The refrigeration industry is one of the most productive industries in the hardware market. In the sense of productive, we mean that there is an abundance of production continuously. Each company releases at least four coolers for us in one year, and this makes those who invest in buying a cooler at the beginning of the year think again about buying a new cooler from the same company that launched what is better, but this is not Fractal’s policy for which we are reviewing the Lumen S24 RGB cooler.
Fractal is a “product that lasts” company. One series coolers are released every year or two to keep up with the new processors and thank you. The consumer embraces this cooler and will only think of upgrading it with the release of a new generation of processors that exude every drop of the cooler’s performance. Would the same picture apply to today’s cooler? This is what we will discover together with the new cooler.
A look at the Lumen S24 RGB cooler
The Lumen S24 cooler looks stylish on the outside when looking at the box image. When opened, the pump comes out attached to the radiator with dual fans and brackets. It is worth mentioning here that the version in our hands is the second version of the radiator, and this we knew from its serial number on the radiator itself and not through the box.
The second version provided us with the latest brackets for AMD and Intel processors, which are AM5 brackets for the first and LGA1700 brackets for the second. This means that Fractal is confident in its cooler that was released for the first time in 2021 and guarantees us that it will continue to give for generations to come.
Radiator and pump
There is just something about this cooler that has us asking a few questions. Look at the pump in its natural setting, which comes with a round head with a darkened design. Feel a little small? We feel this too, and that’s when we knew it wasn’t a pump in the first place. We can tell that it is only the heat conduction, but the pump is not actually on the cover.
The pump is inside the radiator itself. This may affect the performance positively because the process of expelling heat will be faster than the radiator itself, but we will discover this part later. The cover placed on top of the processor comes in a circular shape as we mentioned, and the installation process is very easy by placing the cover inside the bracket and installing it later on the motherboard itself, and this system is one of the easiest systems that we have tried.
The base of the cover is made of copper and covered from the bottom with thermal paste that was previously applied, and it is worth noting that the box comes with another paste in case you want to apply it yourself to increase the confirmation or you did not install it correctly the first time. The water block cover is swivel in case you want to adjust the heat carrier tubes, which means you don’t need to remove it if things don’t go your way.
As for the radiator, as we said, it contains the water block and the fans are installed on it. The size of the radiator is 272 mm to accommodate two 240 fans in total, meaning each fan will be 120 mm in size to fit all ATX boxes in the market. The radiator blades are made entirely of aluminum to ensure the best possible heat transfer as well.
Look at the fans
The cooler comes with Aspect 12 RGB fans that are completely quiet due to the presence of air struts that reduce unstable air movement. One of the features we liked about these fans during installation was that the fans are all mated together to reduce cables coming out of the radiator, knowing that all the fans are adjustable to their own spin speed.
The fans are also distinguished by the presence of another layer around their frame that makes the fans keep rotating naturally, and all these advantages are supposed to be reflected in the noise that may or may not come out of the fans. All are also programmable through major motherboard manufacturers’ software, unfortunately, there is no software support from Fractal itself.
After everything is installed, the cooler looks great. The lighting of the fans coincided with the liquid block cover, which gave a wonderful aesthetic look. They feel like one piece, and the simple cover design that blends colors together adds an undeniably beautiful touch here.
Performance review of the Lumen S24 cooler from Fractal
We tested the Lumen S24 cooler in an Intel Core i9-12900K assembly on the latest next-generation motherboards, using three different scenarios.
Performance measurement software:
- AIDA64: The first test program that stresses the processor intensively for a long enough time.
- Blender Rendering: The second mode will be the heat test with the processor-intensive rendering process being the true test of cooler performance.
- Games: The third test will be the average processor temperature with different games on 4K display resolution.
The processor’s hibernating temperature was 28 degrees Celsius, which is the lowest temperature recorded for a cooler this year in our reviews. When we played Metro Exodus we found that the temperature reached 67 degrees Celsius at the original cooler speed.
As for the AIDA64 tests that put pressure on the processor continuously, we found that the temperature reached 63 degrees Celsius when we pressed it. The renders of Cinebench R20 and Blender are naturally in the same range as Metro Exodus, which here scored 68 for the former and 70 for the latter.
We have known for many years that the speed of the fans will not give the 50% performance difference that everyone expects when activated, and this is evident with Metro Exodus, on which we recorded 62 degrees Celsius, by only 5 degrees. The rendering temperatures on Blender and Cinebnech R20 became 66 and 65 degrees, and the pressure on the processor in the AIDA64 tests reduced the temperature to 61 degrees Celsius.
The sound wasn’t a problem because we simply didn’t hear it. The fans were spinning at 1,990 rpm and the pump was running at 4,100 rpm. Those numbers we see at the top are pretty good for a near-silent cooler and there’s basically nothing wrong with them.
What is the price of the Fractal Lumen S24 cooler?
The cooler is on the market at a price of $130, but you may find it in the range of $110 in some online digital stores.
Final verdict on Fractal Lumen S24 cooler
Performance is excellent for the price this cooler is offering at the moment. This is the cooler of choice to get the best performance against noise, and what Fractal did in their fans was clearly enough to silence them.
The build quality is impeccable, and simple options like changing the location of the cap in relation to the liquid block made the experience quite satisfying. The cooler comes with a five-year warranty, a number you don’t find in a liquid cooler these days and it will reassure you. What’s also good about this cooler is that it doesn’t force you to buy three fans for a processor like the Core i9K, and this is a point that everyone should know.
Our only problem with it is the lack of software support for the cooler. There is no support and it depends entirely on the board only. This is normal because it comes without a screen, but it would have been better if Fractal provided any solutions to work on speed and monitor temperatures through it.
Gamer Zone Club evaluation
- Performance: 9
- Price: 8
- Noise: 10
- Design: 8
- Accessories and easy installation: 8
Advantages
- Good cooling performance.
- The water block design is cool with the propellers lighting up.
- His voice is almost absent inside the box.
- It is very easy to install.
- Extended support for five years.
- Good price for performance.
Disadvantages
- There is no software support from the company.
- There is a competing product from the same company, which is the Celesius+ series.
