Cooler Master Gemin II S524 Heatsink Review

System cooling can be handled in a variety of ways.  Most enthusiast systems take a brute force approach by using oversized coolers and extensive case modifications to get the best airflow possible.  Unfortunately not every system is built like that so you have to try and accomplish more with less. 

In this review we looked at the Cooler Master Gemin II S524 heatsink which features traditional styling where the cooling fan blows perpendicular to the motherboard.  This orientation allows the CPU fan to not only cool the heatsink but to provide airflow around the CPU socket cooling memory modules and motherboard heatsinks.  You don't get cooling like this with tower style coolers and less so with low powered stock OEM designs.

Installation was rather straight forward and consisted of picking the proper mounting rails and bolting the entire assembly to your motherboard.  We are not fans of the installation hardware since the process can be a little cumbersome but the system works quite well and makes a very solid connection.

Overall performance was very good and provided a 30 degree temperature drop over the OEM cooler at the same speed.   We do feel that the heatsink is a little underpowered due to the silent running fan but swapping the stock 120mm fan with a more powerful 140mm fan can increase overall performance while providing the same noise footprint.

Low Profile Heatsink Design
140mm Fan Option
Custom Cooling Fan
PWM Fan Provided

140mm fan should have been included
Limited cooling
Mounting hardware cumbersome to install