The CRYORIG R1 Ultimate is certainly one of the top air coolers on the market today. In terms of overall performance, it just ever so slightly edges out the R1 Universal, but can't quite overcome the Noctua NH-D15. To put that into perspective: the difference ends up being 1°C in the overclocked FPU load test with the R1 Ultimate tied with the Universal at 76°C and the Noctua NH-D15 hitting 75°C. Where the R1 Ultimate makes up a bit of ground is noise. The R1 Ultimate is 1 dBA quieter than the R1 Universal at maximum fan RPM. This results in the R1 Ultimate being just 1 dBA louder than the NH-D15. At this point, it is basically down to splitting hairs when it comes to performance and noise levels.

When it comes to installing the R1 Ultimate, CRYORIG's MultiSeg mounting hardware makes it a breeze. Add to that some exceptional build quality on par with Noctua and you really do have a premium offering. For those wanting to expand performance further, there is the option to add a third fan as well since extra clips are included. Most important, however, is the support CRYORIG puts behind their products. A three-year base warranty turns into six years with registration and includes a free AM4 upgrade kit, which is a nice touch. It also doesn't hurt that those wanting a bit more flair can opt to grab CUSTOMOD covers to better match the R1 Ultimate to their build's specific theme.

A few issues keep the R1 Ultimate from being truly stellar. It is expensive, which is par the course for a top-end cooler, but still greatly influences a potential buyer's decision. It blocks the first expansion slot on the motherboard as well, which means some Mico-ATX and pretty much all Mini-ITX users won't be able to use the R1 Ultimate, depending on the situation. The cooler also looms over two memory slots and encroaches on a third. With a maximum height of just 35 mm for RAM, end users will be severely limited on their memory options. That particular problem is avoided with the R1 Universal, which essentially steals the R1 Ultimate's thunder.

Overall, I like what the R1 Ultimate offers. The CUSTOMOD covers allow for some easy color matching of the heatsink to a system's theme, and performance and quality are on par with some of the best in the business. Even now, this late in the game, the R1 Ultimate is still an exceptionally well-performing high-end CPU cooler.

If you want uncompromising performance from an air cooler with low noise levels and a bit of customization, take a long, hard look at the R1 Ultimate from CRYORIG.