ID-Cooling SE-224-XT ‘Basic’ Air Cooler Review

Having recently reviewed the ID-Cooling SE-224-XT ARGB air cooler, we noted during the review that a budget-friendly 'Basic' alternative was also available and, based on popular demand, we decided to get into it and have an up-close look at ID-Coolings cost-friendly cooling option! ID-Cooling SE-224-XT Basic As the 'Basic' name might suggest, this is effectively a cut-down version of the ARGB alternative that should feature all of the performance without the ARGB bells and whistles. That is, at least, the theory. As such, presumably, this should (in our testing) perform just as well as its (moderately more expensive) counterpart. We won't know, however, until we give it a go! Technical Information For more in-depth specifications, please visit the official product page via the link here! Socket Compatibility Exterior Packaging The front of the packaging goes big and bold with a nice clear image of the cooler front and center. In terms of features or any kind of advertising goodness, in truth, the packaging as a whole is very minimal. So, in truth, you don't get told a lot about this cooler aside from the image on the front. So I guess you need to glean as much out of that as you can. Accessories! In terms of accessories, it is about as basic as the product name would suggest. On the plus side, however, you are given everything you could need and in terms of Intel and AMD, each is bagged within separate containers to ensure you only pull out the ones you need! A Closer Look Contact Plate A closer look at the contact plate gives us more than a few encouraging signs that this cooler should do a pretty decent job! With four heat pipes coming away from each side (each coated in silver to match the overall aesthetic) a closer look at the contact plate itself reveals that the copper piping to this section has been left exposed. This is (at least in theory) good as it means that the heat transfer should be as direct as possible. Radiator The radiator has a nice slim design which, in terms of RAM compatibility, shouldn't provide you with any problems. The only thing we did note was that the fins were rather susceptible to bending. Something we had to correct a couple of times while moving and positioning for photographs. With the black and silver design, however, it looks excellent. Particularly the silver tips pipes coming out from the radiator as well as the ID-Cooling logo to the center. A closer look at the top shows that the logo is both well placed and sized. As such, while it adds to the overall aesthetic, it doesn't take anything away from it either! Fan As this is a single fan cooler (although you are supplied with the hooks to fit a second if you wish) you are, understandably, supplied with one fan. The fan itself is an ID-Cooling own design and, unlike its ARGB counterpart, this one doesn't come with any lighting effects. Having encountered their fan designs in the past, however, we have no doubts that this should do its job without any problems at all! Overall So, based on what we can see of the design and aesthetics of the ID-Cooling SE-224-XT Basic, what do we think so far? Well, on the whole, the overwhelming thoughts are pretty positive. With a rather slim design, this shouldn't provide you with any difficulties in terms of RAM compatibility and, as you can see in the image below if you did wish to install a 2nd fan, the option is certainly there. In terms of coverage, the 120mm fan easily covers the entire radiator while also having a little bit of room to spare. This should, all going well, translate into some nice test results! So, we have a nice solid looking little CPU cooler here, but is it any good? Well, the only way we'll find out is by testing it! So, onto those glorious charts! Test System & Methodology As you may appreciate, we review a lot of coolers here at eTeknix. As such, our prior results sheet was getting more than a little crowded. We have, therefore, applied a new system in which we have picked those coolers we consider most popular or most relevant to this design. Please note that we re-tested the Noctua NH-D15S as our base benchmark for cooling results. Test system: Gigabyte Aorus Gaming 9 Z270Intel Core i7-7700K Delidded w/ NT-H1 under IHSRadeon R7 Passive GPU with 2GB VRAM16GB Crucial DDR4 2400 MHz (only swapped to 8GB in the unlikely event of RAM compatibility issues)512GB OCZ SSDbe quiet! Dark Power Pro 800WLian Li T80 Test BenchAll testing conducted using NT-H1 thermal paste We’d like to say a big thank you to Gigabyte, Noctua, Crucial, Intel, OCZ, be quiet!, and Lian Li for providing us with the above testing equipment and their on-going support. Testing Methodology We always use Noctua Noctua NT-H1 thermal paste to make sure testing reveals the efficiency of the tested coolers not the efficiency of the bundled thermal pastePrime 95 is run for 10 minutes to calculate "load" resultsUnigine Superposition is run for 10 minutes to calculate "gaming" resultsThe average temperature across all cores is takenFans are left to operate at default PWM profile speeds unless otherwise statedFor water cooling tests, all pumps have been operated at 12 volts unless otherwise statedAmbient temperatures should be between 21-23 degrees in all our tests unless otherwise statedAcoustic measurements are taken 10cm horizontally and 10cm vertically away from the CPU cooler with the VGA fan disabledStock tests are performed using "out of the box" settings for the CPUOverclocking tests are performed with the CPU set to 5 GHz and 1.345vAll coolers were tested under identical settings unless otherwise stated.There is approximately a 1-degree Celsius margin of error in our temperature recording software CPUID HW MonitorThere is approximately a 1.5dBA margin of error with our Benetech GM1351 decibel meterIn all these graphs we may have a few "reference" results of particular products that do not fit within that category for comparative purposes. Software Used CPUID HWMonitorPrime 95Unigine Superposition (1080 Extreme) Performance As this is an entry-level design cooler, we didn't expect it to do particularly well in our testing. Well, not at least when compared to what could largely be classed as mid to high-tier models. As such, it's hardly any surprise to see the ID-Cooling SE-224-XT Basic at the top (technically bottom) of our review charts. Let's put this into some context though. While the results are not exactly mind-blowing, they're not bad either. For example, achieving 64/75 at max load in stock and overclocked is a more than acceptable result. Even the fan noise, while admittedly a little on the high side, isn't obnoxiously loud. It's a no-thrilled and primarily budget-focused cooler. It still manages to do its job more than competently though! Stock Temperatures Stock Acoustics Overclocked Temperatures Overclocked Acoustics How Much Does it Cost? With an MSRP of around £25, it doesn't take a hardware expert to see that the ID-Cooling SE-224-XT Basic is marketing itself towards the entry-level market in terms of price. Put simply, coolers (at least ones worth putting on your PC) don't get any cheaper than this and, if you're looking for some solid performance on a tight budget, this represents an excellent option. Overview Aesthetically, the ID-Cooling SE-224-XT Basic carries a nice look. Admittedly, it doesn't have the ARGB bells and whistles of its 'brother' design, but not everyone likes them nor, indeed, wants them at all. This cooler effectively represents the 'Tesco Value' of coolers. It looks good, performs nearly as well as the branded alternatives, and comes at a price much friendly than you might have expected! Should I Buy One? For any standard gaming PC, the ID-Cooling SE-224-XT Basic should prove to be an excellent and inexpensive cooling solution. Admittedly, it's not a high-performer, but it was neither designed nor marketed to be one! What this cooler does do, however, is provide you with an excellent solution, with respectable levels of performance, that is easy to install and, perhaps its biggest highlight, it's as dirt cheap as good coolers get! Pros Excellently designsEasy to installSolid aesthetics (even without any RGB lighting)Good temperature controlExcellent value for money Cons The fan is a little on the noisy side Neutral None. ID-Cooling SE-224-XT Basic Air Cooler Review