Thermaltake Silent 1156 Review

Testing:

To put the Thermaltake Silent 1156 to the test, I will be making a comparison of the temperatures at idle and under load, both while the CPU is at stock voltages and clock speeds, as well as when the CPU is overclocked and over-volted. Doing so will show what kind of cooling performance the cooler has to offer when compared to other socket 1156 compatible heat sinks. These heat sinks 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 idle for 30 minutes and take the idle temperature at this point. For the load testing, I will use Prime95 version 25.9 and choose the blend testing and allow the processor and memory controller to heat up to the maximum temperatures. The time frame is a fourhour run to allow the temperature to peak, usually in 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 temperature.

Testing Setup:

• Processor: Intel Core i5 750 133x20
• Motherboard: Asus Maximus III Formula
• Memory: Kingston HyperX KHX1600C*D3K2/4GX 7-7-7-20
• Video Card: ASUS ENGTX260 MATRIX
• Power Supply: Mushkin 800w Modular Power Supply
• Hard Drive: 1 x Seagate 1TB SATA
• Optical Drive: Lite-On 8x DVD+/-RW
• OS: Windows Vista Ultimate Edition

Comparison Heat sinks:

• Thermaltake SpinQ VT
  
• Noctua NH-U12P SE 1366
• Thermalright MUX-120
• Stock Intel Core i5
• Titan Skalli
• CoolerMaster Hyper TX 3
  

Testing of the Silent 1156 reveals that it provides a reduction in temperatures when compared to the stock Intel cooling solution by 8 degrees Celsius at stock speeds and 12 degrees with a modest overclock. When compared to the rest of the field, it is not the highest performer, but does excel at doing its job with a low noise signature.