Aaah, I can't tell you how refreshing it is to review something as simple as a CPU cooler every now and then. Believe it or not, all that graphics, CPU, mainboard and memory testing can get a little boring at one point. Change is good. And that "change" definitely applies in the world of cooling. Over the years we have seen several methods applied. The traditional aluminum fan activated coolers, water-cooling, Peltier cooling, yet the most extraordinary and now commonly accepted form of cooling is heat-pipe based.

What? Heatpipe cooling ? Well, when done right you can achieve three things. Pretty decent cooling, low noise, and nice aesthetics.

This is where we land at the premises of the new and unknown Gelid. Armed with Swiss management and design team, yet based in Hong Kong Gelid is what might become the new Arctic cooling. Now I make that statement as Gelid ... well let's look it up in the dictionary:

Adj. 1. gelid - extremely cold; "an arctic climate"; "a frigid day"; "gelid waters of the North Atlantic"; "glacial winds"; "icy hands"; "polar weather"
arctic, frigid, icy, glacial, polar
cold - having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration; "a cold climate"; "a cold room"; "dinner has gotten cold"; "cold fingers"; "if you are cold, turn up the heat"; "a cold beer"

Need I say more ? You'll notice a lot of similarities. Recently Gelid silently introduced their thermal paste and silent design fan, a couple of weeks ago they however launched their Gelid Silent Spirit, as you can guess a heatpipe based cooling solution.

Today we'll test a Intel Core Extreme QX9770 processor in both a default and overclocked state with this cooler. But first let's have a peek.