Gelid Solutions Tranquillo Review

Testing:

Finding out how the Tranquillo from Gelid performs is the object of this exercise, so I will be making a comparison of the CPU temperatures in both an idle and loaded state. Both will be made while the CPU is at the stock voltages and clock speeds, as well as when the CPU is overclocked and 'over-volted'. This will help to show what kind of cooling performance that this cooling solution from Gelid has to offer, when compared to other socket 1366 compatible high-performance cooling solutions. These cooling systems will be tested head-to-head as they are delivered from the manufacturer. I could throw in a bunch of testing variables, but it is not what the products are capable of as delivered. To test the idle temperatures, I will allow the computer to stay in an idle state for 30 minutes and take the idle temperature at this point. For the load testing, I will use Prime95 version 25.11 and choose the blend testing and allow the processor and memory controller to heat up to the maximum temperatures. The time frame is a four-hour run, to allow the temperature to peak - usually at or around the 14K test. I will use Real temp 3.0 to take the high and low temperatures and average the temperatures generated over the four cores as my reported temperatures.

Testing Setup:

• CPU: Intel Core i7 920 133x20(Stock) 166x20 Overclocked
• Cooling: Cooling: Air:Noctua NH-U12P SE 1366
• Motherboard: MSI X58 Eclipse
• Memory: Mushkin Redline PC3 12800 990805 6-8-6-24
• Video Card(s): Sapphire HD 5870 1GB
• Power Supply: Mushkin 800 watt Modular Power Supply
• Hard Drive: 1 x Seagate 1TB SATA
• Optical Drive: Asus DVD-R
• OS: Windows: Windows 7 Professional 64 bit.
• Chassis: ThermalTake Armour +

Comparison Heat sinks:

• Coolink Corator DS
• Noctua NH-U12P SE 1366
• Thermalright TRUE Revision C
• Noctua NH-D14
• Noctua NH-U9B SE
• Coolit ECO ALC
• Noctua NH-C12P SE14
• Thermalright TRUE Copper
• Thermalright TRUE Revision A
• Noctua NH-C12P SE14
• Thermaltake FRIO

For a cooling solution as quiet as it is, the Gelid Tranquillo does a decent job of keeping the processor cool with a mild overclock. At 62 degrees under load when overclocked, it does not offer the best performance, but is within 4 degrees of the FRIO on low with not one, but two fans. When compared to the rest of the heat sinks, the Tranquillo compares to the Coolit ECO ALC and Noctua NH-U9B in terms of cooling performance.