Jonsbo CR-1000 V2 Pro ARGB: Powerful, flashy, and affordable

At first glance, this cooler might seem like an extremely attractive choice for a wide range of users. Its specs suggest strong performance, it has lighting, and the price is… yes, we can say “low” – at 25 euros, that word still fits. This assumption is partly true, but if you think the CR-1000 V2 Pro ARGB can handle everything, you’d be mistaken. There are certain limitations here that come from its more budget-oriented design.

Conclusion

Right at the start of this evaluation, we have to say the Jonsbo CR-1000 V2 Pro ARGB is an excellent cooler. Especially if you take into account its purchase price, which hovers around 25 euros. There aren’t many alternatives with extensive ARGB LED lighting that offer similar performance characteristics. Regardless of noise, the Jonsbo cooler doesn’t give in – not even with processors like the Core Ultra 9 285K or the Ryzen 9 9950X. However, in such scenarios and at peak performance, you definitely will hear the CR-1000 V2 Pro ARGB – it gets noisy.

In modes normalized to “equal” noise levels, though, this cooler delivers fairly decent results. Especially on Intel’s LGA 1851 platform, where the CR-1000 V2 Pro ARGB benefits from a larger base, and actually in noisier modes almost always, even on AMD processors. Jonsbo’s cooler starts to run out of breath only at lower fan speeds, where it even drops below the Endorfy Fera 5. And that’s despite having more heatpipes.

The outer heatpipes, in combination with a Ryzen processor and this type of base (DHT), are relatively inefficient. They lie outside the processor’s core area and receive less heat transfer, and likewise, the use of the fin surface that these heatpipes reach is also reduced, weaker, or simply less effective – however you prefer to put it. For the R9 9950X, as fan airflow drops, the cooling performance of the CR-1000 V2 Pro ARGB drops so much that it delivers the lowest CPU core clock speeds recorded in tests. Compared to the Fera 5, this means a drop of up to around 280 MHz on average, which is quite a lot, and it’s fair to say that Jonsbo is a worse choice here in terms of cooling performance. Even at medium and higher fan speeds, including at maximum RPM.

While the Jonsbo CR-1000 V2 Pro ARGB is a good cooler even on AMD platforms, it must be fairly stated that the Fera 5 performs better, and the Freezer 36 A-RGB is simply “in a different league”. Yes, the Jonsbo cooler is cheaper, perhaps more attractive to some, and these aspects certainly need to be taken into account in any evaluation. How much weight they carry when choosing the “right” solution, however, is something each person will have to judge for themselves.

Results on the LGA 1851 platform are different, and the Jonsbo cooler does relatively better here. Compared to competing models like the Fera 5 (ARGB), it’s actually the Jonsbo CR-1000 V2 Pro ARGB that cools the cores of the CU9 285K processor more effectively, allowing them to run at higher clock speeds.

At higher fan speeds, the Jonsbo cooler even outperforms the Arctic Freezer 36 A-RGB on Intel platforms. That Arctic cooler only gains an edge at lower speeds. Higher airflow on LGA 1851 with the CU9 285K test processor is better suited to the Jonsbo CR-1000 V2 Pro ARGB. While the fin efficiency may be slightly lower compared to Arctic, and Jonsbo’s mounting system is more fragile (using the default ILM with only a plastic backplate), the performance results of this cooler are truly impressive given the price. Especially if you consider using it on lower-end CPUs like Ryzen 5 (AMD) or Core Ultra 5 (Intel). For those, it’ll be great even at lower noise levels, across all supported platforms.

The Jonsbo CR-1000 V2 Pro ARGB is not only efficient in terms of cooling performance, but also an efficient piece of hardware overall. There aren’t many lighted coolers with this kind of TDP in the lower price bracket. Thanks to its attractive price-to-value ratio (represented largely by its high cooling performance), this cooler earns the editorial award: “Smart buy!”

English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš

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CPU coolers are also available in the Datacomp e-store.