We start with the temperature measurements with our system (Intel Core i7-920) running at stock voltage. For the first graph, the coolers we tested today are colored in orange.

As it was expected, both the Noctua NH-C14 and the Thermaltake Frio OCK coolers have not problem keeping the the temperature of the Intel Core-i7 920 CPU down, when the CPU is running at stock speeds. As you see in the graph, the differences among the various coolers that gave a good performance (44 C ~ 47C ) in this test are very small and as such, they could be affected by errors - variability is an inherent part of things being measured and of the measurement process.

The performance of the Thermaltake Frio OCK cooler was high although under stock CPU speeds, you could expect the same figures from some more affordable solutions.

Noctua's NH-C14 heatsink kept its promise to offer the same performance of the NH-C12P SE14 but it was slightly less efficient than the Prolimatech SuperMega and the NH-D14.

Let's move on to most important results. This time we have overclocked our CPU to 3.60GHz, posing our coolers in a more demanding environment. Here are the results:

With their fans spinning at full R.P.M., both coolers showed why they have been designed for overclockers. Noctua's NH-C14 solution surprised us with its high performance considering its top air design. The cooler lowered the temperature of our CPU down to 61 degrees C, matching the performance of many other heavyweights of the market including the Prolimatech Megahalems (1 fan) and the Scythe Ninja 3. However, it still lagged behind the NH-D14 and the Prolimatech SuperMega (2 fan) and Megahalems (2 fan).

Thermaltake's Frio OCK also showed an adequate cooling efficiency and it gained a high position among the coolers of this test. At 63 degrees C, the cooler cannot take a clear lead over solutions such as the much more affordable Scythe Rasetsu, Glacialtech Alaska (2 fan) or the Noctua NH-U12P SE14, to mention some.

Noise levels are illustrated below:

The Frio OCK can outperform most of the competition due to the pair of fans that they strapped onto this beast. At full R.P.M, the cooler is among the louder we have ever tested. So performance has a trade off here.

On the other hand, Noctua's NH-C14 cooler is taking advantage of its two very good low noise fans meaning that the end result is going to be a down right low noise setup.

Below you see the prices of the coolers that appeared in our test.