The Sirocco is the latest single-tower CPU cooler from GELID’s lineup. Along with the Radiant/Radiant-D fans, they are one of their first few products to feature customizable RGB lighting. How well did the Sirocco perform in our benchmarks?
Unboxing
The cardboard box, containing the Sirocco, has a colorful matrix-like background, which showcases the addition of RGB lighting. At the back, you can see a brief description of the cooler, as well as a detailed list of supported CPUs and CPU sockets.
A full specification list about both the cooler and fan is printed on one side, while GELID highlights a few key features of the Sirocco CPU cooler on the other side. For example, the Sirocco’s soldered heatpipes and fins can support processors with up to 200 watts of TDP.
For accessories, there are all the necessary mounting hardware and an installation manual. The Sirocco is compatible with most modern CPU sockets from both Intel and AMD, such as LGA 115x, LGA 2011 and AM4. There are two pairs of fan clips, if you decides to put an extra fan for more airflow. GELID also packs in a long screwdriver, in case you do not have a skinny one lying around.
If your motherboard does not have a 12 V RGB LED header, a simple molex-powered RGB controller is included in the package. You can alter the lighting effects without using any software, like changing the modes, brightness and colors.
GELID Sirocco CPU Cooler
The Sirocco’s single aluminium heatsink has dimensions of 118 mm x 126 mm x 160 mm (LxWxH), which is also moved slightly towards one side to improve memory clearance. RAM sticks with tall heat spreader should be fine with the Sirocco.
The six 6 mm nickel-plated copper heatpipes are precisely bent into a U-shape, which pass through the fin stack vertically to dissipate heat from the CPU contact base.
The copper CPU contact base is covered with the same nickel-plating as the heatpipes. It is also polished to a mirror-like finish.
The included cooling fan for the Sirocco is the 120 mm Radiant fan, but spins slower at 1800 RPM, instead of 2000 RPM. It has a total of 7 fan blades with shark-tooth design on the edge, which is supposed to reduce noise and increase airflow. Nine RGB LEDs are located around the motor hub to provide the required lighting effects. The Radiant fan has a rated MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) of about 100,000 hours.
Fan speeds are controlled via a 4-pin PWM fan header, while the other 4-pin 12 V RGB LED header is responsible for the lighting effects. Please be reminded that the included fan does not support 3-pin 5 V addressable RGB LED header. There is a small anti-vibration rubber pad on each corner to prevent rattling noise between the heatsink and the fan frame.
Review
We have updated our CPU cooler tests to more reflect real-world cooling performance of coolers.
Testing Methodology
To find out how the cooler performs, a total of two benchmarks are included. AIDA64 is used to run a CPU stress test. CPU, FPU and system cache are all stressed to create as much heat output as possible. Also, Cinebench R15 is used to simulate real-world CPU load (like video-editing or rendering). It will be run continuously for three times. The highest CPU package temperatures are recorded. Ambient temperature is around 26°C.
Results will be taken at a 50% fan speed and 100% speed, controlled via the motherboard CPU PWM fan header. Only the single-fan configuration of the cooler will be tested.
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1600X @ 3.6 GHz (95W TDP)
- Motherboard: MSI B350M GAMING PRO (its review here)
Performance
The CPU was kept at around 28°C to 29°C at idle. When the fan was spinning at 1000 RPM (50% speed), the CPU package temperature reached 55°C in the AIDA64 stress test. Pushing the fan at 100%, the temperature dropped 3°C to 52°C, about a 5.45% improvement.
Cinebench R15 simulates situations similar to real-world usages, which produces less heat than the stress test. The maximum CPU package temperature was sitting at 53°C, with the fan set to 50% speed. Higher fan speed yielded a 2°C reduction in temperature at 51°C, around a 3.77% improvement.
Comparison
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Compared to other coolers we tested, the Sirocco performed relatively well, which even surpassed the dual-tower Phantom Black by 1°C to 2°C. The larger-sized heatsink of the Sirocco did contribute in better cooling performance than the Noctua NH-U12S (its review here), averaging 2°C lower in our tests.
RGB Lighting
The availability of different lighting effects will depend on which motherboard RGB software you are using. By plugging in the 12 V RGB LED header, you can adjust the lighting effects’ mode, speed and brightness. Please be reminded to use the 4-pin 12V RGB header, instead of a 3-pin 5V one.
Conclusion
The GELID Sirocco performed outstandingly as a single-tower CPU cooler, which even managed to achieve lower temperature than the Phantom and Phantom Black. It should have no problem handling an overclocked processor. The overall installation of the Sirocco is simple enough with easy-to-read manual.
The included Radiant fan pushes a lots of airflow, according to our tests. It ran smooth and quiet enough throughout most of the time. Fan noises were noticeable at higher RPM ranges. The 9 LEDs installed on the fan provides a pleasant lighting effects, with bright and vivid colors.
The Sirocco CPU cooler is backed by a 5-year warranty. It is priced at $62 USD (MSRP), which is relatively competitive for a high performance cooler. It only costs a few dollars more expensive than the Noctua NH-U12S. However, not many online stores in North America and Europe currently have stocks of the Sirocco. If you can get one close to the suggested retail price, don’t hesitate for too long.
You can purchase the cooler from your local/online resellers or the links below from Newegg.
Thanks GELID for providing us the Sirocco CPU cooler for review. (Review Sample)
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