Thermaltake NiC C5 & FrioOCK

Thermaltake has been in the aftermarket cooler business since day one and although the company is probably best known for its heart-catching designs, it has recently begun placing more emphasis on operation -- something we're happy about after beingness disappointed in the $80 Frio Advanced.

Thermaltake NiC C5

Before this year Thermaltake unveiled its NiC (non-interference libation) series consisting of the F3, F4, C4, and C5. All of the visitor'due south new models should be fully compatible with RAM of all kinds, which is obviously platonic for power users who fill their DIMM slots with taller high-end modules.

The NiC lineup supports TDPs of 160w, 180w, 200w and 230w respectively, with each power rating respective to the models in order of mention higher up. Estrus is conducted from the CPU onto the cooler through a thick nickel-coated copper base and so onto the aluminum fins with three to five 6mm U-shaped rut-pipes. The NiC range provides a multifariousness of options ranging from a single fan to dual fans with a shroud. The one we received -- Thermaltake's flagship NiC C5 -- has the latter configuration.

With a TDP rating of 230w the C5 is designed to tackle today'southward fastest processors, measuring 160H x 140W x 50D mm with 0.4mm-thick curved aluminum fins that purportedly reduce backpressure and maximize airflow. Oestrus is extracted from the copper base of operations via five 6mm heatpipes that stretch up from the bottom through the fins which, again, are cooled by a pair of 120mm fans. The blowers are arranged in a button/pull configuration and run between 1000 and 2000 RPM -- adjustable with a fan controller.

When operating at full speed, they move 99.ane CFM and generate 39.9dBA of noise. The fans use a 3-pivot connector rather than a iv-pin and we couldn't control their speed from the motherboard, forcing us to use the fan controller.

Tipping the scales at 811g, the NiC C5 is heavy, though it is past no ways the heaviest cooler in our roundup. Additionally, at only $55, it'south a far cry from the almost expensive and could prove to be a fantastic value.

Thermaltake FrioOCK

Thermaltake's Frio brand is home to some of the visitor's most farthermost air-cooled solutions, such as final yr'southward Frio Farthermost with a TDP of 250W -- the highest of any Thermaltake cooler. Equally mentioned, we've previously tested the Frio Advanced, but its subpar functioning made it difficult to recommend.

This time we'll exist looking at the FrioOCK, which was surprisingly released style back in Feb 2011, well before the LGA2011 platform had seen the calorie-free of twenty-four hour period. Thermaltake has all the same kept this cooler alive with continual updates.

As a result, the FrioOCK supports every desktop platform released since the Pentium 4 and Athlon 64. So why has Thermaltake kept the FrioOCK alive? For a company that churns through CPU libation models on a monthly footing nosotros wanted to run across what was so special about the FrioOCK.

The cooler measures 158.4H 10 143W x 136.8D mm, weighs a whopping 1093g and boasts 130mm fans that move 121 CFM of air and generate an ear haemorrhage 48dBA of noise when cranked to their maximum speed of 2100 RPM.

Like virtually of the coolers we've looked at so far, the FrioOCK'southward base is constructed of copper and connects to an assortment of fins with a serial of 6mm heatpipes -- half dozen of them.

Priced almost 30% higher than the NiC C5, the $seventy FrioOCK sits among the nearly expensive coolers we're testing.