Thermaltake Jing CPU Cooler Review

With cars, a frequent trade-off buyers must consider is performance versus mileage. All other things being equal, higher performance cars generally use more fuel than lower-performance cars. There are ways to work around this: for example, reducing a vehicle's weight will improve both performance and mileage. CPU coolers make similar trade-offs: better performance is often accompanied by more noise, and the workaround is to make the cooler larger, since more metal dissipates more heat with a slower, quieter airflow. Thermaltake's new Jing CPU cooler attempts to hit the sweet spot of the performance/noise compromise, and Benchmark Reviews pits it against a collection of high-end air coolers and water coolers to see how it compares.

Since all retail CPUs are boxed with perfectly good coolers (which are pretty quiet), the main reason to buy an aftermarket cooler is its performance when your processor is overclocked. (There might be some who buy coolers based on the aesthetics of their appearance through a windowed CPU case, but we'll assume they're in the minority.) But while performance is certainly the main criterion, other factors must be taken into consideration as well, such as noise, size, and price. The ideal cooler keeps your processor at or near ambient temperature, is silent, free, and unfortunately doesn't exist. Manufacturers vary the performance, noise, size, and cost factors of their products to address different segments of the market.

Thermaltake makes dozens of CPU coolers— there are thirteen separate models for Socket 1366 alone, of which the Jing is the most expensive at an MSRP of $69.99. Thermaltake bills the Jing as having "Optimized performance cooling and ultra-silent design", claims which I'll put to the test with an overclocked and overvolted Intel Core i7-950 CPU.

Manufacturer: Thermaltake, Inc.
Product Name: Jing
Model Number: CLP0574
Price As Tested: $64.99 at Newegg

Full Disclosure:The product sample used in this article has been provided by Thermaltake.

Thermaltake Jing Specifications

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