Final words and conclusion
Final words and conclusion
The cooler tested today needs to be placed in the intended context; it is a cheap 28 euro cooler, and for that money do not expect an overclocking capable monster. No it aims at processors that are not overclocked, and granted any quad-core processor will be cooled to normal values with this cooler. And the best part is this, it does so being compact and completely silent.
Noise
Noise levels, at defaults (not overclocked) this is an incredible silent product, on our ASUS Sabertooth we simply leave the default fan profile for what it is, and yeah we reached ~35 DBa under full processor load. Up-to 1.30 Volts (tweaked) the noise levels remain very acceptable, but we don't have any cooling performance left at that stage. So really this is an all silent product, but at default clock frequencies is continuously what I need to say and recommend here.
Aesthetics & Design
The looks always remain trivial as taste differs, but for a sub 30EURO product we think that it is an OK looking product. The fan is dark and thus will fit most motherboards that have a black PCB. Hey it's a heatpipe cooler is it's purest and most simple form I guess.
Performance
The cooler performed "okay", but we do need to mention that we armed our test system with the difficult to cool Core i7 4970K, obviously on purpose. The default clock frequency performance is OK, nothing more, nothing less. Overclocking with a CPU like this is ill-advised though. With our 4790K processor at 1.3 Volts / 4600 MHz heat jumped to over 89 Degrees C, not recommended at all. This product is intended for mainstream CPUs with silent operation in mind.
Pricing
The kit as tested today will cost just under 30 USD / Euro, obviously you will not reach the 'enthusiast' segment of cooling. The recommended retail price has been set to €28 / $24.90 / £23.99. But as far as pricing goes, well it certainly won't break the bank eh ?
Final Words
The Pure Rock Slim cooler is intended for compact and simple interwebbz PCs and, with its low profile, a suitable alternative to use in a HTPC. Cooling performance is average when compared to full size models, but that is as expected. The Core i7 4790K we used remains within acceptable temperature levels as long as we do not overclock it. The trade-off with the small form factor and relative average performance is an incredibly low noise level, you'll be hard pressed to be able to even hear noise coming from this puppy. The product ticks the right boxes as that as being compact and silent is the sole purpose of this product. In the end we can surely recommend the Pure Rock Slim, if you stick to the intended purpose of this product though, mainstream cooling with nice low noise levels.
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