Thermaltake has been busy lately, adding to the already impressive Frio series of CPU coolers. Today’s review is on the recently released Frio Advanced (CLP0596).  The new Frio Advanced offers a new “Heat-pipe Direct Touch Technology”  design, as well as two 130mm high performance fans. We’ll have a look and see how it performs against the original Frio and other coolers out there.

About Thermaltake

“While still a relatively young company, established in 1999, Thermaltake is built on unwavering will and dedication to address issues and innovate at the same time for computer enthusiasts and corporate users worldwide .

With strong support of Research & Development team standing behind the brand, Thermaltake is committed to never-follow but always-lead.

In past decades, the industrial and technological advancements in different fields have shaped the world we live in today and have also made a big impact on the environment. Thermaltake takes great measures to ensure the product that we produce relieve these impacts by being first to act on 80 PLUS® specification for computer power supply that greatly reduces the amount of electricity that a computer consumes.

Always striving to be the best, we continuously benchmark our performance against the very best internally and externally.

Customers are our greatest asset and Thermaltake does not take that for granted. That is why Thermaltake is the industry leading in customer service and customer support with around-the-clock automated product return service.”

Below is the list of features and specifications for the Frio advanced as provided by Thermaltake.

Features

Heat-pipe Direct Touch Technology, Supports 230W Cooling Performance

• 5 x Ø6 mm heat-pipes direct touch CPU surface increasing heat conductivity.
• High density Aluminum fins allow larger surface area to quick dissipate heat.
• Premium thermal grease maximizes heat transfer from the CPU into the cooler base for rapid dissipation.

Dual 13cm Over-clocking Fan, PWM function with 800~2,100 RPM Speed

• A pair of high performance red bladed fans generate excellent cooling power.
• Tool-less fan installation provides great convenience for users.
• Vibration-absorbent gaskets decrease noise during operation.
• Fan speed at the lowest RPM provides good performance and very low noise.

Universal Socket Compatibility & Accessory Package

• All-in-one back-plate design, offers support for all Intel and AMD platforms
• Universal socket support :
  Intel: LGA 2011, LGA1366, LGA1156, LGA1155, LGA775
  AMD: FM1, AM3+, AM3, AM2+, AM2

Specifications

With Thermaltake’s customary black and red theme, the box does a nice job of providing a complete list of the features the Frio Advanced offers.

When the box is first opened, sitting on top is the installation instruction pamphlets, and the warranty information booklet. Just below that is the box which contains all the necessary hardware for Intel and AMD installations. The Frio Advanced is securely encompassed between two Styrofoam blocks. As is usually the case, Thermaltake has done a great job with the product presentation and packaging.

The Frio Advanced features a black and red design which looks fantastic in my opinion. As you can see by the pictures below the fan blades are bright red, and the top of the cooler has a red accent to match.

If you paid attention to the features listed above, then you know the fans have PWM capabilities, and therefore have 4-Pin connectors. This is different from the original Frio, which used potentiometers to control fan speeds.

The Frio Advances also features the “Heatpipe Direct Touch” technology that many CPU cooler manufacturers are using now days. The theory is that having the heatpipe’s in direct contact with the CPU will quicken the time needed for heat to transfer up the pipe and be dissipated from the CPU, mostly due to the heat not having to transfer through a block before reaching the heatpipe.

If you are one who likes to swap out fans on a CPU cooler frequently, then you will love the fan mounting system on the Frio Advanced. In fact, you can have this thing stripped down to the bare fins in a matter of seconds.

There are release clips at the top of the cooler that only need a slight pull upwards to release the fan. Then simply grab the fan retention bracket on one side, and pull outward. Just that quick you have the Frio Advanced stripped down to its bones.

Thermaltake uses a revamped Power Logic PLA1202S12HH-LV fan that uses a bit larger blade, which coincides with the advertised 130mm fan size. Even though the blade size has increased, the hole pattern is identical to a 120mm fan. This is good news if you have a favorite 120mm fan you would like to use instead of the included fans. The fans are rated at 800 to 2000 Rpm at 88.77 CFM and at full throttle they are quite loud (44 dba per fan). Using the fan speed controls your motherboard probably has, the noise level can be made to be much more tolerable.

Thermaltake provides a great Intel and AMD installation guide on their global web site, and here are the steps as outlined there. First the Intel Install procedures.

When we tried the install as outlined above, it went off without a hitch and was a pretty painless operation. I love the universal backing plate Thermaltake developed a while back, and continues to use with their new coolers.

Next, here is the AMD installation procedure.

I did not physically install the Frio Advanced on an AMD platform, but as you can see, it appears to be a pretty easy endeavor.

During either installation method, the fans will need to be removed to gain access to the mounting screws, but as I showed you earlier in the review, removing the fans takes just seconds to accomplish. If you decide to use the PWM function of the fans, make sure you plug both fans into a 4-Pin motherboard header that is able to be controlled in the system BIOS.

We tested the Frio Advanced using the following system components:

Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 Motherboard
I7 920 D0 Stepping CPU
Corsair Dominator 3X2gb Memory
OCZ ModX Stream 600 Watt PSU

In a controlled environment at 72° F (22° C), each reference CPU cooler was run for 20 minutes at idle and 20 minutes at full load, at which time the temperatures were recorded. The recorded temperature is average reading of all cores. I used LinX stress testing software using the AVX version. I always use IC Diamond thermal compound for all CPU cooler testing.

We are not going to mess around with stock speed results because, let’s face it, if you are reading this you are probably an overclocker just like us! With that in mind we applied a solid 1Ghz overclock to the i7 920 using 1.210v to the processor.

Here are the 3.6Ghz Idle and load results:

The Thermaltake Advanced managed to squeak out better results than the other coolers in the chart, except for it’s big brother the Frio Extreme. In all reality there was not a whole lot of difference between the Frio, FrioOCK, and the Frio advanced. I don’t really see this as a negative as much as I see it as Thermaltake doing a nice job across the Frio line as a whole.

The Thermaltake Frio Advanced has a lot going for it in the looks and performance side of things. About the only negative we can mention would be the fan noise, but the good news is, turning down the fan speed will make the noise more bearable with minimal temperature affect. The ability to control the fan speeds via the PWM control within a system BIOS is a great feature.

Here is the best part of the whole deal, at $59.99 USD it’s a great bargain too! It will be hard to find a CPU cooler that comes with two fans, and performs at this level for the same price.

If you are looking for a CPU cooling solution that will fit all the current platforms, performs great, looks fantastic, and is priced right – then the Thermaltake Frio Advanced needs to be right at the top of your list!

The Thermaltake Frio advanced earned a 9.5/10 and the accompanying Gold Award!

Dino DeCesari (Lvcoyote)