For those looking for silence, this is definitely not the cooler for you, you better go for the silent Jing. The Frio can keep up with the more expenxive air coolers and even some water coolers, the Frio has a good price/performance ratio.

The Cooler:

Like the Thermaltake Jing, the Frio is based on a tower style cooler under slick plastic covers and fans. In the center there are forty-eight aluminum fins surrounding five, 8mm, copper heat pipes. These pipes run in a staggered pattern through the fins and make a 'U' shaped bend through the base.

The base does have some obvious milling marks, but for the most part the center is flat and level. The outer edges do drop slightly, but the Frio's base is much larger than the IHS of any processor. Sandwiched between this base and the aluminum top, the fat 8mm pipes that will immediately remove the heat from the copper base.

Compared to:

'Quiet' coolers idle.

• CoolIT Vantage ALC
• Noctua NH-C12P DE14
• Noctua NH-U12P
• Thermaltake ISGC-300
• Thermaltake Jing

'Performance' Coolers idle.

• Noctua NH-D14
• Noctua NH-U12P SE
• Sythe Yasya
• Zalman CNPS10X Performa

There are many more CPU coolers in the test, this is just a selection.

Benchmarks:

Sound pressure level load and idle, Temperature load and idle.

The (synthetic) method used in Thermal Chamber Heatsink Testing: The processor must have reliable heat output at full, middle and idle loads, while the air surrounding the heatsink must also remain a constant temperature. (within 1 degree Celsius)