Installation Notes
After installing the Lucifer on our ASUS Maximus VI Gene test bench, we noted some positive observations regarding clearance, the seating and the included 140mm fan but there are a couple of things to look out for when installing this cooler.
Clearance
Clearance around the cooler was borderline on our Micro-ATX ASUS Maximus VI Gene test bench. Unlike other 140mm coolers, we managed to get a graphics card into the first PCI-E slot but only just and there was literally only 1mm in it. I wouldn’t have attempted this unless our MSI GTX760 HAWK had a backplate on the PCB. Memory clearance was also good in terms of the heat sink but if you use high profile RAM, you will need to either raise the fan position or mount it at the back of the tower, pulling air through instead of pushing. There is plenty of length on the included 140mm fan cable, perhaps 10cm or so too much but in most builds this will be easy enough to tuck away somewhere.
Backplate
The CPU backplate is really easy to fit and feels very similar to the Noctua securfirm mounting system that we know and love here. The design is pretty simple, done in a universal way with clearly marked positons for the posts to suite your socket type and a nice clear manual. We can’t ask for more in this regard.
Fan Clips
There are 2 sets included so that you can mount an additional 140mm fan for push/pull operation if you want to. We tested this with a GF140 also provided by Deep Cool and noted a benefit of 2 degrees at the most.
Rubber Coated Fan
The black fan frame is actually coated almost entirely in entirely in rubber, not a thickly as the GF-140 fan but thick enough to matter. This is great as it basically eliminates vibration and also allows the fan to have a bit more grip on the heat sink when fitting it.
Room For Improvement
If installing the Lucifer, you should make sure that you have a Philips head screwdriver with a 135mm shaft as a minimum. The standard in our tool kit seemed to be about a 10mm shaft so in this case size matters. You can manage the installation with a shorter screwdriver but you’re more likely to slip and damage something. The Noctua ‘screwdriver’ works a treat and it’s a shame that Deep Cool don’t include something similar. I’ll admit that I was a little disappointed here and found myself appreciating the mounting access design of competing products.
The included thermal compound works as expected and there is enough in the small tube for several applications. Although the texture is stickier and harder to clean up than Noctua NT-H1, performance wise I couldn’t see any consistent difference in the temperatures. The NT-H1 is also non-conductive – I’m not sure if the compound included with the Lucifer is conductive or not.
The base/socket brace is also a little fiddly and although it does interlock, it moved around more than I’d have liked when fitting the heat sink. That said, once you have this locked onto your CPU, it’s a secure fit and it does get easier after a few goes.
The fan clips are also functional but not optimal – they work well and hold the fan in place as they are supposed to but Deep cool could have a look at what its competitors are doing in this regard and a simple modification to the design would make them easier to fit/remove. On an open air test bench this wasn’t a major issue but in the confines of a case, the clip closest to the roof of the case might take a bit longer to fit it you have big hands.
The thing to remember is that unless you change your CPU cooler regularly, the one-off installation gripes I’ve listed above are a really minor inconvenience and shouldn’t bother the average system builder. I installed the cooler within 10 minutes on the first run including manual reading time so it wasn’t a big deal.
