ID-Cooling IS-60 EVO ARGB Low-Profile CPU Cooler Review

Installation

I always consider one of the most important parts of a CPU cooler to be the product manual. It’s vital that it can not only communicate to you exactly what goes where, but also that it does it in a clear and, hopefully, concise manner. Well, thankfully, in that regard ID-Cooling provides you with a perfect solution. The manual, while not overly detailed (or large), provides you with nice brief written directions as well as lots of detailed diagrams.

Put simply, as long as you’re paying attention, it’s hard to go wrong here!

Mounting

Unlike many low-profile coolers that often rely on a push-pin system to hold it in place, the ID-Cooling IS-60 EVO ARGB uses a far more substantial installation method. Following the fitting of appropriate brackets adjoining the contact plate (which I’ll admit, is fiddly work it itself dealing with small screws), the inserts then directly push through the top of the motherboard where you screw it down from below. In other words, this cooler does not utilize a backing plate and while that is good in some respects, it’s a little bit awkward in others.

What makes it awkward? Well, it is perhaps something of a quirk more notable with our test bench, but you have to hold the cooler down from above while attempting to screw it in from below. Put simply, it’s one of those jobs that would be a damn sight easier with 2 pairs of hands. While not impossible, because as you can see below, we managed to do it, it does constantly make you worried about sudden movements and particularly smearing the thermal paste everywhere. – In a nutshell, we suspect that installing this on the motherboard outside of a case or chassis would be massively earlier than within.

Additionally, we should also note that our motherboard contains quite significant VRM coverings surrounding the CPU socket. As such, in something that was a moderate surprise, we could only successfully install it one way around which did cause RAM compatibility issues. Yes, in a rare instance, we had to remove one of the memory sticks before we could get this to sit properly. So, if you too have a rather crowded socket, RAM compatibility may represent a problem.

Overall Thoughts

From out of the box and onto our test bench, the ID Cooling IS 60 EVO ARGB took us roughly 10-15 minutes to install and admittedly that is a lot longer than is usually required for an air cooler. As noted above, however, despite ID-Cooling claiming this has an ‘easy installation’ method, we would qualify that with having either a helper or an additional pair of hands. It’s not impossible, but on our test bench it was more than a little bothersome for various reasons.

ARGB Lighting in Action!

In terms of the lighting effects, we could tell you that it’s bright, bold, vivid and offers an excellent array of configurations, and that would be true. It is, however, one thing to tell you, but the best representation of a ‘real-world’ setting can only be achieved in a video and, because we’re nice, you can check that out below!

Once you’ve finished being razzle-dazzled, click over to the next page because if you’re impressed at how cool the ID-Cooling IS 60 EVO ARGB looks, then you’re going to be blown away with how well it did in our testing!