Testing
The following system was used to test the cooler:
– Processor: Intel i9 9900K @ 5GHz
– Motherboard: ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming X
– RAM: Neo Forza Faye DDR4 64GB 3600MHz
– GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 2070 Super Gaming X Trio
– SSD: Crucial p5 500GB
– HDD: GOODRAM IRDM 1TB SSD
– PSU: Seasonic Snow Silent 750W Platinum
– Case: be quiet! Silent Base 802 White
– Thermal compound: Noctua NT-H2
Software used for testing the cooler:
– AIDA64 Extreme Version: 6.60.5900
– Intel Burn Test v2.54
– Prime95 29.1
The cooler was tested with the CPU at the default turbo frequency of 4.9 GHz and overclocked to 5 GHz with a core voltage of 1.261 V.
Also, the included fans have been used at their maximum speed.
The room temperature was approximately 26°C (78°F), with 2°C margin of error.
The idle test consists of the CPU sitting idle at the desktop for 30 minutes, the temperature was measured at the end of the test.
The settings of the software used are the following:
Intel Burn Test v2.54 – Stress level: Maximum
Prime95 29.1- small FFT
AIDA64 Extreme Version – FPU Benchmark & Temperature monitoring.
Each test was conducted for 40 minutes.
Idle
Full Load – IntelBurnTest V2
Full Load – AIDA64 CPU, FPU & Cache
The noise level was measured at three different distances from the fans (10cm, 20cm, 30cm.) the noise was measured with a margin of error of ± 2 db.
The IceSLEET G4 OC has an average RAM clearance as the fan will interfere with the first RAM slot of the motherboard. This can be addressed by lifting the fan a few mm to accommodate the RAM stick.
The PCIe clearance with the IceSLEET G4 OC installed is average, with a total of 23mm of space between the CPU cooler and the graphics card. This is not that great if you want to access the top mounted M.2 SSD socket.
The IceSLEET G4 OC has its addressable RGB LEDs installed inside the rotor of the 120mm fan. These are compatible with all RGB software available on the market or with most if not all aftermarket RGB controllers.
Final thoughts
The Iceberg Thermal IceSLEET G4 OC is a great looking CPU cooler that can deliver a good performance, within reason. This is a small CPU cooler that uses a single 120mm fan and only four heatpipes, thus, heavy overclocking is not recommended.
What the Iceberg Thermal IceSLEET G4 OC does right apart from its design is the mounting system. It’s simple, robust, and easy to understand, a thing which not a lot of manufacturers can do successfully.
In terms of cooling and performance, the IceSLEET G4 OC is good, however, when the i9 9900K was overclocked to 5GHz on all cores, the temperature reached as much as 91°C. This was expected as there is so much heat that four heatpipes plus a small heatsink can dissipate.
With a low overclock, the IceSLEET G4 OC will perform on par with the main CPU coolers within this price range.
The performance of this CPU cooler comes at a price, a high noise output. 40 db for a single 120mm fan spinning at a maximum of 1400 RPM is a lot. At maximum RPM, the IceSLEET G4 OC is not a silent CPU cooler.
In conclusion, the Iceberg Thermal IceSLEET G4 OC is a good-looking CPU cooler that will handle a small CPU overclock. However, the main features of this CPU cooler are the unique design and the tool-less fan mounting system. The performance is good and the same can be said for the build quality. There are two main drawbacks of this CPU cooler, first being one of its features, the tool-less fan mounting is convenient but if it breaks then you cannot install another fan. Another drawback of this CPU cooler is the usage of a direct touch baseplate which is not as good as a solid baseplate.
