nickel-plated copper heatpipes.

Although the base of the heatsink doesn't feature a mirror like finish still it has no machine marks.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   As we have stated in the past the Intel I7-3770k system is not placed in our lab and so it's obviously not our primary choice when testing CPU Coolers. Still since HTPC oriented models shouldn’t be used with our overclocked Core I7-3930k we have decided to take this path whenever one such model lands at our doorstep. As always our first concern is ambient temperatures so once again we keep the room temperature to around 21-23 degrees (not really hard but unfortunately not 100% accurate as in our lab) and as always to successfully record the load temperatures we use the latest OCCT application (for around 6-10 minutes) to push the processor to its limits so we can record its temperatures. After that is done we wait for about 10-20 minutes for the CPU to cool down and record the idle temperatures. This is done to allow time for the thermal conductive material to achieve the optimal performance level. Same procedure was then repeated with the Passmark BurnIn Test as a failsafe just in case the OCCT results were off. As many of you have pointed out time and again this procedure takes a lot more time than the usual peltier/thermometer tests but this way not only can we deliver real world results based on real CPUs but we can also triple check the results using a variety of programs. Last but not least the temperatures are recorded using both the latest versions of AIDA64 and RealTemp while the noise level tests are performed using a high precision ExTech HD600 Decibel Meter placed about 10-15cm above the CPU Cooler.

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

   The H5 Universal consists of a medium-sized heatsink and a low-profile 140mm fan so it's really easy to understand that it's not going to blow you away with its performance and it didn't since with almost 64 degrees Celsius at heavy load it's far away from being even amongst the top 10 best models in our charts. It did however provide good cooling efficiency with quite low noise levels (had CRYORIG used a normal profile fan these would be lower and with better cooling efficiency but we can't have everything) but at least for people who are not about to seriously overclock their systems these results are not bad at all. Where the H5 Universal excels is not performance but rather build quality (we can easily place it right next to Noctua and Thermalright) and zero clearance issues with memory modules and mainboard components (just to be certain we mounted it on three mainboards without problems). Installation is also very easy thanks to the MultiSeg quick mount system although in certain cases (depends on the mainboard/PC case) it may actually take a little more than 5 minutes to get everything right.

   So far CRYORIG has done well with their prices so it really came as a surprise that you can currently find the H5 Universal for USD46.99 inside the USA (Newegg.com) and for 49.05Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de). Overall the H5 Universal is not really expensive but when you can get the Thermaltake NiC L32 which performs similarly (a tad better although it's also a tad louder) for USD10/10Euros less we don't see why anyone wouldn't choose that instead (besides both models have zero clearance issues with memory modules). Of course CRYORIG is very new so they can't match the prices of some older manufacturers and the H5 Universal is of higher quality but we do think they can do better. With that out of the way the H5 Universal is a very good CPU Cooler for people who are looking for zero clearance issues so if you're out in the market for one we strongly recommend taking a look.

PROS

- Very Good Build Quality
- Good Performance
- Zero Clearance Issues
- Can Add a Second Fan (Clips Included)
- Easy Installation

CONS

- Price (For Some)