INTRODUCTION

   Although watercooling in general seems to be gaining ground thanks to the numerous custom watercooling kits and AIO solutions introduced/announced recently by quite a few manufacturers there's no denying that normal CPU Air Coolers still have much life left in them and to many people they are still the primary choice to keep their CPUs cool at a low cost. This is i guess the one thing that normal air coolers have that watercoolers don't so even if you just want to spend 20 bucks for a CPU Cooler chances are you will find at least one model in the market and it even might be a good one at that. However performance always comes at a cost and so the really powerful Air Coolers rival the AIO Liquid Coolers both in terms of cooling efficiency and price. Well the massive Frio Extreme by Thermaltake is one such CPU Air Cooler and we've been testing it for the past 3 days to see exactly how it fairs against the competition.

   The beginning of every myth and legend is about dreams and desire: the challenging, creative and combative features of Thermaltake Group create an exciting and fascinating user experience to share with everyone, while allowing users to enter a selfless state in terms of function and potential. Thermaltake Group's 3 main brands: Thermaltake, Tt eSPORTS and LUXA2 have been merchandising throughout the world, and have successfully established 6 business footholds in areas such as Europe, America, Oceania, Japan and China, with 95 regional distributors and over 4000 premium retailers. All product planning is orientated by observation of global PC peripheral market and understanding of consumer demands. Thermaltake creates direct contact opportunities with resellers and consumers by participating major global ICT exhibitions and trade shows every year, and develop innovative marketing strategies for the promotions of new products. Meanwhile, Thermaltake incorporates the composite marketing system by making branch offices and regional distributors both the distribution channel and technical support or service center to provide instant support; by maintaining close contact with end users, we manage to strengthen corporate competitiveness and create the momentum for the growth of accomplishments. With its outstanding wisdom and strength, Thermaltake Group is recruiting creative talents to build a cultural brand for the enjoyment of entertainment, e-Sports, technology and lifestyle!

   Unlike the previous Frio CPU Air Coolers the Frio Extreme is a dual heatsink model (sandwich) that comes packing two high speed 140mm fans in push & pull configuration much like the NH-D14 by Noctua, the Dark Rock Pro 2 by be quiet! and the Silver Arrow by Thermalright. Of course although dual heatsink designs are almost always superior to single heatsink solutions (something that always depends on the size and number of fins) in terms of cooling efficiency in the end their sheer size does create certain clearance issues with large mainboard heatsinks and tall memory modules so for that exact reason in this review we had to use the Kingston anniversary edition 16GB kit instead of the Predator one listed in the system specifications table. So although the Frio Extreme has been around for roughly a year now it's time to finally see what Thermaltake has to offer in the dual heatsink CPU Cooler market.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The box has a large product picture at the front right above the main features and next to a small picture of the bundled PWM/VR fan controller.

Over at the left side we see the three main features of the unit written in 12 languages.

8 pictures showcase the features of the Frio Extreme on the right side.

The specifications table can be found at the rear of the box.

The entire bundle is placed between two thick foam spacers.

Thermaltake has brought together a nice bundle so aside the dual heatsink and the two 140mm fans you will also get 4 fan mounting clips, PRW/VR fan controller, thermal paste tube and all the necessary bits and pieces for mounting on Intel LGA775/1150/1155/1156/1366/2011 and AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3+/FM1 compatible mainboards.

THE FRIO EXTREME

The Frio Extreme measures 160mm in height, 151mm in width, 123mm in length and weighs 892g without any of the fans.

Each heatsink is made by a total of 56 asymmetrical aluminum fins (to reduce air resistance) each of which is 0.40mm thick.

There's a 36mm gap between the two heatsinks but if you want more performance you can place a 3rd fan at the rear (you will need more mounting clips though).

Thermaltake has used six 6mm nickel plated all-copper heatpipes with the Frio Extreme.

The nickel plated base is not entirely flat and although it does have a mirror like finish it's also filled with marks.

According to Thermaltake the 140mm bundled fans have a lifespan of 100.000 hours and can reach speeds of up to 1800RPM with 106.2CFM of airflow and just 38dBA of noise.

With both 140mm fans installed the Frio Extreme becomes a beast measuring 148,2mm in length and weighing exactly 1238g.

The bundled fan controller allows you to plug both fans into it and either let them be regulated via PWM or adjust the speed manually (VR mode).

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   We always take things quite seriously when it comes to work so just like with the previous LGA1366 database we will not be testing each CPU Cooler on its own and with different ambient temperature levels and thus we can actually have yet another valid CPU Cooler database. Testing a CPU Cooler automatically means that you need to know where it stands against the immediate competition and to accomplish that we have spent both money and time through the years, something that we plan to continue to do so in order to get the most accurate results for the end consumers who read these lines. Every CPU cooler in this database is tested with the bundled 140mm/120mm/92mm/80mm fans while working at both idle speed and 100% of their speeds for all the temperature tests. CPU Coolers that do not come bundled with a fan/s are measured using a Noctua fan (size dependent on the model) to test for the temperature tests but due to the lack of a stock fan dBA level tests are obviously skipped. Single (120/140mm) watercooling solutions are tested with the radiator mounted at the rear of our test rig while dual/triple/quad (240/260/280/360/420/480/560mm) solutions with the radiator mounted at the top. For the dBA tests every cooler in the database was measured both while on idle mode or with the fan controller in the minimum setting and while on extreme load or with the fan controller all the way to the highest possible setting (PWM fans do that on their own without our intervention). Every single test takes place in a temperature controlled room of 23 degrees Celsius Ambient Temp with the help of two AC units placed diagonally inside the room. The Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste is used with every CPU Cooler in our latest LGA2011 database (although initially this was not the plan we had to change things to get the most accurate results). Finally it's very important to point out that just because a CPU Cooler is better than another when tested with our Intel Core i7-3930k test rig that does not necessarily mean that the same performance differences will apply 100% for other CPU models and in other situations (such as different ambient temps and system configurations).

     To successfully record the load temperatures we use the latest OCCT application for around 6-10 minutes to push the processor to its limits and after that is done and the temperatures are recorded we wait for about 10-20 minutes for the CPU to cool down and record the idle temperatures. This is done to allow time for the thermal conductive material to achieve the optimal performance level. Same procedure is then repeated with the Passmark BurnIn Test as a failsafe just in case the OCCT results are wrong. This procedure takes a lot more time than the usual peltier/thermometer tests but this way not only can we deliver real world results to our readers based on real CPUs but we can also triple check the results using a variety of programs. Last but not least the temperatures were recorded using both the latest versions of AIDA64 and RealTemp while the noise level tests are performed using a high precision ExTech HD600 Decibel Meter placed about 10-15cm above the CPU Cooler. Still although the same testing procedure applies to all units do take into consideration that unlike the official numbers which are measured in special noise isolated labs with just the fans here we also have both the rest of the cooler and the rest of the system (although all system fans are turned off when recording noise levels).

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

   If you take the main body of the Frio Extreme and place it right next to that of the NH-D14 SE or that of the Dark Rock Pro 2 you will see that the craftmanship may not be just as high but in the end that matters very little. What does matter is the performance of the cooler and so largely thanks to the two high speed 140mm fans it's cooling efficiency is on par with both and that alone is enough for us to hold the Frio Extreme in high regard. Sure the noise levels are not low but people who will choose the Frio Extreme are likely the same people who own a noisy graphics card or people who use headphones most of the time but even if that's not the case the PWM/VR fan controller gives you the ability to regulate the noise levels coming from the fans. My only concern with solutions like the Frio Extreme are the clearance issues you may have with your memory modules (mostly tall ones) so i strongly recommend double checking their height prior to purchasing such a CPU cooler.

   When we're talking about dual heatsink solutions which are the best of what the CPU air cooling market has to offer price is always an issue and with a current price tag set at USD99.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and 77Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) the Frio Extreme is certainly not the most cost-effective choice out there. However it does offer excellent cooling performance on par with that of the best CPU Coolers currently out in the market and so for people who don't own tall memory modules and care not about noise the Frio Extreme should be amongst their top choices and because of that we give it our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Excellent Performance
- Dual 140mm 1800RPM Fans
- Ability to Add An 3rd Fan 

CONS

- Size (Clearance Issues)
- Noise Levels (For Some)
- Price (For Some)