As we previously mentioned we took the measurements with the Intel Core i7-920 running at its stock speeds and then under overclocking.

Even at the nominal speed and voltage, the Intel Core i7-920 processor produce enough heat. Intel's stock cpu cooler kept the CPU's temperature at 58 degrees Celsius under full load, while the Thermaltake Silent 1156 was more efficient at around 53 degrees C:

Overclocking the Intel Core-i7 920 at 3.60GHz requires you to increase its voltage, meaning that even more heat will be produced. Here is a strong test that the product has to pass in order to justify its price.

The Intel stock cooler gave us around 90 degrees C, while the Thermaltake Silent 1156 managed to get the cpu temperature down to 79 degrees C. That's 11 degrees C less that the Intel stock cpu cooler:

Let's make some noise measurements now.

The Intel stock cooler leads the race here and produces the lowest noise among all the tested coolers (37dB).

At full speed, the Thermaltake Silent 1156 produced 47dB of noise, a good performance compared with other cpu coolers:

But how much would you need to spend for each cooler? Thermaltake's 1156 cooler retails online for ~$28~30, which is one of the cheapest cpu coolers you can buy: