Cooler Master Gemin II M4 Low Profile Heatsink Review

Building a HTPC or any system in a low profile chassis you always worry about the processor cooling method.  It is true that the stock cooler can get the job done but the total heat capacity is extremely low and before long you'll have a huge heat picket over your CPU.  This causes the fan to spin faster and often triggers heat related memory problems.  Aftermarket cooling solutions like the Cooler Master Gemin II M4 can help dissipate the excess heat and keep the system running smooth and quiet.

Overall performance is about what we had expected.  Going into this review we knew the M4 wasn't a cooler centered at overclocking but rather to provide an efficient low profile cooling solution.  The Gemin II M4 delivers on that by using a four heatpipe core contact design that measures in with a total height of 59mm, including the fan.  During our testing we did observe a higher C/W rating during our overclocking tests which simply tells us that to support the heat load we will likely need a more powerful fan or lower ambient temperature.  Under stock speeds you should be able to enjoy both excellent cooling and virtually silent running thanks to the 30 dBA (max) PWM low profile cooling fan.

Installation was rather straight forward and consisted of picking the proper mounting rails and bolting the entire assembly to your motherboard.  We do feel the mounting method is rather dated considering that most companies have converted to using riser plates but the system does work, albeit being a little cumbersome.  The new rails for LGA2011 look promising and are much easier to use, simply attach them to the heatsink base and screw them into the CPU socket plate.

Low Profile (59mm Overall)
120mm x 15mm Cooling Fan
Silent Fan
Core Contact Design
PWM Fan Included

Core contact design
Small radiator limits overclocking performance
Compatibility issues with some motherboard heatsinks
Mounting hardware