Reeven E12 RGB Review

Let’s face it. Cooler Master took over the value end of the air based cooler market thanks to their original Hyper 212’s winning recipe. A recipe of being good enough, cheap enough, and pretty enough to simply out muscle the competition. That is how it became the cooler for many budget builders. In the ensuing years, ‘feature creep’ caused the price to slowly but surely climb upwards. Nowadays it is tough to recommend any HDT/ HDCS cooler that costs upwards of $35 to 40 USD… when for only a couple dollars more buyers can get prettier, much more robust, and simply better coolers. This is why the Reeven E12 RGB is so bloody impressive.

Unlike Cooler Master who adds a feature and then increases the price, Reeves has started with all those nifty features included for basically free. Yes the new RGB variant of the E12 series costs $5 more than the non-RGB enabled version (AKA the based ‘E12’ model).. but it still only has a MSRP of $29.99 and can be found for as little as $25 USD if you look. For a mere twenty-five dollars, nearly any budget can include it and throw away the stock Intel or AMD cooling solution (or better yet buy a CPU that does not have ‘cooler tax’ built into its asking price).

In return for so little outlay of cash, buyers get a CPU cooling solution that is more than capable of handling even moderate overclocking heat loads. They also get one that will idle at darn near ambient temperatures. They get a CPU cooling solution that is as robust as it is easy to use. They get darn near hassle-free installation. They get a silent cooler that never gets overly loud even while it keeps temperatures in check. They even get a CPU cooling solution that not only compliments a build but enhances it – thanks to its fan’s built in RGB 4-pin header.

Quite honestly, there is absolutely nothing to dislike about this cooler besides its thin form-factor. The included fan not only does a better job at 1500RPM than Cooler Master’s option does at 2000RPM… it has enough static pressure to do so on much thicker fin arrays. As it stands this cooler, just like the Hyper 212 series, would not be our first option for heavily overlocked systems… but that is about the only area it falls down on. So, if you are looking for an air-based cooler that is as pretty as it is effective the Reeven E12 RGB demands your attention. It will be replacing CM Hyper 212’s as our ‘go to’ option for a veritable ton of builds. It is just too good, too pretty, and too inexpensive to do otherwise.