Cryorig R1 Ultimate review

Tested the top of the range CRYORIG R1 ULTIMATE, a powerful and aesthetically beautiful air cooler.

If there is one thing that sets Cryorig apart from all the other heatsink manufacturers on the market today, it is the attention to detail. The company has always made attention to detail, quality of finishes and materials its point of pride and this is what distinguishes its products more than any other. From its flagship product we therefore expected the best that the company could offer, both from an aesthetic point of view but also from the point of view of performance and, we can anticipate it, CRYORIG R1 Ultimate does not betray our expectations.

In fact, the R1 Ultimate heatsink condenses in itself the company's philosophy: extremely accurate but also incredibly performing products, made with a design that does not look bad even in a "trendy" solution with side windows or open frames, and which can represent an equally alternative cool to AIO systems that are so fashionable now, but at the same time more efficient and silent.

Design, Unboxing and specifications

Presentazione

Il Cryorig R1 Ultimate is a double tower heatsink, equipped with 7 heatpipes of 6mm each and two 140mm fans. The dimensions are quite generous (128.8 x 140 x 168.3 mm) as well as the weight of 1181 grams, which makes it an impressive product from all points of view. Anticipating some of the data you will read shortly, its main opponent, the award-winning NOCTUA NH-D15 it has slightly larger dimensions 165x150X161 and a weight of 1320g, but it certainly does not enjoy the same appeal.

Unboxing

The Cryorig R1 Ultimate as we said makes the quality of materials and attention to detail one of its strengths and this is evident from the packaging, a black cube on which some images of the heatsink and the R1 logo are printed with a nice effect chromed. The accessories are all contained in a smaller and thinner box, which overhangs a further cardboard box that reveals only the fan logo, and in which the heatsink is contained.

As befits a "top of the range", the accessories range of the Cryorig R1 Ultimate is very complete

- CP7 branded thermal paste
–  Bracket per socket 775/1150/1155/1156/1366/2011/AM2/+/AM3/+/FM1/2
- Screwdriver
- Alcohol wipe for cleaning the CPU
- Card for online product registration
- Assembly instructions

The Cryorig R1 Ultimate has a street price of 86,00 euros on Amazon, in line with the competition of the main top of the range taken into consideration, namely the Noctua NH-D15 at 89 euros and the BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 3, at 83 euros

Design

It is in the product design, covered by more than an international patent, that the most interesting features of the Cryorig R1 Ultimate are hidden. Although it is a double tower heatsink in fact, the design of each of these is very different from what we have seen before. Cryorig has indeed studied a composite structure which exploiting the laws of dynamic fluid allows a faster dissipation of heat. Each tower is formed by two elements or better by two different sections, (highlighted by different colors, chrome and black) with a different density of dissipation fins: in greater number and therefore with a greater density in the front part (or rather the one that “Receives” air from the fans) and wider at the outlet to speed up heat dissipation. In this way the air channeled by the fans, meeting narrower fins, increases in speed, absorbs the heat from the towers and is then released with greater speed. To understand the operating principle is the same that we happen to observe in the many "alleys" of which our medieval villages are full: the wind is channeled inside by increasing the speed and lowering the temperature.

Another trick used to improve the dissipation capacity was that of misalign the contact points between the heat pipes and the fins, in order to allow a more uniform heat dissipation.

Normally in fact, since the heat spreads radially, with heat pipes aligned, the heat of one ends up influencing the others; with this method, however, it is possible to disperse the heat in different positions avoiding interference.
The fins and heat pipes are then fixed with a Cryorig patented technique called DirectCompress  able to offer up to 10% more contact surface compared to other techniques

Finally, the heat pipes are welded to the copper base in a polished but not mirror finish, in a slightly convex shape, this is the Convex-Align System, which should ensure each heat pipe to work to its maximum capacity by occupying the entire radiating area.

Other details include a patented system for fixing to the Intel CPU socket and an intelligent fixing system with a screw protected by a spring that prevents too much force from being applied to the clamping of the heatsink, thus preventing proper heat dissipation. The simplicity of assembly was one of the most appreciated elements of this heatsink. In fact, it only takes a few minutes to install the Cryorig R1 Ultimate, whether you are using an AMD socket or an Intel socket. In fact, the box contains all the elements necessary for assembly, including a handy screwdriver.

The Cryorig R1 Ultimate is compatible with Intel sockets: LGA775, LGA1150, LGA1155, LGA1156, LGA1366, LGA2011 AMD: AM2, AM2 +, AM3, AM3 +, FM1, FM2 and also with the recent AM4 Ryzen processors from AMD. Although our copy was not provided, it was enough for us to register on the company's website, using the appropriate card contained in the package, to request its shipment completely free of charge.

mounting

All Cryorig products have a simplified installation system which should guarantee installation without removing the fans. Thanks to the particular conformation of the radiant towers, in fact, it is possible to insert the screwdriver supplied in a small compartment obtained between these up to the fixing screw on the motherboard, conveniently equipped with a spring that prevents applying too much pressure. In our case, however, we encountered some alignment problems between the hole and the underlying screw that prevented us from taking advantage of this useful feature. What did not happen with another Cryorig product, on trial in those same hours. Despite this small problem, which was solved by simply removing the central fan, the installation of the Cryorig R1 Ultimate remains within everyone's reach and one of the simplest among the heatsinks tested so far.

Another element that we literally fell in love with is the possibility of raise the fans a little less than 1 cm without the need to perform complicated operations, in order to leave room for RAM modules with a more generous heatsink (up to 40mm), such as G.skill's Rampage V used for our Intel socket test. Unlike other proven heatsinks, such as the Scythe Fuma, the fan fixing clips, in fact, do not hook directly to the fins of the heatsink, but to a plastic structure that acts as a cover for one of the two sections of which each is composed tower. The fixing flap on the cover then has a small tolerance, which allows you to raise the fan simply by pulling it upwards. A small detail but absolutely essential for those who use non-low-profile memories and do not want to give up high thermal dissipation performance. This system also has a drawback but being hooked to the plastic support, the upward sliding of the fan is limited, making it impossible to install when the RAMs have a more generous heatsink (like our Corsair Dominator used for the platform test AMD). In case your Rams are rather generous, Cryorig offers its R1 ultimate also in the Universal version: the only difference in this case is the use of a slim fan instead of the second “fat”. We will also talk about the Universal version later in the review.

Finally, the plastic cover can be customized in different colors to match the best look of your rig. The colors available apart from white and black also have a metallic look that ranges from green to red through orange and blue.

Test machine and specifications

For our test we used two configurations, the first is our classic Intel Broadwell-E / X99 station, based on the Intel i7 5820k processor; nevertheless having the new in his hands AMD Ryzen 1800x we wondered how the Cryorig was doing with our new machine.

Fan Specifications

Two 1mm fans are included in the Cryorig R140 Ultimate package. These are PWM fans with a depth of 25mm capable of running between 700 and 1300RPM and with a range of 76 CFM. Each fan is equipped with rubber vibration attenuators at the 4 corners and should ensure a noise of about 23dB. It is also possible to add a third fan, or opt for a slim model in which the second fan is thinner but also less performing, thus transforming the R1 Ultimate, except for a few small details, into a Cryorig R1 Universal. As we said, the thickness of the fan drops to 13 mm, but the specifications are also reduced, with a range of 65CFM and a noise level between 20 and 24 dB.

IPreliminary information

The test was carried out in a room with a controlled and stable temperature around 23 degrees. The test bench used is the Core P3, an excellent and beautiful "open" case by ThermalTake that can also be transformed into a test bench if necessary. There are no other fans that can affect the flow rate of the fans, so the values ​​may differ from those measurable in a closed case where the air flow acquires a decisive value.

As for the Intel machine, we tested the Cryorig R1 Ultimate with three different clocks: stock, OC at 4.2, and OC 4,5ghz with 1,4v voltage.

For the AMD machine, on the other hand, given the low TDP (90w for the 1800x) of the new processors, we considered it sufficient to test the machine only in OC at the maximum possible frequency for our processor or 3.9Ghz (multiplier 39). However due to the RAM equipped on the AMD machine (Corsair DOMINATOR) and their bulky heatsink, we had to opt for the use of the Slim fan (essentially we turned the R1 Ultimate into an R1 Universal).

Data was collected with AIDA64 and its stress test of CPU, FPU, cache, and system memory.

Performance

As can be deduced from the graphs, the Cryorig R1 Ultimate, in the test with our Intel machine, ranks, overall from the point of view of performance, at the top of our small ranking. Its performance in the extreme test with OC at 4.5ghz, is at the level of the Noctua NH-DH15 and the Liquid Freezer 240, an AIO that uses 4 120 mm fans and even better, albeit by very little, with stock and 4.2 frequencies. ghz.

Not so, however, in terms of noise, where the Cryorig ranks in the middle of the table doing better than the Corsair H100i, which was the loudest of the lot and the Arctic Liquid Freezer 240, the other excellent AIO of our lot. Perhaps with Dual Bearing fans the situation would have been better.

Final comment

The Cryorig R1 Ultimate proved to be not only a high quality product, but also an extremely performing one, at the level of what until now had been considered the first of its class, namely the NOCTUA D15, which is also comparable from the point of view of market segment in which it fits, that of hi-end air coolers from 70 euros upwards.

If the Cryorig R1 Ultimate is behind in our tests in terms of noise, mainly due to the supplied fans not at the level of the best-in-class, namely the NOCTUA's NF-A15 PWM, compared to the D15, the Cryorig R1 Ultimate can boast aligned performance but also a more attractive design, with a color scheme that can be customized according to needs, a lower weight - an element certainly not to be underestimated - and above all a greater ease of installation and accessories. By opting for the Universal version, mandatory if you use high-profile memories, you have to take into account a slightly higher temperature by a few percentile and a more pronounced noise level.

Ultimately, if you are looking for a very high quality product for your heavily overclocked machine and the price is right for your pocket, the Cryorig R1 Ultimate is definitely a product we would like to recommend.