The CRYORIG R1 Universal is an amazing piece of kit. Not only does it rival all other high-end air coolers I have tested, it often makes them look obsolete. First up: It has the cooling performance to rival every other air cooler on the market. Add a third fan and it is capable of taking on the Corsair H110, which is no small feat, and it even manages to do so while remaining fairly quiet. First-time builders will enjoy the fact that it is also easy to install because of its Multi Seg mounting system which has proven itself to be the most user friendly mounting system I have ever encountered for such a heavy cooler. Build quality is also second-to-none as it is on par with the likes of Noctua. With all that said, the main reason this CPU cooler impressed me is its memory clearance. You can use any memory you want with this cooler. Memory kits like Corsair's Vengeance Pro series will easily fit into all four DIMM slots on mainstream sockets. Only on LGA2011 will memory clearance remain an issue due to the DIMM slots toward the rear of the board. Still the unprecedented memory clearance truly sets CRYORIG's R1 Universal apart, making it unique, which says a lot in an industry where many coolers follow the same tried and true methods.

A few things could be done to improve CRYORIG's product. First, the PWM range on the fans could be better. With many coolers offering fans that drop down to nearly 300 RPM, the 700 RPM minimum seems a bit high. The only major issue is the fact that the R1 Universal, like many larger coolers, encroaches on the first motherboard expansion slot. A tiny bit of an offset to accommodate that expansion slot would make the R1 Universal the perfect high-end air cooler. A future revision will hopefully address this issue.

My only other thoughts are that Alternate.de in Germany and all retailers in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan right now offer a bundle to get a third fan for free. This bundle may be made available in other regions soon, so keep your eyes open. The XT140, a 140 mm x 140 mm x 13 mm fan, is the third fan used in this review, and it has an MSRSP of $19.99. Saving $20 and getting top-tier performance is a win-win situation. The CRYORIG R1 Unverisal would otherwise, but completely decked out, dock in at roughly $110.

Bold, quiet, class-leading performance with a ton of features. CRYORIG has hit the nail squarely on the head with the R1 Universal. This is the top-tier air cooler to have.