Key Features
Tranquillo coolers from Gelid Solutions have been very popular in the past for their solid cooling efficiency at an affordable price. Recently, the fifth revision of this cooler was launched, offering a change in overall design and featuring a matte black finish. Price-wise, however, the Gelid Tranquillo rev. 5 is a direct competitor to some very solid coolers of late and so I am very curious to see how it fares against them in today’s review.
Key features of the cooler
The design of this cooler is very straightforward and does not hide any tricky details. A relatively slim but dense bundle of forty-nine aluminium fins is connected by four copper heatpipes, which also directly form the contact surface of the cooler in its base. However, there are gaps between the heatpipes at the base, which could negatively affect the effectiveness of heat transfer from the CPU’s heat spreader. Recently, we have seen in tests that base designs without gaps between heatpipes usually yield better results.
The cooler is symmetrically designed, but thanks to its slim profile, there is no interference with the RAM DIMM slots. The fins of the heatsink have two wide notches on both sides, which aim to improve acoustic performance and also optimize airflow through the heatsink. However, the treatment of the top surface of the heatsink with the ends of the heatpipe is unfortunately a little sketchy. At this price range, I would expect some cosmetic touches to cover the ends of the heatpipe, especially if the manufacturer went to the trouble of matte black finishing of the entire heatsink.
Included in the package you will find the standard accessories you would expect to find in a cooler of this class. So you there’s mounting systems for installing the cooler on current CPU sockets including the latest LGA 1700. Threadripper processors are not supported, but that is not to be expected with a cooler in this class either. In the package you will also find a thermal paste and an applicator for spreading it on the processor’s heat spreader. A clean user manual with installation instructions rounds everything off. A set of clips for installing another fan is missing, but with a cooler this slim it would be pointless to add another fan for a push-pull configuration anyway.
The cooler installation is pleasantly straightforward. Just screw on the base arms for either Intel or AMD socket. Then the whole set can be attached to the included backplate for Intel socket, or use the native backplate for AMD socket. The screws for fixing the cooler to the CPU are equipped with springs for optimal pressure and the whole installation of the cooler is a matter of a few moments.
The cooler and fan parameters
It is already clear from the photos that Tranquillo rev. 5 is not a giant and it is a very compact cooler. Out of curiosity I compared it with two popular coolers from SilentiumPC, which Tranquillo competes with in terms of price and size.
| Cooler | Gelid Tranquillo rev. 5 | SIlentiumPC Fera 5 | SilentiumPC Spartan Max | |
| DeepCool Assassin III | NH-U12A | NH-U12S | ||
| Supported sockets | Intel 115x, 1200, 1700, 20xx; AMD AM4 | Intel 115x, 1200, 1700, 20xx; AMD AM4 | Intel 115x, 1200, 1700, 20xx; AMD AM4 | |
| Height | 146 mm | 155 mm | 154 mm | |
| Width | 125 mm | 127 mm | 120 mm | |
| Depth with fan | 65 mm | 77 mm | 72 mm | |
| Weight | 480 g | 562 g | 491 g | |
| Maximum RAM height | no restrictions | |||
| MSRP | Doporučená cena | € 34 | € 31 | € 22 |
The fan used has an uninteresting technical designation. However, it offers a solid airflow of around 111 m³/hr and a static pressure of 1.47 mm H2O, which are more than sufficient parameters for a relatively slim heatsink of the cooler. The speed range is also acceptable, I would have appreciated a lower minimum speed of around 300–400 rpm.
| Fan | Gelid CC-TranQ-05-A | SilentiumPC Fluctus 120 PWM | SilentiumPC Fluctus 120 PWM | |
| A12x25r PWM | A12x25 PWM | F12 PWM | ||
| Bearing | hydrodynamic | fluid | fluid | |
| Speed range | 700–1600 rpm | 300–1800 rpm | 250–1500 rpm |
Tranquillo coolers from Gelid Solutions have been very popular in the past for their solid cooling efficiency at an affordable price. Recently, the fifth revision of this cooler was launched, offering a change in overall design and featuring a matte black finish. Price-wise, however, the Gelid Tranquillo rev. 5 is a direct competitor to some very solid coolers of late and so I am very curious to see how it fares against them in today’s review.
Testing methodology
As a test processor and heat generator, I am now using an Intel Core i7-11700K on the Asus TUF Gaming Z590-Plus WiFi motherboard. The entire build is mounted on a Streacom BC1 frame with no fans to provide airflow. Acoustic shielding (acoustic foam on OSB boards) is installed around the test setup to eliminate ambient noise.
The Voltcraft SL-100 calibrated noise meter is placed perpendicular to the cooler in a fixed position relative to the motherboard at a distance of approximately 35 cm from the processor socket. Stress tests are performed using Prime95 with a duration of 30-35 minutes. The coolers are tested at three standardized noise levels (36, 39 and 42 dBA) and finally at maximum speed. The tests are run in two sets according to the heat output of the processor.
The first set of tests is at 125 W, the PL1 processor’s enforced limit. The second set of power draw is then about 205–210 W (4500 MHz at 1.285 V). However, this second level represents a very high concentration of heat per mm² due to the small size of the chip itself. Thus, not all coolers can be expected to pass this set of tests at all noise levels. At the end of the test, the highest temperature achieved is always recorded.
All data regarding CPU temperatures and heat output are obtained from the HWiNFO64 application. The measured values are then corrected against the room temperature as the resulting Delta T value. Any higher value means a processor temperature over 95-100 °C and a risk of thermal throttling. Therefore, if the cooler does not pass the load with a Delta T value below 75 °C, such a test is marked as a failure.
Tranquillo coolers from Gelid Solutions have been very popular in the past for their solid cooling efficiency at an affordable price. Recently, the fifth revision of this cooler was launched, offering a change in overall design and featuring a matte black finish. Price-wise, however, the Gelid Tranquillo rev. 5 is a direct competitor to some very solid coolers of late and so I am very curious to see how it fares against them in today’s review.
Results – 36 dBA
Tranquillo coolers from Gelid Solutions have been very popular in the past for their solid cooling efficiency at an affordable price. Recently, the fifth revision of this cooler was launched, offering a change in overall design and featuring a matte black finish. Price-wise, however, the Gelid Tranquillo rev. 5 is a direct competitor to some very solid coolers of late and so I am very curious to see how it fares against them in today’s review.
Results – 39 dBA
Tranquillo coolers from Gelid Solutions have been very popular in the past for their solid cooling efficiency at an affordable price. Recently, the fifth revision of this cooler was launched, offering a change in overall design and featuring a matte black finish. Price-wise, however, the Gelid Tranquillo rev. 5 is a direct competitor to some very solid coolers of late and so I am very curious to see how it fares against them in today’s review.
Results – 42 dBA
Tranquillo coolers from Gelid Solutions have been very popular in the past for their solid cooling efficiency at an affordable price. Recently, the fifth revision of this cooler was launched, offering a change in overall design and featuring a matte black finish. Price-wise, however, the Gelid Tranquillo rev. 5 is a direct competitor to some very solid coolers of late and so I am very curious to see how it fares against them in today’s review.
Results – maximum speed
Tranquillo coolers from Gelid Solutions have been very popular in the past for their solid cooling efficiency at an affordable price. Recently, the fifth revision of this cooler was launched, offering a change in overall design and featuring a matte black finish. Price-wise, however, the Gelid Tranquillo rev. 5 is a direct competitor to some very solid coolers of late and so I am very curious to see how it fares against them in today’s review.
Conclusion and evaluation
Gelid Tranquillo rev. 5 evokes somewhat mixed feelings in me. It is not a bad cooler, but its efficiency is rather average by today’s standards. Although the cooler failed one test with a thermal output of 210 W, but I don’t necessarily see this as a negative, according to the official data the Gelid Tranquillo rev. 5 is only rated up to TDP 150 W. Still, I had slightly higher expectations from it.
Visually, it is a pretty good cooler, although I would have appreciated nicer processing of the top surface with covering the ends of the heatpipe. As a nice bonus, there is also a five-year warranty.
However, the biggest problem of the Gelid Tranquillo rev. 5 is its current competition. Unfortunately, this cooler doesn’t offer anything that its rivals can’t do better or cheaper, and so it risks falling into the grey of mediocrity, which is a bit of a sad fate for a previously very popular cooler.
English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš
| Gelid Tranquillo rev. 5 |
| + Easy installation |
| + Quiet fan |
| + Five-year warranty |
| + Attractive appearance |
| - Average cooling efficiency |
| - Worse price/performance ratio |