Gelid Slim Hero Low Profile CPU Cooler Review

Gelid’s Slim Hero is going to come to market at an MSRP of $32 which is quite a low price point. We have seen it listed in the UK for £25 which is the best price we could find at the time of writing. I think it is important to consider why the Gelid Slim Hero has been created, it is certainly not to be a high performance low profile CPU cooler, but to be one of the most affordable options. If you consider the SilverStone NT06 Pro costs £47, the Noctua NH-L12 costs about £43 and the Noctua NH-L9i costs £35 then you can see that the Gelid Slim Hero is almost a steal at its low price of about £25. Sure it may not have the same level of performance, but you certainly get what you pay for – if not a little bit extra.

Pros

• Highly affordable price
• Only 59mm high
• High quality and silent fan
• Included high quality GC2 thermal paste
• Lightweight
• Doesn’t need a backplate, simple mounting procedure
• Good performance for the price and size
• 5 year warranty

Cons

• No LGA 2011 support (although LGA 2011 is hardly the platform of choice for HTPCs and Small Form Factor systems)
• Blocks 1 or 2 RAM slots depending on your motherboard
• Struggles with high overclocks (but this is expected as it is intended for HTPCs)

eTeknix says: As a low profile CPU cooler the Gelid Slim Hero is one of the best value for money solutions on the market. It ticks all the right boxes and is a viable solution for anyone looking to run a HTPC or small form factor system without wanting to spend a fortune on a quiet and effective CPU cooler.

Thank you to Gelid for providing this review sample.