Here is the test rig, and testing methodology:

• Mainboard - Asus P6T Deluxe V2
• CPU - Intel Core i7 920
• GFX – ATI Radeon 5870
• CPU Cooling - On Review
• Memory - 3GB 1333Mhz DDR3 Patriot Viper
• Disks – Samsung F3 500GB
• DVD burner - Stock DVDRW
• Case – Modified Antec P182
• PSU – Seasonic M12D 850W
• On Review – Thermaltake Frio

Testing and Results
The coolers were measured at idle and at load, the idle temperatures were taken after the computer had sat at the desktop doing nothing for 30 minutes, and the load temperatures were taken while running P95 64bit for 30 minutes. Temperatures were recorded using realtemp

The results were then calculated as the difference (delta) between the ambient temperature and the idle/load temperature to erase differences in room temperature affecting the results. Delta Temps Explained Here

Well it looks like thermaltake are onto a winner here. The results show the Frio nearly a full degree cooler than the Noctua NH-U12P at idle. An impressive result considering how long the Noctua has sat at the top of our charts.

At load, it’s still a similar story, the Frio is again 1-2 degrees cooler than the NH-U12P. Nice job Thermaltake! It’s not a drawback free win though, the catch being that the Frio on full speed is like a mini vacuum cleaner in your Pc because it’s that noisy!

In our last big cooler review, I found that not even a core i7 was hot enough to stress the coolers enough to separate their performance charts properly (as you can see here again). So this time round, I spent some time overclocking our i7 920 to 3.6Ghz to run the benchmark tests again. An extra 1Ghz clockspeed should be enough to tell which of the big gun coolers have what it takes and which can’t handle the heat.

Once the load has been increased from overclocking, we can see that the Frio falls behind and the Noctua is once again champion being a sold 2-3 degrees ahead of the Frio. The results the Frio put out are still very respectable so far, so lets see how it fares at load.

It’s a similar story here at load. The Noctua pulls ahead by a couple of degrees leaving the Frio to second place. What I think is pretty impressive is even when the Frio is running at 1200RPM (Instead of the Full 2500RPM they’re rated at) it’s still within spitting distance of the Noctua.

Let’s wrap this up in the conclusion.

Next Page – Conclusion