The Reven E-12 Cooler: A Comprehensive Review

When it comes to affordable CPU coolers with RGB capabilities, the Reven E-12 is definitely worth considering. This cooler features a shiny plain metal faceplate with the Reven logo emblazoned on it, and its sleek design makes it a great addition to any gaming PC build.

However, upon unboxing, I noticed that there was an issue with the actual cooler - it had a scratch from the factory on the plate. This is not ideal, especially considering the fact that this plate is in a very visible location. It's disappointing to see such a flaw in a product, but it's worth noting that Reven is not entirely responsible for this issue.

Despite this hiccup, the cooler does feature heat pipes that make direct contact with the CPU, which should result in good thermal performance. The cooler also comes with a 12mm RGB fan and a fairly long cable that can easily be routed around your case. However, it's worth noting that the cable was not quite long enough to reach around the back of my motherboard, so I had to use an extension cable from my ASUS motherboard to get everything working.

Another issue I encountered was with the compatibility of the cooler's RGB implementation. My motherboard, a Gigabyte Gaming 5 Z 270, has a 5-pin RGB connector instead of the usual 4-pin, which caused some problems. In order to use the RGB lighting on this cooler, I had to plug it into my ASUS motherboard via an extension cable - a solution that was not exactly elegant.

Now, let's move on to the actual thermal tests. The Reven E-12 performed admirably in the "Ultimate RGB Torture Test," displaying pure white lights without any significant issues. However, there was a hint of pink creeping in, which is quite unusual and might be worth investigating further.

In terms of mounting, the cooler's mechanism is fairly decent. It features plastic clips that can secure the metal pins in place, making it easier to avoid them falling over during installation. However, the fan clips included with the cooler are a bit fiddly to use, especially when trying to accommodate RAM sticks with higher profile heights.

The Reven E-12 was put to the test against the Cryo Rig H7 cooler, which is similar in design but features one fewer heat pipe and a larger fin stock. While both coolers performed similarly well, I was impressed by the fact that the stock thermal paste included with the Reven E-12 matched the performance of Arctic MX 5 (also known as MX 4) thermal paste.

In conclusion, the Reven E-12 is a solid choice for those looking for an affordable CPU cooler with RGB capabilities. Its good thermal performance and decent mounting mechanism make it a great option for entry-level builds. However, its compatibility issues with certain motherboards and the fiddly fan clips might be a drawback for some users.

One thing that's worth noting is that the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition is only one dollar more expensive than the Reven E-12 on some online retailers. While it doesn't have RGB capabilities, I think it's definitely worth considering - especially since its sleek design makes it look much better in my opinion.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: ennow today is a very exciting day because I've been sent a decent value proposition air cooler that's also RGB now the cooler in question is called the reven e 12 now don't worry if you missed the first 11 versions of the e because honestly the first time I heard of reven was when they contacted me offering to send a cooler which brings me to the part of the video that I've always wanted to do full disclaimer reven did send me a review unit for this video but that's not going to affect my opinion on it because well I do objective tests on it anyway and if it does it badly there's nothing I can do about it and I'd like to think that my integrity is worth more than them an RGB cooler so let's get into it now physically the reven e 12 is a fairly standard looking cooler honestly it reminds me quite a lot of a cooler master hyper 212 it's got that kind of like shiny plain metal faceplate which has the reven logo on it now there was a bit of an issue when I unboxed as the actual cooler that there was a scratch from the factory on this plate which is not great especially considering the fact that it's in a very visible location the cooler does have for heat pipes which make a direct contact with the CPU so honestly it should perform fairly well the cooler does come with a 12 millimeter fan which is RGB it has a fairly long cable which can easily be routed around your case although it wasn't quite long enough for me to arrive route around the back and then up to get to the bottom of my motherboard so that's something to bear in mind and another issue that I had was this isn't really revange fault it's more gigabytes fault but the motherboard that I have is a gaming 5 Z 270 motherboard from gigabyte and for some weird reason it's got a 5 pin RGB connector as opposed to a 4 pin if your motherboard isn't compatible with a four pin RGB cable you're not gonna have any lighting on the cooler at all but so because of the compatibility issue that I had with my motherboard I actually ended up having to plug it into my asus motherboard via an extension cable in a fairly ghetto fashion when it comes to the actual RGB implementation first let's put it to the ultimate RGB torture test which is how well can it display pure white not too badly there's a little bit of pink creeping in which is quite weird usually it's blue the creeps in there now another important aspect of every CPU cooler is how easily it mounts and honestly the mounting mechanism is fairly decent it's got these little plastic Clips which you can use to secure the metal pins in place which is quite nice so that they don't fall over the place when you're trying to install the cooler that's a nice touch the most irritating part though for me about the installation comes with the actual fan clips now these fan clips are really fiddly to use and I know that technically the cooler does have unrestricted Ram hive clearance but I can imagine that with higher higher profile Ram you're gonna have a real problem getting that fan on just because of how fiddly the clips are but other than the clips it's a pretty good mounting system and now let's get into the actual thermal tests now I decided to test it against a cryo rig h7 cooler which is fairly similar although it has one fewer heat pipe than the reven e 12 although it does have a bigger fin stock so it'll be interesting to see how the to perform in comparison and then I tested the reven e 12 in two configurations one of them is with this stock thermal paste that comes with the cooler like in the packaging and then I tested it again with Arctic MX 5 MX 4 I think it's MX 5 graphics for thermal paste and that's actually the same thermal paste I used when I was testing the cryo rig age sevens temperatures so with all of that out the way let's have a look at the actual temperatures now I'm actually really impressed with these results they perform very similarly to the cryo rig h7 and the thing that I'm most impressed by is the fact that the stock thermal pace that comes with the cooler performs the same as the Arctic mx4 so it means that they're giving you a good thermal paste which is a really nice thing in conclusion should you buy a reven e 12 now honestly it's a pretty good cooler especially for $30 it's got a decent RGB implementation it performs fairly well and it doesn't look too bad and the fans quite quiet so that's pretty good but one of the biggest issues for me with this cooler is the fact that the cooler master hyper 212 Black Edition is only one dollar more expensive on you egg at the moment and honestly I think that's a much better looking cooler although it doesn't have RGB so if you do want RGB specifically at an entry-level price I think the reven e 12 is a good option anyway with that it brings me to the end of the video if you liked it do like and subscribe to the channel for more videos like this one and until the next one bye byenow today is a very exciting day because I've been sent a decent value proposition air cooler that's also RGB now the cooler in question is called the reven e 12 now don't worry if you missed the first 11 versions of the e because honestly the first time I heard of reven was when they contacted me offering to send a cooler which brings me to the part of the video that I've always wanted to do full disclaimer reven did send me a review unit for this video but that's not going to affect my opinion on it because well I do objective tests on it anyway and if it does it badly there's nothing I can do about it and I'd like to think that my integrity is worth more than them an RGB cooler so let's get into it now physically the reven e 12 is a fairly standard looking cooler honestly it reminds me quite a lot of a cooler master hyper 212 it's got that kind of like shiny plain metal faceplate which has the reven logo on it now there was a bit of an issue when I unboxed as the actual cooler that there was a scratch from the factory on this plate which is not great especially considering the fact that it's in a very visible location the cooler does have for heat pipes which make a direct contact with the CPU so honestly it should perform fairly well the cooler does come with a 12 millimeter fan which is RGB it has a fairly long cable which can easily be routed around your case although it wasn't quite long enough for me to arrive route around the back and then up to get to the bottom of my motherboard so that's something to bear in mind and another issue that I had was this isn't really revange fault it's more gigabytes fault but the motherboard that I have is a gaming 5 Z 270 motherboard from gigabyte and for some weird reason it's got a 5 pin RGB connector as opposed to a 4 pin if your motherboard isn't compatible with a four pin RGB cable you're not gonna have any lighting on the cooler at all but so because of the compatibility issue that I had with my motherboard I actually ended up having to plug it into my asus motherboard via an extension cable in a fairly ghetto fashion when it comes to the actual RGB implementation first let's put it to the ultimate RGB torture test which is how well can it display pure white not too badly there's a little bit of pink creeping in which is quite weird usually it's blue the creeps in there now another important aspect of every CPU cooler is how easily it mounts and honestly the mounting mechanism is fairly decent it's got these little plastic Clips which you can use to secure the metal pins in place which is quite nice so that they don't fall over the place when you're trying to install the cooler that's a nice touch the most irritating part though for me about the installation comes with the actual fan clips now these fan clips are really fiddly to use and I know that technically the cooler does have unrestricted Ram hive clearance but I can imagine that with higher higher profile Ram you're gonna have a real problem getting that fan on just because of how fiddly the clips are but other than the clips it's a pretty good mounting system and now let's get into the actual thermal tests now I decided to test it against a cryo rig h7 cooler which is fairly similar although it has one fewer heat pipe than the reven e 12 although it does have a bigger fin stock so it'll be interesting to see how the to perform in comparison and then I tested the reven e 12 in two configurations one of them is with this stock thermal paste that comes with the cooler like in the packaging and then I tested it again with Arctic MX 5 MX 4 I think it's MX 5 graphics for thermal paste and that's actually the same thermal paste I used when I was testing the cryo rig age sevens temperatures so with all of that out the way let's have a look at the actual temperatures now I'm actually really impressed with these results they perform very similarly to the cryo rig h7 and the thing that I'm most impressed by is the fact that the stock thermal pace that comes with the cooler performs the same as the Arctic mx4 so it means that they're giving you a good thermal paste which is a really nice thing in conclusion should you buy a reven e 12 now honestly it's a pretty good cooler especially for $30 it's got a decent RGB implementation it performs fairly well and it doesn't look too bad and the fans quite quiet so that's pretty good but one of the biggest issues for me with this cooler is the fact that the cooler master hyper 212 Black Edition is only one dollar more expensive on you egg at the moment and honestly I think that's a much better looking cooler although it doesn't have RGB so if you do want RGB specifically at an entry-level price I think the reven e 12 is a good option anyway with that it brings me to the end of the video if you liked it do like and subscribe to the channel for more videos like this one and until the next one bye bye