ID-COOLING SE-214-XT Black CPU Cooler All-Black Layout, 4 Direct-Contact Heat Pipes, 120mm PWM Fan, Noninterference with RAM, TDP 180W, Work with Intel LGA1700/1851/1200/115X and AMD AM5/AM4 Sockets

I did a lot of research looking for a budget ARGB cpu fan and this ID-COOLING SE-214-XT keep coming up. Since I am building 2 computers and this is first time building one, I didn't want to spend too much money (incase I screw up or something), decided to buy these one in white and one in black. Surprised the price is very budget friendly especially it is an ARGB fan and comes with a small pack of thermal paste (which after more reviews, says its does a good job cooling lower end cpu). It comes with Intel bracket and AMD 4/AMD 5 bracket. The cooling fins are well made and not cheap material. What more can you ask for in a budget fan?

I am a professional IT Pro, system builder and enthusiast of 35 years. It is not easy to impress me, yet this affordable cooler exceeded my expectations.Yes, I read all the reviews and there were some whiners, but I consider them to be buffoons. For starters, this cooler is a perfect replacement for the stock Intel coolers that come with the 12th gen CPUs.My caution is this cooler is best for 12th gen CPUs, such as Pentium, i3 and i5. I do NOT recommend this ID Cooler model for overclocking or anything more powerful (like i7 or i9)... since this model is NOT made for crazy excessive heat.Since the review below, ID Cooling has improved the fan retention springs. They now have a crook type hook to lock into the fan frame holes. (see last photo) This will help if you ship your computer, as it resists the G forces of the boxes on the UPS/FedEx conveyer belts.. helping the fans from falling off the grill.Also if they were to dismount off the aluminum block, remounting is easier because the springs stay on the fan.Assembly of the cooler is easy. I recommend you READ the directions to understand which parts are to be used and which are extra/alternative. When done, I found the mounting secure and stable. I trust this kind of mount over push pins. Why? When I have shipped computers with push pin fans to clients, several times shipping caused the coolers to come loose while in route.My 12th gen i3-12100 has four cores, 32 GB G.Skill RAM, Samsung 4th gen 980 Pro 500g SSD, MSI 1700 LGA motherboard with onboard 4 video ports... and nothing more. The case is a clever, well-ventilated aluminum mini-tower made by Rosewill (you can't buy it any more.) Said case is NOT good for sound buffering, so any FAN installed must be whisper quiet for a work environment like my own.After adjusting my fans speeds in the bios, the system is now silent. Note: on my first setup, I heard a nagging buzz sound, but this came from an older rear vent fan, which I changed to a 100% silent variety. Then I connected this exhaust fan to the wrong motherboard header, which made it spin too fast. And... plugging in the wrong header for the exhaust fan affected the speed of the ID COOLER fan.. which makes no sense, but it happened regardless.My CPu temperature testing was done two independent ways. One from the board bios and then once Win 10 Pro was loaded, I downloaded the free CoreTemp program. The first time I tested with this software, I had already MISCONNECTED my exhaust fan to the wrong header. After realizing my mistake, I went into the bios and ran CoreTemp again to reverify fan speeds and temperatures. Both the ID COOLER and exhaust fans slowed down and CPU temps remained low at idle (about 90 F) with fluctuations to 98 F. The attached snapshot shows my idle CPU readings in Win 10 Pro in Celcius.These are the lowest CPU core readings I have ever seen in a performance computer.I advise when using this cooler...To be sure to install at least ONE rear fan blowing exhaust outside the case. Why? The ID Cooler does it job best if you add negative airflow to the case itself. You do this by adding fans... where ONE fan must pull air OUT of the case in the same direction of the ID Cooler fan. And THIS is how my system is set up.If you add yet more fans, which is a good idea if you have a gaming video card adding system heat, then you add THOSE fans to locations that PULL fresh air INSIDE the computer. Those areas often have dust filters, so that is how you know which area is for IN-DRAFT fans.In summary, you want air flowing just in ONE direction inside your case.

It looks great in a white build, and the ARGB is plenty bright. For this price, no other air ARGB CPU cooler beats it. It is easy to install and fits perfectly. It can be put into an AM4 or LGA1700 socket, as it comes with the mounts. Amazing quality for the price.

Pros: For the price this is hard to beat.Works really well and is silent after some months of heavy use.Temperatures are good.RGB in it is alright, not dim but not the brightest either.Easy to install.Cons: I could not install the fan near the ram. My ram is corsair vengeance low profile so I thought it'd be compatible but the very last slot was interfering with the fan. Easily installed it on the other side and temps are fine, so whatever. Might also be a motherboard thing but I doubt it

My son got this for his FIRST gaming computer, and my first computer build in over a decade. He loves the ARGB, and I love the performance and value.PRO: Quiet and "cool":++ VERY quiet -- way more quiet than the stock AMD cooler (per reviewers). Not silent, but even at full speed it's more quiet than I expected. Just above a whisper with the case open. Wow!++ Seems to cool well (On a mid-powered AMD Ryzen 7600X, 65W to 105W).++ Heatpipe shape "setback" leaves ample room for any size RAM sticks (On an ASRock B650M Pro RS WiFi mATX motherboard).++ Impressive machined copper CPU contact points.++ Long fan wires, versatile mounting hardware options and included thermal paste made it easy to install.++ ARGB colors may be a bit cliché, but damn, it's fun and cool! (and can easily be turned off or unplugged.)++ Arrived in perfect condition (no bent fins from the manufacture or shipping)**.CON: Bulky and fragile:-- This cooler's height is 150mm, and I found out the hard way that it does NOT fit into a old-school mid-tower mATX case that is 175mm wide externally. Now that it's installed, I can measure the case's mobo stand-offs (~12mm), plus the AMD AM5 CPU and motherboard (10mm thick), plus this 150mm cooler... all add up to about 172mm, which is about 3mm to 5mm too much for the internal space, and the case's side-panel won't completely close. So, I have to leave the panel slightly ajar with a 5mm gap on one edge (better ventilation?). :-) This is my own fault for taking a gamble with my old narrow-ish case. I tried to find a good 145mm cooler, but didn't find many options. I wish this one shaved 5mm off it's height. So close! I'll make it work.-- This cooler fan's center sticker is slightly off-center, so it LOOKS like the fan is out-of-balance (wobble), but the fan is actually in balance, so it's just a minor visual annoyance. I'm tempted to remove the sticker.-- **Even when we were being extremely careful, we bent a few fins during install and PSU wire routing (minor, cosmetic).Wishlist:o Given the ample space between the CPU and the these bottom fins (and ample RAM clearance), I would like to see a re-design that is 5mm smaller, so it's 145mm tall.o Some sort of plastic frame around the edges of the cooling fins, so we're less likely to bend them? (I know this would increase cost and possibly lessen the cooling capability, but hey, I can dream, can't I?).