Thermaltake's Frio Silent CPU Coolers Debut

By Niels Broekhuijsen
published

Thermaltake has announced not one, but three new CPU coolers. They are all part of the new Frio Silent series of CPU coolers. Frio is Spanish for cold, and silent means, well, that doesn't need explanation. The three units will be known as the Frio Silent 12, the Frio Silent 14, and the Frio Extreme Silent 14 Dual.

Both the Frio Silent 12 and the Frio Silent 14 are single-tower design coolers, each having three 8 mm thick u-shaped heat pipes. Respectively, they have 120 mm and 140 mm fans, which spin at speeds of up to 1200 RPM or 1400 RPM. Their speed can be controlled through PWM, and they also come with a low-noise adapter. Neither of these units gets in the way of tall memory, as the fronts are designed to stay within the standard margins.

The Frio Extreme Silent 14 Dual is essentially two Frio Silent 14 coolers built into a single cooler. It is built with twice as many heat pipes, though they are two millimeters thinner at 6 mm. It features two of the same 1200 RPM 140 mm PWM fans, and also comes with a low-noise adapter. Due to its larger size, RAM compatibility may be an issue on some builds.

Both units are compatible with all the modern CPU sockets, including Intel's LGA 1150 and AMD's AM3+ and FM2+ sockets.

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Niels Broekhuijsen
Niels Broekhuijsen

Niels Broekhuijsen is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He reviews cases, water cooling and pc builds.

8 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Calculatron
    Thermaltake makes fairly good heatsinks. It's kind of a shame that they don't make the spotlight more often.
    Reply
  • -Fran-
    I can attest to their good quality since I have a Frio gen 1 running my 2700K at 4.6Ghz and have built up other systems around the new "value" Frio HSFs.

    That being said, they're not bad, but they're not the best. If you take a look, they're always at the top spots (usually) for cooling, but they're not the cheaper option usually.

    CM's 212 is usually the best alternative. Specially on sale. Still, I do recommend TT Frios' when there are no stock of cheaper alternatives.

    Cheers!
    Reply
  • Warsaw
    Mmm, I'd like me one of those....if they are under $200 I'll get one for my next build.
    Reply
  • Warsaw
    Disregard last post by me, wrong article it dragged me to =/
    Reply
  • drezzz
    Sorry silent does need explanation. Most of the time "quiet" would be the less ambiguous term. Silent as used in this industry can mean anything from inaudible through to not deafening.
    Reply
  • killerclick
    1200 RPM seems a bit too high for it to be "silent". My 120mm Scythe fan/cooler becomes audible at around 800 RPM.
    Reply
  • falchard
    Where are the Black Fins. As we all know the simple act of painting fins black increases the thermal dissipation rate in low light environments. If I wanted to make a heat sink more silent I would start by painting it black.
    Reply
  • richwaa
    Where are the Black Fins. As we all know the simple act of painting fins black increases the thermal dissipation rate in low light environments. If I wanted to make a heat sink more silent I would start by painting it black.

    Actually painting the fins any color could interfer with the ability to transfer heat. Depending upon the chemical composition of the paint, the paint could act as an insulation thereby decreasing heat transfer. Besides, simply painting the heat sink black would not make the fan anymore silent (for most all paints) it would only make it black; a more efficient mechanism for heat transfer requiring a lower airflow would lower the noise created.
    Reply