Cooler Master GeminII: Performer or Poser?
by Wesley Fink on April 30, 2007 2:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Cooler Master Gemini II
Every enthusiast will probably recognize the Cooler Master name. As a leader in providing cooling solutions, Cooler Master has established themselves as a leading name in cases, air cooling, and fans. They also market products such as power supplies, water cooling kits, notebook cooling pads, and specialized chassis for external storage. If it comes to cooling, Cooler Master probably makes a product that competes for your attention.
Cooler Master makes a wide selection of CPU air coolers, ranging from budget alternatives to the stock CPU coolers that come with retail units to exotic high-end solutions. The GeminII currently sits at the top of the Cooler Master air cooling line.
For a cooler as large as the GeminII the packaging is amazingly compact. This is mostly because the Gemini II is shipped without any fans. In fact, Cooler Master claims the cooler can be used for fanless cooling if that is your goal.
The dark grey box is mostly filled with the GeminII heatpipe tower that is packaged in clamshell acrylic to protect the cooler from damage. The base cooler is quite heavy at 847g, which is almost 30 ounces before adding two 120mm fans.
The cooler comes with adapter kits for Intel socket 775 and AMD AM2/754/939/940. Strips for attaching and adjusting two 120mm fans and 8 fan screws for mounting the fans on the slide strips are also included. Preparing the GeminII for mounting is very easy, but you must remove the motherboard completely to mount the heat sink. We say completely remove because the only real way to install the GeminII is by turning the motherboard upside down and screwing the nuts onto the adapter which passes through the motherboard.
It is very important to carefully follow the instructions as there are different thicknesses of washers provided for attaching the GeminII. Some are adhesive and some are just spacers. You will need to make sure you install the correct washers in the correct locations. Our first install did not achieve a very good mating of the cooler base to the CPU top. It is very important to support the motherboard with a small box the height of the Gemini II or the PCIe video card. This allows the board to sit reasonably flat on the table and it makes it easier to get a solid install of the cooler base to the CPU.
While the GeminII is very large and heavy the installation through the board with screw and nuts is very secure. There are easier methods to attach a CPU but we doubt they would be as secure as the method chosen by Cooler Master.
Fans are not included with GeminII, so we chose a wide variety of fans for testing. For more information on the fans used for testing please check the details on page four.
Specifications
Our test system is Intel socket 775, but the Cooler Master GeminII will also mount on any AM2/754/939/940 CPU with the included adapters.
Any 120mm fan will fit the GeminII, regardless of the fan thickness or the post configuration.
Every enthusiast will probably recognize the Cooler Master name. As a leader in providing cooling solutions, Cooler Master has established themselves as a leading name in cases, air cooling, and fans. They also market products such as power supplies, water cooling kits, notebook cooling pads, and specialized chassis for external storage. If it comes to cooling, Cooler Master probably makes a product that competes for your attention.
Cooler Master makes a wide selection of CPU air coolers, ranging from budget alternatives to the stock CPU coolers that come with retail units to exotic high-end solutions. The GeminII currently sits at the top of the Cooler Master air cooling line.
For a cooler as large as the GeminII the packaging is amazingly compact. This is mostly because the Gemini II is shipped without any fans. In fact, Cooler Master claims the cooler can be used for fanless cooling if that is your goal.
The dark grey box is mostly filled with the GeminII heatpipe tower that is packaged in clamshell acrylic to protect the cooler from damage. The base cooler is quite heavy at 847g, which is almost 30 ounces before adding two 120mm fans.
The cooler comes with adapter kits for Intel socket 775 and AMD AM2/754/939/940. Strips for attaching and adjusting two 120mm fans and 8 fan screws for mounting the fans on the slide strips are also included. Preparing the GeminII for mounting is very easy, but you must remove the motherboard completely to mount the heat sink. We say completely remove because the only real way to install the GeminII is by turning the motherboard upside down and screwing the nuts onto the adapter which passes through the motherboard.
It is very important to carefully follow the instructions as there are different thicknesses of washers provided for attaching the GeminII. Some are adhesive and some are just spacers. You will need to make sure you install the correct washers in the correct locations. Our first install did not achieve a very good mating of the cooler base to the CPU top. It is very important to support the motherboard with a small box the height of the Gemini II or the PCIe video card. This allows the board to sit reasonably flat on the table and it makes it easier to get a solid install of the cooler base to the CPU.
While the GeminII is very large and heavy the installation through the board with screw and nuts is very secure. There are easier methods to attach a CPU but we doubt they would be as secure as the method chosen by Cooler Master.
Fans are not included with GeminII, so we chose a wide variety of fans for testing. For more information on the fans used for testing please check the details on page four.
Specifications
Our test system is Intel socket 775, but the Cooler Master GeminII will also mount on any AM2/754/939/940 CPU with the included adapters.
| Cooler Master GeminII Specifications | |
| Dimensions | 175(L) X 124.6W) X 81.5(H)mm (excluding fan) |
| Weight | 847g (excluding fan) |
| Material | Copper and Aluminum with soldered joints |
| Heatpipes | Six |
| Fan Configuration | Supports up to two 120mm fans (side by side) of any thickness |
Any 120mm fan will fit the GeminII, regardless of the fan thickness or the post configuration.
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44 Comments
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Cableaddict - Thursday, June 5, 2008 - link
This review ranks with Anantech's H2O kit review as one of the all-time low points for internet reviews.Once again, accurate & useful data marred by horrendous conclusions.
To wit:
1: Some people have small cases, like HTPC cases & such, and cannot fit any of the top heatsinks. For all of these users, the Gemini II is quite possibly the BEST heatsink that will actually fit. (It will JUST fit into a 3U rack case, with Noctua fans installed)
2: Some people care about low noise. The Gemini II was shown, by this very review, to excel with low-noise fans. Compare any heatsink made, with the possibly exception of the Ultra-120, to the Gemini with both using 1300 rpm Noctuas- The Gemini is the clear winner.
----
But sadly, the reviewer here fails to take these situations into consideration and decides to say that the excellent Gemini II is a "poser." Because this review was the first major one to be published, no one else really bothered much, and the product all but disappeared from the marketplace.
SHAME on this reviewer. Seriously.
FWIW, I had a DuOrb on my OC'd Q6600. I couldn't get it past 3.2 Ghz.
I recently switched to a Gemini II with two Noctuas, and have reached 3.5 Ghz under heavy load. - And the noise is almost non-existant.
This review blows.
Patrick Wolf - Monday, January 24, 2011 - link
Exactly. Obviously this cooler isn't targeted or designed to compete against the big boys. So to say it's a poser is just plain ignorant.mrseew - Thursday, December 13, 2007 - link
was looking for a review on the gemini ii vs the 120, thanksFarfle - Tuesday, October 2, 2007 - link
I got this cooler for $1 buck after rebates from Newegg. I don't care if it doesn't cool any better than the Intel HSF; the box and metal itself are worth the $1 just to look at. They're so shiny!!!Uglystick - Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - link
I dont mind AT comparing one product agianst another in fact I welcome it as it gives me a better feel on how the product fits into the market. But I find this review a little lacking. It reviews the coolers ability to cool but states the it comes midrange in all the tests of all aircoolers tested, but i could not find any mention of how much the cooler cost in comparison to the leading performers. A little investigation of the AT site shows that the "TOP" performer costs almost double what the Gemini (the Thermalright Ultra 120 is shown as $60 and the Gemini at $33) wouldnt this indicate that the cooler is not "meant" to compete with the top line models, after all we dont compare the family sedan with a Porsche do we. There's no mention of value for $ anywhere in the article (unless i missed it) so it may not be the great cooler that you were hoping it to be but how does it compare when you bring budget and market placement into it.Samus - Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - link
you never mentioned that memory and northbridge temperatures fall off the map with the gemini IIthe purpose of the cooler isn't to be an exceptional cpu cooler. its purpose is to cool everything else, too. and it does THAT better than ANY other cooler out there. my memory and northbridge have no active cooling, so with this cooler, they run exceptionally cooler. and all at no expense to added noise.
jes1111 - Wednesday, May 16, 2007 - link
Wow! Seems some people (including the reviewer) got out of bed on the wrong side.In common with many people, when I'm in the market for a new oiece of kit, I google up as many reviews and forum posts as I can find and make purchasing decisions accordingly. I find it significant that of all the reviews for the CoolerMaster Gemini II, yours is the only negative one. This tells me a lot about your approach.
The fact is that the vast majority of readers/surfers/PC-owners are NOT looking to "OC this rig to 5.9GHz at 27,000 volts on air!" just so they can brag about it at playschool. And as a good and responsible review site, you shouldn't be pandering to these measurebators.
I find your conclusion misleading and even unfair to CoolerMaster. The Gemini fits a particular need, a niche requirement if you will, and your review should reflect that instead of dismissing it as a gimmick that fails to outperform XYZ brand.
Take my case: I have a Gigabyte DQ6 board in a Lian-Li PC-V2000 Plus II case. I've gone for a mild overclock to 3.2GHz (400x8) with the RAM running at 1:1 (800). Originally I fitted a Noctua big-tower cooler thingee. The CPU cooling was just great but I was running an uncomfortably high temp on the MCH (a common problem with tower-style coolers). Problem: on this board (and many others I'm), a tower-style cooler of the Noctua's dimensions overhangs the MCH, so I'm unable to fit a 40mm fan to the top of its heatsink to cool the wee beastie down. Solution: a Gemini II with two Noctua 120mm fans. Now I get more or less the same CPU temp as the Noctua gave me, but greatly improved MCH temp (even without the 40mm fan running) and I'm sure my RAM and power components are happier too.
In other words, the Gemini is a VERY clever and useful piece of equipment, designed to answer a specific and not uncommon problem and it does so VERY well. So, far from being dismissed as a mere gimmick, it should be praised for bucking a fashion trend (encouraged by reviews like yours) and doing exactly what it says it will do.
And, as others have pointed out, for HTPC applications none of the big towers will fit. Your review could/should have identified these points and given CoolerMaster the praise they deserve.
So there! With knobs on!
fasdl - Saturday, May 5, 2007 - link
Too bad it didn't do better... It has 8 maybe if you had a case with side intake it would have performed cooler? I'm actually going to build a a side intake system using the Enermax chakra case. It has a 250mm fan that would push air into the line of suction of these fans. I also notice it has 6 heat pipes like the 120 ultra extreme, it must be that they made it too short. If the fins were taller it would have had comparable surface area and done better perhaps. I really like the idea though of spreading out more instead of having it one tall tower. It blows on the ram too!Blacklash - Wednesday, May 2, 2007 - link
I noticed you have been reviewing quite a few coolers as of late. Grab a Thermaltake V1 and see how it does. I know it won't out perform the Tuniq tower and it should be good for a mid range OC. I am curious what its limits are. Below is what I am talking about-[url]http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/product.asp?ad=fg&...[/url]
yyrkoon - Wednesday, May 2, 2007 - link
Drop the 'an', or the 's' from supplies
Last page, second paragraph.