ID-Cooling SE-214L Snow Edition Air Cooler Review

Mike Sanders / 6 years ago

Final Thoughts

Pricing

At present, we have been unable to find a price for this cooler. Based on the design and performance though, we would expect a retail of around £25-£40. In truth, the lower this is priced will reflect the better value true to the product. Towards the top end, it finds itself in competition with a lot of other brands who frankly perform better. If this is available for £30 or less though, it’s a brilliant option to get something different in terms of aesthetics while getting the performance you need.

Overview

A solid, but not entirely special performer. The temperature and noise stats are about what you would expect for an entry-level CPU cooler. In terms of looks, despite it being quite benign, I honestly really like it. Like really, really! That particular shade of white is not often seen in PC component design and with the combined fan lighting looks very impressive when in a system. In terms of performance though in some areas it performs well, but for overclocking, particularly on the heavier side, this doesn’t quite have the punch to make it a comfortable experience.

Build Quality

Despite the expected price range, the build quality of this product is actually very nice. While this doesn’t have the bells and whistles of some of the bigger brands or more powerful performers the design looks bullet-proof. Sure, it might not have the performance necessary for a strong overclocking experience, but the innovative ‘Snow Edition’ lighting has, in my opinion, done nothing to detract from the overall excellent design.

Fans

The product comes with a single ID-Cooling fan. As above, they have been keen to highlight that the design has been improved on prior models. The ‘Snow Edition’ effect lighting is really attractive, but the effect isn’t very powerful and as such, could easily get swallowed up in a system of multiple lighting effects. Its a little sad that the lighting is so benign that the effect doesn’t even pass all the way through the cooler.

If you have a minimalist lighting system or no system lights at all, this could look really good in your build. If you already have all the colours of the rainbow though, this will not impress. It should, in addition, be noted that the fan does not have any built in option for synchronisation with any other on-board lighting. This is largely due to it only being capable of one colour. A multiple colour option though would probably only take away from the overall visual impressiveness.

Performance

For standard running, the cooler is more than capable of running a system within a nice temperature range. While it doesn’t have the performance figures of bigger brands this will be significantly less expensive. If performance with a truly nice aesthetic is what you are after, this is a definite option.

Noise is definitely a factor here and the charts are not good reading if this is a major selling point for you. Despite how it looks though, inside an enclosed case, I believe it would be more than acceptable.

Should I Buy One

The entry-level cooler market is a wide one and while this is an attractive cooler, it’s only really going to appeal towards a certain bracket. The main unanswered question we have is how much this will retail for. Based on their usual price structure we would expect something in the region of £25-£40. If it’s any higher, then they are pricing themselves out the market here. For a low-key lighting system though, the ‘Snow Edition’ lighting effect could look really impressive.

We give this the bang for buck award, but will likely retract it if pricing turns out to be higher than we expect.