ID-Cooling’s SE-207-XT is a seven-heatpipe, dual-tower assault on large air cooling with a name that makes it difficult to remember--but that might all soon change. Making use of a pair of 120mm cooling fans with zero RGB capability, the SE-207-XT is menacingly matte black, making for a no-nonsense approach for system builders seeking a stealthed-out PC.
The SE-207-XT isn’t as large as some of the behemoth heatpipe coolers we’ve seen in recent years. And while it is true that it isn’t going to jump to the top of our cooling charts, it isn’t lagging that far behind the leaders, either. This makes the SE-207-XT a great mid-range, budget-priced, large air cooler for those looking for the cooling benefits of a huge CPU cooling tower, while focusing the majority of their build budget on other components.
ID-Cooling SE-207-XT Specifications
| Height | 6.125" / 155.6mm |
| Width | 4.88" / 124mmmm |
| Depth | 4.0" / 101.6mm (5.63" / 143mm w/ fans) |
| Base Height | 1.75" / 44.5mm |
| Assy. Offset | 0.0 (centered), 1.0" / 25.4mm w/ front fan) |
| Cooling Fans | (2) 120 x 25mm |
| Connectors | (2) 4-pin PWM |
| Weight | 40.1 oz / 1138g |
| Intel Sockets | 115x, 1200, 2011, 2066 |
| AMD Sockets | AM4 |
| Warranty | 2 years |
| Web Price | $60 |
Features of ID-Cooling SE-207-XT
The SE-207-XT is accompanied by a modest set of mounting hardware to accommodate most current AMD and Intel desktop CPU sockets. The Intel backplate features pre-assembled mounting posts, making it very strong and eliminating tedious assembly steps which we normally find for backplate setups. A third set of spring wire clips are provided and can be used to allow the cooler to have an additional fan for a push/pull/pull configuration, if you are so inclined. Likewise, an included 3-way PWM splitter is ready to handle the default 2-fan setup out of the box, or ythat triple fan layout.
An included syringe of ID-TG25 (ID-Cooling) thermal compound means system builders won’t be left ordering in a tube of thermal paste or making an extra trip back to your local electronics supply store.
ID-Cooling covers the SE-207-XT with a 2-year warranty.
The SE-207-XT makes use of seven copper heatpipes which snake through 44 individual stacked cooling fins on each divided tower. The heatpipes are offset for dissipation and airflow throughout each cooling tower and collect at the base within the solid cantilever mounting brace. The cooling fins on each cooling tower allow air to flow both straight through as well as out the lateral sides of the tower, rather than ducting air all the way through the cooler.
The solid base collects the seven heatpipes and encapsulates them within the cantilever mounting plate with a milled-copper base to make direct contact with the CPU IHS. The machine screws on the mounting plate are permanently affixed and align over the mounting bars, which are secured to the motherboard socket hardware mounting locations. The mounting screws help align the SE-207-XT when it comes time to tension the cooler down and finish the installation process, which we will detail shortly.
The base of the SE-207-XT is milled perfectly flat, as there is not any visible ambient light seen between a steel rule and the milled copper baseplate. Additionally, the offset of the heatpipes and the fixed tension screws can be seen a bit more clearly from this angle.
The base of the SE-207-XT makes for a consistent thermal compound spread patch during installation and seems to be a bit more ‘clingy’ to residual MX-4 compound than usual, although nothing alarming.
Cooling for the SE-207-XT comes from a pair of included 120mm ID-Cooling ID-12025M12S series, 4-pin PWM fans rated up to 1800 RPM and 76.1 CFM. These fans also feature rubber noise -educing mounting pads on each corner of both sides and utilize a hydraulic bearing.
During installation, the mounting crossbars are affixed atop the SE-207-XT’s plastic offsets to the backplate mounting posts. And chunky, machine-cap nuts hold everything securely to the motherboard. The center of the image shows the tension screws secured to the threaded studs on the mounting cross bars, which help align the cooler directly over the CPU and simplify installation.
Once the SE-207-XT is mounted, each of the 120mm PWM fans are secured to the cooler to move airflow right to left toward the rear case fan, providing a direct channel of air through the cooling tower. While the fan positioning on the cooler via the spring clips can be adjusted to account for taller memory DIMM modules, be advised that RAM height can be an issue in some instances, where those sticks of RAM might cause interference directly beneath the cooling tower itself.
For our CPU cooling tests, we use the same hardware, overclock and configuration for each and every test to minimize environment variables in testing. This allows for all results across all coolers tested on the platform to be viable as side-by-side examination for direct compare/contrast.
| CPU | Intel i9-10850k LGA1200 (Comet Lake), all 10 cores 4.6Ghz @ 1.190v, (3.60Ghz stock speed, single core boost @ 5.2Ghz) |
| Motherboard | MSI Z490 MEG Godlike (bios vers. 7C70v12) |
| Memory | Corsair Vengeance LPX, 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4-3000 |
| Storage | Corsair MP600 m.2 2280 NVMe, 500GB |
| Graphics | Gigabyte GTX 1050Ti |
| Power Supply | be quiet! Dark Power Pro11 1200w |
| Chassis | Corsair Graphite 760T |
| Monitoring | CrystalFontz CFA-633-TMI-KU, 4x Dallas One Wire WR-DOW-Y17 sensors |
| Fan Control | Corsair Commander Pro, 100%/50% PWM Speed profiles (liquid cooling pump always @100%, if applicable) |
| OS | Windows 10 Pro 64bit |
| Networking | Disconnected, not used |
| Thermal Compound | Arctic MX-4 |
Data comparisons are based on data collected from testing performed on our new Intel Core i9-10850K system, including re-visiting many previously covered products which were originally covered on the prior testing platform which pivoted around an i7-5930k (4.20ghz @1.20v).
All data reported for this article has been collected on the current Intel i9-10850k platform and will be maintained as like-for-like evaluation of ongoing cooling coverage. We’ve recently swapped the taller, Corsair Dominator RGB DIMMs with Corsair Vengeance LPX for lower-profile memory allowing for higher cooler compatibility for testing.
Prime95 v29.4b8 (no AVX) is used for two-hour intervals, one managing fans at 50% PWM and the other at 100% PWM with RPM measurements being taken every 3 seconds and averaged across the duration of each 2-hour capture. Omitting AVX instruction sets allows for accurate, 100% loads at chosen clock speeds, while allowing AVX instructions would provide higher, albeit, unrealistic synthetic CPU loads and excessive heat production, less indicative of real-world use.
This also allows for a greater range CPU coolers to be tested and compared without the need to configure the system differently for smaller coolers, which may not handle the excessive thermal loads being generated during testing, while larger coolers might be better equipped to manage heat output produced by the i9-10850K.
While the test platform is quite capable of a 10-core overclock at 5.0Ghz and 1.265v, we were seeing 360mm AIOs struggle to keep core temperatures in check at lower fan speeds, providing insight that the enthusiast-grade i9’s need excellent cooling if the goal is overclocking.
HWInfo64 is used for real-time core temperature readout, thermal throttling alerts, motherboard power consumption, CPU speed and logging of data, while a CrystalFontz CFA-633-TMI-KU is used to monitor and later average both ambient room (2 probes) and motherboard voltage regulator heatsink (2 probes).
For our thermal load testing, the ID-Cooling SE-207 falls easily between the largest heatpipe 140mm and 150mm air coolers like the Noctua NH-D15, Deep Cool Assassin III and be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 as well as 120mm single tower, mid-size and smaller coolers like the be quiet! Shadow Rock 3 and two Cooler Master Hyper 212 models.
With two 120mm cooling towers, the SE-207-XT aligns as a large air cooler carrying two 120mm fans and filling the space between these dimensions.
The pair of 120mm fans on the SE-207-XT are rated at 1800 RPM, and we saw fan speeds just slightly faster than average device ratings, but still within +/-10% standard deviation.
Noise level on the ID-Cooling SE-207-XT is much higher overall at 100% PWM for both fans than all other coolers in the testing group. Full speed yields a noticeable buzz of noise coming from the cooler, making the need for smart fan curves if excessive fan noise is something that bothers you.
With our acoustic efficiency tests measuring the effectiveness of a cooler to perform quietly under loads, we see the large deficit created by the noisy fans on the SE-207-XT. If a cooler can perform well, this is only half of the equation, literally. How quietly it can do work to remove thermal load is another key indicator.
Priced at $60, the ID-Cooling SE-207-XT is a budget-friendly cooler for system builders looking for a large heatpipe air cooler without the sticker shock of some of the more notable names. However, this does come with the caveat that it isn’t going to perform better than premium-priced models. But, it offers a good middle-ground solution which is better than smaller, entry-level coolers which lag further behind. Just keep your expectations in check, or opt for something more-expensive (and lager) if you’re after the highest possible overclocks on high-core CPUs.
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