Intel reveals Core Ultra Series 2 stock coolers with more conductive copper-base heatsinks

In addition to Arrow Lake-S CPUs for desktop PCs we saw earlier this week, Intel is also introducing a series of refreshed stock cooler designs. These next-gen units replace the previous, weaker stock coolers across the board.

The most notable upgrade offered by these new stock cooler designs, which we noticed thanks to @momomo_us on Twitter, isn't immediately visible. But last time around, lower-end coolers used less-conductive aluminum for the baseplate instead of just the fins. The more conductive copper is a far superior material for a baseplate, and Laminar RH1 had it, while Laminar RM1 and RS1 did not. However, the new Laminar RH2 and RM2 CPU cooler designs include copper baseplates.

Besides the copper baseplate, there's also an immediately noticeable improvement in aesthetics. While I'm as much a fan of gaudy technology as the next guy, the excessive lighting and hard blues on the last-gen coolers have been toned down significantly for RH2 and RM2.

Intel also claims 2.2 BA "near-silent" Sound Power Level on Laminar RH2 and 3.6 BA "quiet" performance on RM2, marking .4 and .3 improvements in noise levels over last gen (RH1 2.6 BA and RH2 3.9 BA), respectively. Sound Pressure Level reaches 23 dBA on Laminar RH2 and 30 dBA on Laminar RM2, so these seem like reasonable targets for air coolers not intended for overclocking.

Both new coolers have a three-year limited warranty and the aforementioned copper base heatsink. In addition to being larger and quieter, the Laminar RH2 also provides ARGB lighting via a light ring, though the inevitable blues present will somewhat limit your range of mixable colors.

For more detailed specifications on coolers you'll never be purchasing on their own, Intel's official documentation for Laminar RH2 and Laminar RM2 should fill in the rest of what you may need to know. Overall, these are just renewed stock coolers meant to support 65 Watt desktop CPUs running in standard conditions, now with improved aesthetics and reportedly decent performance gains versus the last-gen options thanks to some key upgrades.

Of course, anybody hoping to do serious overclocking with Intel Core Ultra Series 2 CPUs will want to skip stock coolers entirely and instead choose from the best, market-proven CPU coolers beyond the basics Intel is willing to give its non-overclocking enthusiast customers.