Thermaltake Riing Silent 12 Pro Air CPU Cooler Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

The Thermaltake Riing Silent 12 Pro currently retails in the region of £40. That is definitely towards the lower end of the scale in terms of CPU air coolers. This isn’t, however, the rock bottom. As such, all any cooler within this price bracket has to do to justify its price is outperform the stock cooler your processor came with at a reasonably significant level. That might sound like an oversimplification, but it’s largely true.

Based on this though, as can be seen in the test results, while they were not blazing, they were excellent for a product in this price range.

Put simply, based on such a low product price, it’s hard to criticise this based on its excellent performance.

Overview

A definite care to attention has been taken in terms of the Thermaltake Riing Silent 12 Pro’s presentation. Both the packaging and the cooler itself look excellent. Admittedly, the latter is a little bulky when you have it fitted in your system, but it still looks really fantastic. Combined with the nice low-key blue LED effect, this wouldn’t look out of place in any system build.

Build Quality

We can not question the build quality. Nothing on this cooler feels cheap or badly made. If anything, we actually really like the fan mounting system if for no other reason than that it does give you the option to use an alternative if you wish. Despite that though, some of the design choices are a little questionable.

The off-center contact plate does make installation difficult and on top of that, you also have a fixing point through the cooler to which they do not provide you with a screwdriver to attach it. I daresay a number of people are going to buy this and find they don’t have a single suitable screwdriver in the house to get this installed.

Fans

The fan clearly did its job well in terms of the figures reported in both noise and temperatures. While the cooler design is important, ultimately it’s all based on how well the fan can move cool air across it and in those terms, this fan seems to be more than competent at its job. We do, however, again commend the design of the installation bracket. Whether deliberate or not, this does give the user the option to swap the fan if they wish and that is rarely seen.

What can not be denied is that the fan was capable of performing exceptionally quiet. The ‘silent’ in the product name is very clearly justified.

Performance

As this is an entry-level cooler, usually your expectations should be kept reasonably low. While the Thermaltake Riing Silent 12 Pro is certainly not the best performer we have seen, it still gave very solid performance figures. In terms of something that is an improvement on stock and can handle overclocking, this cooler is clearly more than capable of both with more than enough wiggle room to make the job comfortable.

This is something you may wish to consider as while the supplied fan is exceptionally quiet, a slightly more powerful performer might have helped get those temperatures down a little more. This, however, will all depend upon your priorities as a consumer.

Should I Buy One?

In terms of low-priced air coolers, you do have a wide range to choose from. The Thermaltake Riing Silent 12 Pro, however, does make a strong case for your consideration. Not only is it well presented, but its also well designed. In addition, the performance figures in terms of noise and temperatures are very respectable for a cooler in this price range.

Certainly, you can do better if you spend more. If you consider though that this cooler not only performs but also comes with a nice lighting effect. When you also consider the near silent running performance, when you put it all together that should help tip the scales for you.

Pros

• Excellent presentation.
• Well designed to allow for a good sized cooler while keeping within a reasonable size.
• Excellent performance for a product of this type.
• Excellently priced.
• Exceptionally quiet performance.

Cons

• The lack of a supplied screwdriver is disappointing given that this cooler has a very specific design that would require one to be longer than your average.

Neutral

• The off center contact plate might help with RAM clearance, but it doesn’t make for an easy installation.
• This cooler might have been better served to trade off a bit more noise for a faster running fan.