There were two concept builds where we used the Gabriel cooler. This is a good example of real world testing and shows the potential traps of focusing on benchmarks and it also meant that I got lots of experience installing and removing the unit.
One was for a recent RESPAWN LAN where we built an MSI Z87M / GTX760 HAWK based rig in a Fractal Design Define Mini. Both the CPU and the GPU were overclocked and although the case was mostly open for showcasing, we did close it up from time to time and at no point during a day of regular LAN gaming did we have any thermal issues or throttling. The cooler was easy to mount in the Micro ATX case with the main challenge proving to be hiding the fan cable under the motherboard tray neatly.
The other concept build was our review build of the MSI Z97I Gaming AC mini ITX setup in the Fractal Design Node 304 chassis. This was more out of necessity than choice because the Gabriel was the only CPU cooler we had (besides the stock cooler) that would fit that particular motherboard in that particular case and still allow a graphics card in the PCIE slot. Again, we closed it up and ran it solidly for hours without any thermal or acoustic issues. If I had a gripe on the mini ITX build it would be the fiddly fan clips in a tight space and the excessive, unbraided cable again.
