Thermaltake Frio OCK CPU Cooler Review

Thermaltake Frio OCK CPU Cooler Review

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…
 

 

 

 

Product Name: Thermaltake
Frio OCK CPU Cooler

Author: Kristofer Brozio

Sponsor:  Thermaltake

 

 Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:

 

Frio OCK  

 

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)

 

Price: $66.00
(from Amazon at time of review)

 

 

A Better Look at Things

:

 

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 750
CPU.

 

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.

 

 

 

Summary and Comments

 

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.

 

 

 

DragonSteelMods gives the Thermaltake Frio OCK CPU Cooler a 4.5 out of 5
score and our Recommended Award as well.
 

  

 

 

 

 

Pros:

+Very good cooling ability

+Whisper quiet on low speeds

+Looks good

+Fairly easy installation

 

 

Cons:

-Very loud when fans on high

-Might not fit with large style ram

 

 

 

 

 

 

review# 717

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disclosure: This product was given to DragonSteelMods for review
by the company for review purposes only, and is not considered by us as payment
for the review; we do not, never have, and never will, accept payment from
companies to review their products.

 

To learn more about our review policy, testing methods and ratings
please see this
page.