Installation

Installing the cooler is fairly easy because of simple mounting hardware. To start, you will need to secure the backplate to the motherboard via the screw pillars.


Next, secure the mounting arms to the pillars with the included nuts and apply some thermal paste. At this point, you can secure the heatsink by removing the top plate, which just press fits on to the cooler, and tightening the two spring-loaded screws, which is where the included screwdriver comes in handy.


Finally, install the fans by sliding them into place. Note that memory height will dictate where the fan rests, so taller memory is likely not a good pairing with this cooler if you want the maximum performance it can offer. That said, once the fans are properly installed, just plug them in.

Overall, the installation was effortless, and I would rate it a 9 on a scale of 1 (hardest) to 10 (easiest). The mounting hardware is incredibly simple and easy to work, which is never a bad thing.


After installing the cooler and noticing some truly terrible performance numbers, I began looking into the cause. To check things out, I rotated the cooler 90°, which resulted in much better performance and meant something was off. After multiple mounts and checking clearances, I found that the heat pipes on the Corsair A500 were touching the caps on my motherboard. Since I strive to deliver full reviews with all the details, I took a big file and shaved the heat pipes down for enough clearance for the cooler to perform the same in both orientations. As such, I have included both sets of results to document the issue. Even so, this shows some level of incompatibility based on the motherboard a user may have. A solid base rather than a heat pipe direct-touch-style base would have avoided this issue.