Gelid Tranquillo

[Trotter]

Gelid Tranquillo
By: Lamar Trotter

Introduction

Today I am reviewing the Tranquillo CPU cooler from Gelid Solution, Ltd.

GELID Solutions
The English word "gelid" is derived from the Latin word “gelidus” (extremely cold, icy).

GELID Solutions Ltd. is a Hong Kong based company with Swiss Management and founded in 2008 by Gebhard SCHERRER and VC TRAN. Both have worked in the PC Cooling industry for a number of years and successfully built up an IT company with their expertise.

GELID designs and manufactures packaging, thermal solutions, CPU coolers, fans, and other computer hardware for both gamers and silent enthusiasts and for international OEM and ODM customers. We provide computer hardware distributors, retailers and system integrators with innovative, virtually silent, high- performance and top quality thermal solutions with unique design and packaging.

Design, quality and innovation are key. And, being Swiss, we leave nothing to chance. That's why we provide a total solution – from bearings to thermal compound, from design to shipping, from the molding of the fan to the print on the box – with state-of-the-art machines and experienced staff.

Our Vision:

Combine quality and ingenuity to set the standard in creating best- in- class products for global computer enthusiasts

As their latest venture, GELID Solutions Ltd. is a privately owned limited liability company with a registered share capital of HKD 1'000'000. Strategically based in Hong Kong, “Asia's World City”, it enjoys an unrivalled location at the geographical and economic centre of Asia. For our customers, this means easy and quick access to our vast manufacturing base in mainland China.

Source

Design Concept of Tranquillo:

The tower CPU Cooler “Tranquillo” uses 4 power heat pipes and a special heat pipe constellation to achieve best heat transfer from CPU core to the aluminium fins in its class. After precise software simulation and calculation during the development stage a unique heat sink shape was created to lower air flow resistance as much as possible.

A silent 120mm fan with the intelligent GELID PWM (Pulse Width Module) control has been chosen to make this heat sink more valuable. The fan blades were optimised to guarantee high airflow while running silently. The intelligent GELID PWM curve keeps the fan silent when no necessary cooling is needed and accelerates the fan speed whenever additional cooling is needed. The multi-award winning high performance GC-2 thermal compound is already included in the package.

Additionally mounting clips for AMD 754/ 939/ 940/ AM2/ AM2+ and for Intel 775, 1366 and latest 1156 sockets as same as back plates for Intel LGA 775, Core i5 and Core i7 boards are all included. The cooler is RoHS and WEEE conform and carries a 5 year warranty.

Source

Features

• Four Power Heatpipes
• Intelligent PWM Fan Control Curve
• Silent Operation
• High Airflow
• Optimized Fan Blade
• Five Years Warranty

Specifications

Heatsink

• Dimensions: 74 (l) x 125 (w) x 153 (h)
• Weight: 645g (excluding fan and mounting brackets)
• Heatpipe: Four units
• Copper Base

Fan

• Dimension: 120 (l) x 120 (w) x 25 (h)
• Fan Speed: 750 - 1500RPM (PWM controlled)
• Fan Noise{ 12 - 25.5dBa
• Airflow: 58CFM max
• Bearing: Hydro Dynamic Bearing
• Cable Length: 500mm
• Current: 0.18A
• DC Voltage: 12V
• Life time MTTF at 40C: 50,000 hours
• Static Pressure: 15mmAq
• Warranty: Five years

Image Gallery











Installation

The installation of the Gelid Tranquillo was a rather simple affair on my AM3 system. Simple does not always equate to easy, however, as was the case this time. The heatsink only allows for a north-south orientation which, for my motherboard, put the fastening clip at the top edge of my board. In order to actually be able to clip the heatsink down I had to remove the top exhaust fan from my case. The difficulty I had in installing the heatsink is not necessarily a reflection on Gelid or their design but rather an acknowledgment to the fact that it is easier to mount a heatsink when the motherboard is not already installed in the case.

Testing

Test System

• AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition
• Asus M4A785TD-V EVO
• 8GB DDR3 1600 (2x2GB Corsair Ballistix Tracers, 2x2GB G.Skill Ripjaws
• EVGA GTX 260 Core 216
• Antec EarthWatts EA650 PSU
• 250GB Seagate ST3250310AS
• 750GB Western Digital Black AD7501AALS-00J7B1
• Lite-On DVD burner
• Antec 300 Illusion w/120mm side fan
• Gelid Tranquillo/Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro

I used the stock heatsink for the 965 just long enough to order a third-party cooler, upon receiving it I promptly got rid of the stock cooler. Looking back I wish I had kept it so I could have used it in this review's comparison. Instead I will be comparing the performance of the Tranquillo to that of the Freezer 64 Pro. The price difference between the two coolers is about $10USD, with the Freezer 64 Pro being the cheaper of the two.

Testing Software and Procedure

• Prime95 26.6 Build 3
• HWMonitor 1.1.7

I recorded the CPU temps at idle and full load. The ambient temperature was identical during both rounds of testing. I used Prime 95 to push my CPU to 100% load using all four cores and held them at full load for 30 minutes, performing four runs on each cooler with a 30 minute cool down between each run.

Results

Idle CPU Temps

The Freezer 64 Pro gave a cooling improvement over the AMD stock cooler as well as huge reduction in noise. The Gelid Tranquillo improved upon this in both areas by dropping the idle temperature as well as reducing the sound level, albeit by only a very small margin as both coolers are very quiet.

The picture at load is a bit different. While both of these coolers do a fine job at idle, the Tranquillo shows its stuff when the CPU is topped out. It is here that the Tranquillo shows that it is worth the extra $10.



Again, neither cooler increased the overall noise level during these tests. Even when the fans cranked themselves up they remained virtually silent, with the Tranquillo's 120mm fan proving slightly quieter than the Freezer 64 Pro's 92mm fan.

Conclusion

Pros

• Stylish, looks good in a system
• Virtually silent
• Good airflow
• Price

Cons

• Only north-south orientation on AMD boards
• Will block tall DIMMs in nearby memory slots
• Fan clips are fragile, thin wire
• Cooler base is wider than CPU, requires centering to cool properly

I have been using this heatsink for a couple of weeks now and have to admit that I am well pleased with it. I cannot stand a loud, noisy system and the Gelid Tranquillo fits nicely into being a part of a near silent computer. The fan Gelid has included with the cooler does a great job moving air without generating noise or vibration, the banes of silent computing. The cooler itself, while looking similar to many others on the market today, has been designed and tweaked to deliver superior cooling; it does this job well. While it would be possible to gain additional cooling by replacing the original fan with a higher CFM 120mm fan, I am content to use the cooler just as it is. The fact that the fan has a five year warranty also adds to my contentment.



Most of the images used were taken from Gelid's site due to the poor quality of the pictures that I took for the review. The cooler and hardware used for this review is identical to the images Gelid supplied.

This review has taken much longer to complete than was warranted due to many different circumstances, which I will not enumerate here; for this I apologize to Gelid Solution, Ltd.

If you are looking for a cost-effective CPU cooler that is also virtually silent then look no further. The Gelid Tranquillo is just what the doctor ordered. I am awarding the Gelid Tranquillo with four out of five stars.

I would like to thank Gelid Solutions, Ltd., both for their patience in the forthcoming of this review and for allowing Tech-Forums to conduct this review. We are looking forward to future Gelid cooling products.

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