Gelid Solutions GX-7 CPU Cooler Review

When mounting the Gelid Solutions I can honestly say it wasn’t the simplest experience of my life. Like the Spire TME III it has the advantageous design where you can secure the backplate (to the motherboard) independently of the CPU cooler. This means you don’t have to sit there holding the backplate as you attach the CPU cooler. However, you have to screw the heatsink to the backplate using compression screws which can only be screwed in if the fan is not attached to the CPU cooler. In effect this means the only way you can mount the CPU cooler is first without the fan and then attach the fan after the heatsink is secure. Attaching the fan with the heatsink attached to the system was very tricky, but I got there in the end. Like I said the mount has its benefits and its drawbacks, but as always most people only have to mount once and its simple enough if you follow the instructions so I am neutral on this.

It would of been nice to see the blue plastic at the top lit with LEDs but unfortunately they aren’t. However it still looks awesome from this angle – which is how you would see it with a side panel window.

As mentioned briefly before the RAM clearance is only an issue for the first slot on an LGA 1155 motherboard.  As a lot of people only have 2 modules, you should be fine. But if you have four high profile modules, like Corsair Vengeance, then you’re going to have issues.

Due to the fact this heatsink is quite skinny you have a lot of space and clearance around the motherboard heatsink/VRM area so you shouldn’t have compatibility issues.