Twelve CPU Air Cooler Roundup

DeepCool Gamer Storm Lucifer

So, would you run your CPU cooler without a fan? The folks over at DeepCool say you can do just that with their Gamer Storm Lucifer CPU cooler. Adding a fan to the DeepCool Gamer Storm Lucifer brings the cooling capacity up to 300 watts. I personally don’t know about going fanless for my CPU; passive cooling seems unnatural.

Specifications

The DeepCool Gamer Storm Lucifer comes packaged in the same ninja-ish mask style box. There are no images of the product, only specifications and features listed on the back.

The installation kit is the same as the kit that comes with the Gamer Storm Assassin. The installation brackets fit motherboards all the way back to the Intel 775. The DeepCool Lucifer comes with one 140mm PWM fan.

The heatsink all by itself is massive and measures in at 254x100x43.5mm and weighs 556g.

The fin spacing is designed to facilitate passive cooling of the CPU as in no fan. Passive cooling with this cooler relies on good airflow throughout the case.

The unique shape of the DeepCool Gamer Storm Lucifer is said to aid in cooling. Adding the included 140mm fan allows the cooler to handle up to 300 watts of cooling. Take note of the fins. The “extra” shapes in the fins are designed to increase the surface are and increase the cooling capacity.

The base of the DeepCool Gamer Storm Lucifer is no slouch. The pure copper base is clad in nickel to help avoid tarnish. The heat pipes are soldered into the base in order to improve the heat transfer from the base to the cooler.

The base has a mirror finish on it and is perfectly flat except for one minor flaw. Towards the upper right of the base there is a small area of distortion in the reflection. This distortion indicates a small flaw in the flatness of the base. Based on the size of the base and the IHS (integrated heat spreader) of the CPU this shouldn’t pose a problem and it should be outside the contact patch of the CPU.

The included UF140 PWM cooling fan measures in at 140x26mm. The frame of the fan is coated with a rubberized coating designed to reduce noise from vibration.

The strakes on the fan blades are designed to reduce noise as well. This 9-blade fan is capable of 71.8 maximum CFM with noise levels in the range of 17.6-26.7 dBA.

Installation of the DeepCool Gamer Storm Lucifer was very easy. Actually, both of the CPU coolers that Deep Cool sent us use the exact same mounting hardware. I wanted the orientation to be with the fan side of the cooler facing the front. All I had to do was change the retention brackets from the top/bottom orientation from the installation of the Gamer Storm assassin to the side mount. The CPU retention clip is even the same. A long handled screw driver is needed to securely attache the cooler to the retention bracket.

Memory clearance is an issue with the DeepCool Gamer Storm Lucifer, not with the actual CPU cooler, but with the fan. Moving the fan to the back side of the cooler would solve the issue however, I don’t mind the installation as shown above.

The DeepCool Gamer Storm Lucifer all installed and ready for a date on the test bench. I used the push configuration during the testing.

Let’s take a look at the Noctua NH-U12S