Introduction
The English word “Gelid” comes from the Latin word “gelid us” (very cold, icy). As the name indicates, the GELID Solutions are primarily focused on the thermal solutions as they design and manufacture CPU and VGA coolers, chassis fans, thermal compounds, accessories and other equipment for computers and electronic devices. The company also supplies a range of products for international OEM and ODM clients. They are based in Hong Kong and has multiple manufacturing facilities in Mainland China and Taiwan. The company believes in Quality, Reliability, and Efficiency as the main driving force behind the product ideas and execution.
GELID Solutions has sent us their CPU air cooler named SIROCCO. This is their premium 120mm size cooler. It features a massive heatsink comprising of 6x copper heat pipes (U-Shaped) which are soldered to 40 aluminum fins and the complete assembly is nickel plated. The copper base is nickel-plated and high-precision polished. The particular geometry of the heatsink design with its hark-tooth edge fins helps in better heat dissipation for effective cooling. The cooler is compatible with Intel LGA Socket 775, 1155, 1156, 1366, 2011, 2066, 1150 & 1151 with support for all Pentium D/ Pentium 4/ All Celeron D/ All Pentium Dual-Core/ Extreme/ All Core 2 Extreme/ Core 2 Quad/ Core 2 Duo, Core i5, Core i7, Core i9. In AMD department, this cooler is compatible with AMD™ Socket AM2/ AM2+/ AM3/ AM3+/ AM4 / FM1 & FM2 supporting CPUs all Athlon 64 X2, Athlon 64, All Athlon II, All Sempron, Phenom, Phenom II, All A-Series AMD APU, All Ryzen (AM4). The bundled 120mm fan packs some vivid lighting effects thanks to its RGB goodness. The RGB lighting is compatible with motherboard manufacturers’ on-board lighting solution.
Product: SIROCCO
Manufacturer: GELID Solutions
Price: 46 USD / 40.99 EUR [At the time of the review]
Specifications
Packing and Unboxing
The cooler is shipped inside a cardboard box with a colorful theme all around.
There is a picture of the cooler in the middle with a blue color on the fan indicating that the bundled fan is RGB LED enabled. It is not addressable RGB hence using 12V format lighting headers. GELID brand name and logo are printed on the top. The model of the cooler is printed above the picture.
The salient features of the cooler are printed here. The GELID SIROCCO is compatible with wide range Intel and AMD sockets as mentioned in the introduction section.
Specifications of the cooler are printed in the tabular format. The fan has a high static pressure rating as well as airflow rating making it a good companion for the heatsink.
Salient features have been highlighted here like this cooler is rated for 200W TDP making it one of the best in this price range. The soldered copper heat pipes with aluminum fins and precise polished and plated copper base along with the specific geometrical design of the heatsink give this cooler a better cooling performance.
The top cover of the packing box has a GELID brand name and logo printed along with the name of the cooler. The features of the cooler are summed up symbolically.
When the box was opened, there was a white color accessory box placed on the top. Removing that box showed the heatsink and the fan nicely packed surrounded by white color Styrofoam.
Contents
Following are provided in the box:
- 1x Heatsink
- 1x RGB LED 120mm Fan
- 4x Fan Clips
- 1x Backplate
- 2x Intel Mounting Brackets
- 2x AMD Mounting Brackets
- 4x Silicone Washers
- 4x Silicone Spacers
- 4x Intel LGA-20XX Standoffs
- 4x Other Sockets Standoffs
- 4x Thumb Nuts
- 4x Screws
- 1x Lighting Controller
- 1x 4-pin Extension Connector
- 1x Screwdriver
- 1x Installation Manual
- 1x Thermal Paste GC-Pro
Closer Look
The SIROCCO from GELID Solutions seems a promising design as it boasts a high-performance tag in this price range. The cooler comes with an enlarged heatsink which a soldered assembly of copper heat pipes and aluminum fins finished in nickel plating. The copper base is nickel plated as well as high-precision polished. The included 120mm RGB LED fan not only packs some stunning visuals but also carries high airflow and static pressure rating. Here is what GELID Solutions are saying about their cooler, “Colorful. Robust. Strong. Charged with the top-notch cooling technologies, the Sirocco CPU Cooler features a super-star mix of the 3D optimized 6-Heatpipe heatsink and the high-pressure RGB LED fan. Along with bold design, it is fine-tuned in every detail: the enlarged add-on heatsink mounted onto the copper base improves heat transfer from the CPU core, the special U-Stack formed by 6 heat pipes provides the best-in-class heat distribution inside the heatsink elements, and solder joints between the heat pipes and the fins ensure the most efficient thermal conduction. Did we mention nickel plating, and high-precision polishing of the copper base as well? All this makes the Sirocco CPU Cooler a real godsend for gamers, modders and overclocking enthusiasts.”
The GELID SIROCCO has a dimension of 118x126x160mm (LxWxH) with the fan. It bears a weight of 720gm (heatsink and fan). The cooler is rated for 200W TDP and comes with single 120mm RGB LED fan. The cooler is compatible with Intel LGA Socket 775, 1155, 1156, 1366, 2011, 2066, 1150 & 1151 with support for all Pentium D/ Pentium 4/ All Celeron D/ All Pentium Dual-Core/ Extreme/ All Core 2 Extreme/ Core 2 Quad/ Core 2 Duo, Core i5, Core i7, Core i9. In AMD department, this cooler is compatible with AMD™ Socket AM2/ AM2+/ AM3/ AM3+/ AM4 / FM1 & FM2 supporting CPUs all Athlon 64 X2, Athlon 64, All Athlon II, All Sempron, Phenom, Phenom II, All A-Series AMD APU, All Ryzen (AM4). AM4 support is out of the box and you don’t need to buy dedicated mounting hardware. The heatsink has an enlarged design which is offset from one side to give maximum clearance for the high profile RAM.
HEATSINK
Let’s take a look at the Heatsink.
The GELID SIROCCO has 40 aluminum fins that are soldered with the 6x copper heat pipes. The whole assembly is nickel plated. As can be seen, the front side has a peculiar geometrical design which is more inset in the middle having a circular shape as compared to the coned shape fins tips on the main body. Similarly, the edged portion also has an inset design.
The backside of the GELID SIROCCO has a flat layout with coned shape fins tips. Both sides of the heatsink here have inset alike what we saw on the front side.
The above picture shows the displacement of the copper heat pipes inside the heatsink. The U shape design is more apparent in this angle. The heatsink is less dense as compared to many other solutions.
The left and the right sides of the heatsink are identical. The fins are jointed together from these sides and they have done it in the manner to conceal both sides. This gives the good looking touch on the heatsink and in my opinion, also helps in directing the airflow through the heatsink in a focused manner. There are grooves on both sides. This is where the fan clips are inserted.
As mentioned above the cooler has an offset design on the heatsink. The front side of the heatsink has more depth to it with reference to the mounting plate on the base as compared to the backside. This offset implementation gives the cooler a maximum clearance for the high profile RAM.
The above picture shows the cross-section from the front and the side of the heatsink for a better understanding of the overall layout and geometry of the design. It clearly hints the user that this heatsink is enlarged.
The above picture shows the cross-section of the heatsink from the backside and the side.
Let’s take a look at the top fin of the heatsink. This angle also tells the overall layout of the heatsink. We can see the 6x heat pipes terminating on both sides. There is a large cutout towards the rear side. This is to pass through the screwdriver to tighten the screw on the pre-installed mounting plate. The shark-tooth edge fins idea can be better explored from this angle. The nickel plate shiny fin is a fingerprint magnet.
The base of the cooler is made of copper which is nickel plated and mirror-finished using high-precision polishing. The base measures approximately 39x34mm. There is a protective sticker pasted on it cautioning the user to remove it before the installation.
The upper portion of the base has an aluminum structure with 36 fins on the top giving additional surface area to the cooler.
The GELID SIROCCO has 6x 6mm heat pipes installed in a U shape. These heat pipes are made of copper and are nickel-plated. They are making contact with the aluminum fins at various points increasing the point of contact so that maximum heat transfer can be ensured.
The offset design is quite apparent from this angle. The 6mm heat pipes on one side can be seen as well. Notice the unusual curvature of the heat pipes.
FAN
The GELID Solutions has provided a single 120mm RGB LED fan with their SIROCCO cooler. This is their Radiant RGB fan. This version of the Radiant fan does not have Addressable RGB LEDs but simple RGB ones. The fan features a noiseless motor drive IC for maximum silent operations, ultra-durable double ball bearings, 3D optimized high-precision Shark-Tooth blades to sustain high airflow. Here are the specifications of the fan:
| Dimension | 120x120x25mm |
| Airflow | 77.2 CFM |
| Static Pressure | 3.39 mmAq |
| Noise Level | 40.4 dB(A) |
| Speed | 750 ~ 2000 RPM |
| Power Draw | 5.4W |
| DC Voltage | 12V |
| MTTF at 40°C | 100,000 |
From the looks only, I am really digging this fan for its stylish and bold design. It has 7x 3D optimized fan blades of white color which are translucent. The hub has more diameter than standard 120mm fans as it measures roughly 53mm. It packs 9 RGB LEDs to create one heck of a show. The frame of the fan is in black color and is quite sturdy. SIROCCO sticker is pasted in the middle and I like the design element of this sticker as it complements the overall looks.
The Shark-Tooth Edge fins help in producing high airflow.
Each mounting corner has a cut-to-size black color anti-vibration pad installed. There is a distance of 105mm between any two mounting holes.
There are arrow symbols on one of the sides to give visual aid to the user in determining the direction of the airflow and blades’ spin direction.
The backside of the fan has a 4-arms assembly of the frame. This is where the fan is actually resting. One of the arms has an inset to make a route for the cables passage. There are two cables coming out of the center. The power rating of the fan is printed on the sticker pasted in the middle.
Two flat cables are coming out of the fan’s drive. One is the 4-pin PWM cable to power the fan and the other is the 4-pin RGB LED (12V) cable. Both cables are 500mm in length approximately.
RGB Lighting
The Radiant RGB LED Fan provided with the SIROCCO uses 12V to draw power and it is compatible with the ASUS AURA SYNC, ASRock RGB LED, MSI MYSTIC LIGHT SYNC, and GIGABYTE RGB FUSION READY. For the users without supporting motherboard, the GELID Solutions has provided a simple RGB lighting controller.
The controller has 12V rated SATA connector at one end to power it up. There are three buttons on the controller. The top button will load the Demo Mode which will cycle through all the modes. The middle button controls the dynamic lighting speed and the third button changes the color. + and – terminals are clearly labeled. Make sure to connect the arrow marked side of the 4-pin RGB connector of the fan to + sign side of the controller. GELID Solutions has provided a 4-pin male extension connector to connect the RGB Connector of the fan to the controller. Here are some pictures of the lighting effect.
Installation
The cooler was tested on the Intel LGA-2011(v3) socket on the ASUS ROG Rampage V Edition 10 using i7 6850k. The below installation steps are for this socket.
- Install the Intel LGA-2011 standoffs on the socket pre-drilled holes.
- Place the Intel mounting brackets with curve side facing outwards on the standoffs.
- Secure the mounting brackets using the thumb nuts.
- Apply the thermal paste on the CPU IHS.
- Peel off the warning sticker from the base.
- Place the heatsink on the CPU by aligning the spring-loaded screws with the mounting holes in the brackets.
- Start tightening the screws one-by-one from both sides till the threads run out.
- Install the fan on the heatsink using the fan clips.
- Connect the 4-pin PWM connector to the 4-PWM header of the motherboard and 4-pin RGB connector to the source.
- This would complete the installation.
Here are the pictures of the assembled unit.
Clearance
The GELID SIROCCO CPU Air Cooler has maximum clearance for any height RAM thanks to its offset design as the cooler does not overhang the DIMM slots. There is no issue with respect to the first PCIe slot. This cooler has a height of 160mm so make sure your chassis has enough clearance to meet this requirement.
Testing Methodology
Testbed configuration is:
- Asus Rampage V Edition 10
- Intel i7 6850k
- CORSAIR Vengeance 2x8GB @ 2666MHz
- Gigabyte GTX 1060 6GB
- Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD
- Thermaltake TP iRGB 1250W PSU
- Primochill Praxis Wetbench
The following software were used for testing and monitoring.
- Asus Real Bench v 2.44
- Real Temp GT v 3.70
Here is the settings table for testing:
| Intel | Stock Voltage (V) | 1.130 |
| Stock Clock (MHz) | 3600 | |
| OC Voltage (V) | 1.350 | |
| OC Clock (MHz) | 4300 | |
| Turbo Boost | Disabled | |
| C-States | Disabled | |
| Speed Step | Disabled | |
| Thermal Paste | Noctua NT-H1 | |
| Test Run Time | 60 minutes | |
| Idling Time | 15 minutes | |
| Fan Speed | Manually set to run at 100% speed | |
We are using Noctua NT-H1 on our test benches for all the coolers testing. This will ensure the standardization and mitigate any performance benefit that may come using the supplied thermal paste. Delta temperatures are reported on the graphs (Delta Temp = Average of all cores’ max temps – ambient temp). The testing is done on an open-air bench system. Once inside the chassis, the temperatures are expected to rise and would largely depend upon the optimal airflow inside the chassis.
Not every run of the stress test may yield the same result. This could well be due to many factors like mounting pressure, thermal paste application, varying ambient temperature. Not to mention the silicon differences even among the same category of the chips. Hence, it is pertinent to mention the testing methodology along with the specifics.
Let’s take a look at the results.
Results
The GELID Solutions has beaten the Noctua NH-U12S and in fact, has come closer to the 140mm size coolers. This is one excellent performance.
Again, we are seeing similar results.
Noise
The sound meter was showing the noise level of the GELID SIROCCO to be 48 dB(A) with an ambient sound level of 36 dB(A).
Conclusion
GELID Solutions SIROCCO is a 120mm size U-Shape CPU Air Cooler. The GELID SIROCCO has a dimension of 118x126x160mm (LxWxH) with the fan. It bears a weight of 720gm (heatsink and fan). The cooler is rated for 200W TDP and comes with a single 120mm RGB LED fan. The cooler is compatible with Intel LGA Socket 775, 1155, 1156, 1366, 2011, 2066, 1150 & 1151 and AMD™ Socket AM2/ AM2+/ AM3/ AM3+/ AM4 / FM1 & FM2. AM4 support is out of the box and you don’t need to buy dedicated mounting hardware.
The GELID SIROCCO has 40x aluminum fins stacked together and soldered with 6x copper heat pipes. The complete assembly is nickel plated. The soldering makes the cooler durable with consistent performance. The copper heat pipes are in U shape. The sides of the heatsink have Shark-Tooth Edge design. The heatsink has offset design on the front side to give maximum clearance for any height RAM as the cooler does not overhang the DIMM slots. The heatsink is enlarged giving it more surface area for effective heat dissipation. The front side’s geometry differs from the rear side. The copper base is nickel-plated and high-precision polished. It measures approximately 39x34mm. the upper portion of the base is designed to act as a heatsink as well. The heatsink is less dense.
The GELID Solutions has included their Radiant RGB series fan with the SIROCCO cooler. This fan is rated at 750~2000 RPM speed using 77.2 CFM and 3.39 mmAq static pressure. The noise level is rated at 40.4 dB(A) max. The combined power draw of the fan is 5.4W at 12VDC. The fan has two cables. One has a 4-pin PWM connector to power the fan and the other is a 4-pin RGB LED connector. The fan has 3D optimized shark-took edges to ensure maximum airflow as well as noiseless motor drive IC. The fan is using double-ball bearings and is rated for 100,000 MTFF at 40°C. There are 9 RGB LEDs in the center of the fan to create some vibrant, vivid and stunning visuals.
The mounting hardware has everything a user could need including a screwdriver. The GELID Solutions has provided a second pair of metal clips enabling the user push/pull configuration. GC-Pro is provided as well for a thermal paste. AMD AM4 support is provided out of the box. GELID Solutions is giving 5 years of warranty on SIROCCO.
The GELID Solutions SIROCCO is listed at USD 46/ Euro 40.99 at the time of the review. In our testing, this cooler has performed exceptionally well given its price tag and comes closer to the 140mm size coolers’ performance. The noise level at full speed was 48 dB(A) which is a bit high but the user can set up a custom fan curve to this end.
Given the very good thermal performance, enhanced mounting hardware, 5-years warranty, and wallet-friendly price tag, the GELID Solutions SIROCCO has won our Must-Have Award.
We are thankful to GELID Solutions for giving us the opportunity to review their SIROCCO CPU Air Cooler.
