At the risk of repeating myself, the Akasa NeroS has exceeded all my expectations. I fully expected / hoped it would do well but I wasn’t expecting an improvement of 6 degrees, maybe 2-3 degrees at best.

The only real negative thing I can say about it, and this probably applies to 99% of Intel coolers, is the mounting method either requires the motherboard to be removed or a case with a hole in the motherboard tray. Even then it might be a little bit fiddly to fit depending if, like me, you don’t want to physically stick the back plate to your motherboard. Other than that I cannot fault it. Even with the fan running full speed it is very quiet, I cannot hear it over the low hum of my case fans.

It is, in my opinion, a nice looking cooler, it is quite large (tall) but then most high end coolers are, so you might want to double check if you can fit a 160mm tall cooler into your case.

It seems to retail around £35 so whilst it isn’t the cheapest of coolers it is by no means the most expensive and some £5-£6 cheaper than a TRUE with which, I would imagine, it is comparable with on performance.

Pros

• Excellent cooling capabilities.
• Very quiet even at maximum speed.
• Reasonably priced.
• Looks good (in my opinion).

Cons

• A little awkward to fit (but then most aftermarket Intel coolers are).

Reality Check: Most definitely worth a look if you are on a budget, excellent cooling at a reasonable price. All that remains is to say, BUY ONE if you are on the lookout for a decent Mid- High Range cooler and are on a little bit of a budget.

Reviewed by Mac

Many thanks to akasa for providing the Akasa NeroS for review.