Thermaltake Frio OCK CPU Cooler
The CPU cooler is probably one of the most important parts of your computer system; it’s what keeps your CPU cool and working great. Today for review I’ve got the Thermaltake Frio OCK CPU cooler which is big and bold with styling based on Starcraft II actually. The cooler is meant to keep your CPU cool whether you overclock it or not. So read on…
Info:
Product Name:Thermaltake Frio OCK CPU Cooler
Author:Kristofer Brozio
Provider: Thermaltake
Price: $66.00 (from Amazon at time of review)
Ultimate Overclocking Thermal Structure Design, support up to 240W.
-Dual tower heat-sink with 0.4mm aluminum fins provide large surface for heat dissipation.
-6 x Ø6 mm-U-shape copper heat pipes for accelerated heat conduction.
-Tower side flow design efficiently optimizes cooling performance.
-Premium thermal grease maximizes heat transfer from the CPU into the cooler copper base for rapid dissipation
Integrated Module for Dual 130mm VR OC Fan and the dazzling Cover.
-Single VR control knob adjusts fan speed from 1200~2100rpm.
-Overclocking efficiency with Starcraft II design.
-Convenient and Tool-less design for dismantle and install the fan module.
Universal Socket Compatibility & Accessory Package.
-All-in-one back-plate design, support all Intel and AMD platform
-Universal socket support:
Intel: LGA1366, LGA1155, LGA1156, LGA775
AMD: AM3, AM2+, AM2
Compatibility:
Intel Latest Sandy Bridge & 6-Core Processors
Intel Core i7 Extreme (Socket LGA1366)
Intel Core i7 (Socket LGA1366 & LGA1155/1156)
Intel Core i5 / i3 (Socket LGA1155/1156)
Intel Core 2 Extreme / Quad / Duo (Socket LGA775)
Intel Pentium & D / 4 (Socket LGA775)
Intel Celeron & D (Socket LGA775)
AMD Latest Llano & 6-Core Processors
AMD Llano Processors (Socket FM1)
AMD Phenom II X6 / X4 / X3 / X2 (Socket AM3/AM2+)
AMD Phenom X4 / X3 (Socket AM3/AM2+)
AMD Athlon II X4 / X3 / X2 (Socket AM3)
AMD Athlon 64 & FX / X2 (Socket AM2/939)
AMD Sempron (Socket AM2/939/754)
* Supports All CPUs up to 240W TDP
Heatsink Dimension: 143(L) x 136.8(W) x 158.4(H) mm (with 2 Fans)
Heatsink Material: Aluminum Fins / Aluminum & Copper Base
Heatpipe: 6mm (x6)
Fan Dimension: 130(L) x 130(H) x 25(W) mm
Fan Speed: 1,200 ~ 2,100 RPM
Noise Level: 21 ~ 48 dBA
Max. Air Flow: 121 CFM
Max. Air Pressure: 3.12 mmH2O
Power Connector: 3 Pin
Rated Voltage: 12 V
Started Voltage: 7 V
Rated Current: 1.2 A
Power Input: 14.4 W
MTBF: 50,000 Hrs @ 40?
Weight: 1093 g (with 2 Fans)
The Review::
So let’s start with the box, it’s dark but colorful with a space theme to it.
Inside of the box you’ll find the cooler, a small box and documentation.
When you open the smaller box you’re greeted with all of the parts needed for installation, all arranged neatly for easy access.
The Frio OCK is a large cooler, there’s no doubt about that. The dimensions are 143(L) x 136.8(W) x 158.4(H) mm with the fans on. The fans are actually inside of a shroud that fits over top of the cooler, one fan is facing forward and the other backwards. It essentially pulls the air though the cooler, across the fins, keeping it and in turn your CPU cool. Attached to the two fans is also a speed control knob so you can adjust the airflow according to your needs.
Looking from the bottom you can see the six u-shaped heatpipes there going into the base. The base isn’t exactly a mirror finish but it seems to be nice and flat.
You’ll need to take the fan shroud off to install the cooler in your system, so here’s some pictures of the shroud and the cooler itself without the shroud.
The Frio OCK is rather heavy cool, it’s big and large and it seems well made. Not a bad cooler I think, but let’s find out how it performs…
Installation, Testing and Comparison:
I installed the Frio OCK on my LGA1156 Intel Corei5 750CPU.
To get ready for installation you’ll need to attach the plates with screws to the base of the cooler. This is a simple process, just two small screws on each side to secure the plates.
Then you’ll need to install the back plate on your motherboard. It just uses the threaded screws that pass through the plate and motherboard. You’ll then need to put the spacers on and then attach the mounting brackets to it with the thumbscrews.
The reason you can’t install the Frio OCK with the shroud in place is because it gets in the way of the mounting screws.
Here’s the cooler installed. The shroud goes slightly over my ram, if the ram had been larger it would not have fit or I would have had to remove the ram. As is though it fits fine with small profile ram as you can see form the second picture.
For testing I used CoreTemp to monitor and log the temperatures of my CPU. I used two instances of Orthos Stress Prime to get full load on the CPU. Ambient room temperature was 24.7C (+/- .3C) during testing.
The stock speed of the Corei5 is 2.66 GHz and I also overclocked it a bit up to 3.2 GHz.
In the chart below you’ll see single temperatures, these are the averaged out temps from the four cores to make life a bit simpler.
In the chart you’ll also see four sets of temperatures for the Frio OCK, two are labeled High and Low and two are labeled High OC and Low OC. OC stands for overclock and high and low are the fan speeds I was using at the time.
I put the Frio OCK up against the Noctua NH-C14 and the Noctua NH-U12P, overclocked and not.
So here’s the nice little chart for you:
As you can see the Frio OCK does very well in comparison to both Noctua coolers. Well it does better, but only by a degree or two overall.
As far as noise levels, when the fans are on low you won’t even notice them. When the fans are on high however it sounds like a small jet engine inside of your case, very, very loud; overly and excessively loud in my opinion.
Conclusion:
The Frio OCK CPU cooler is truly a great performing cooler; even with the fans on low it keeps your CPU nice and cool. If you’re looking for good looks and good performance, look no further than the Frio OCK from Thermaltake.
The Frio OCK is loud on high yes, and from what I can see there really is no need to turn up the fans at all. You can get the same performance from the cooler even with the fans on low.
The Frio OCK is large yes, but its size it what makes it a great cooler. The size though could be a problem as you won’t be able to use ram with large heat spreaders on it.
| PROS | CONS |
| +Very good cooling ability
+Whisper quiet on low speeds |
-Very loud when fans on high -Might not fit with large style ram |
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Disclosure:This product was given to Review the Tech for review by the company for review purposes only, and is not considered by us as payment for the review, we do not, and never will, accept payment from companies to review their products. This product may have also been bought by us for review purposes and does not influence the review.