[Cheap $#!T] $1.49 RGB Air Cooler from AliExpress

[ProtoSyren]

Some of these AliExpress listings have these really weird price discrepancies depending on the options selected.

So... Clickbait? Maybe. Here's the breakdown

 

Let's go with the good ol' Chinese origin for the shockingly low price of... US$6.55

"Wait... you said $1.49. What the ."

Okay hold on, let's change the shipping location. How about... United States.

 

There she is! US$1.49. Plus $15.78 shipping. lmao

 

Who lists shipping costs when talking about product prices though, really. Right? Let's go with that.

 

So, who want's a sub US$2 CPU cooler with such experience rich features such as...

Full compatibility with AMD and Inter CPUs. No require extra bracket when used with AMD CPUs! Such precision.

 

 

 

Bottom polishing ensures that the CPU and cooler are seamlessly integrated. The two become one. This product is so well crafted, the base of the cooler literally fuses together with the CPU heat spreader.

 

And we can't forget the Magical RGB. What makes it so magical you ask? Well, despite featuring Thermaltake RGB Plus, the cooler sports nothing more than a 3 pin fan connector.

 

As if you needed any more convincing, take a look at the full specifications as listed below. Specs so good, they sound fake!

 

 

[Stahlmann]

Yeah sure shipping from China to Canada is cheaper than shipping from US to Canada.

 

That's why i prefer listings with "free shipping". Then it's already included in the price and i don't stumble over the "true" cost later on...

 

Like many LTT videos and other experiences have shown, it's pretty much not worth it to buy PC hardware on Aliexpress, Alibaba, etc. Either you get a decent product and end up paying the same as when bought through newegg, or you pay less and get a partly functional, damaged, or fake product.

[ProtoSyren]

I've found that a lot of listings show Free Shipping until I open it, where it changes to an actual dollar value.

Most times I'm willing to pay the CA$3 or so for a tracking number, though. Never once had an issue and it always arrives Canada Post Expedited, which is nice.

 

Also, I just enjoy finding stupidly cheap products. A CPU cooler for under 2 dollars makes me want to pair it with an 8 dollar CPU.

[Murasaki]

Seen plenty of tricks like these on ebay and other popular sites. Practices like this have been around for quite a while. Not really sure if anyone falls for it since checkout pages exist where they show the total including shipping fees (unless they don't?). 

[NattyKathy]

that actually looks halfway decent for $19. It would probably do ok on a 65W CPU and it's low-ish profile. good luck with RAM clearance though!

[ProtoSyren]

1 minute ago, Natty Ice said:

that actually looks halfway decent for $19. It would probably do ok on a 65W CPU and it's low-ish profile. good luck with RAM clearance though!

$9.35 if you take the China origin route Also, no PWM control. I might trust it with one of those low power Ryzen chips like the 4700GE, with a 35W TDP.

[LogicalDrm]

-> Moved to Cooling

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Some are decent, as noted by Jayz2Cents: