I know this is an older topic, however I figure I will provide a bit of an update for you guys.
As some of you may remember, I was having some crazy heat problems before, and I also am limited by a crowded mid-size case (meaning no water cooling) which I can not upgrade to to lack of room.
Anyway, I figured I would give this a try, because air cooling would just not cut it anymore, and I was not about to stop overclocking my processor lol.
So, I gave the Ultra ChillTec a try (The newest one).
Ultra ChillTec Black Overclocking CPU Cooler - LGA 775/1366, AM2/AM2+/AM3 at TigerDirect.com
The following is with my old processor (9850 BE OC'd to 3Ghz)
Before, with my Arctic Freezer 64 the processor idled around 40c and went well over 70ish (sometimes hitting 80) under load. (Yes, I have tried re-seating it and such, It is just a hot mofo processor).
With this chilltec, my idle temps were 28c (ambient is 22c or 72f). and it will not go above 60c on the same overclock with the same processor (under 100% load).
Those previous numbers were with my OC'd 9859 BE Processor, the next set of numbers is with my new 1055T (The Non BE one) (Oc'd to 3.4).
The idle temps on the 1055T are much nicer than the 9850 to begin with, but here are some numbers.
My first attempt at the install of this, I messed up a little bit and it was not mounted exactly correctly, as a result, the sensor on the cooler was in an odd place so it thought it was hotter than it was, so it was continuously cooling at full power (Was scaring me because the temperatures according to speed fan were around 12c, occasionally dropping to single digits! After running a few tests with it, I re-seated the unit and it is now cooling as it should. With an ambient temperature of 22c the processor remains cool at a continuous 22-23c idle (never going below ambient, nor much above it). Under 100% load (after 4 hours) the temperature readings according to speedfan were level at 55c (Have been trying to get hotter, and I seem to be unable) with almost no fluctuation at all.
There is increased power draw, but I believe it is only 50w under full load (more than I would like but nothing really to cry about.
As far as noise goes, at 100% fan speed, it is about 28db, but the fan is not usually at 100%
This is nice because unless it starts to heat up (30% load or greater) the thermoelectric part of the cooler is not even on, it is a big heat-sink with a fan (which is nice because you don't need to worry about going below ambient temperature (it is a worry as stated above due to condensation). It is also nice because the amount of cooling that is done with the thermoelectric plate scales as well.
Until the fan gets cranking, it does not add to the overall noise level of my case, which would not matter anyway, because I have a vary loud case.
Overall, I would say it is a good buy if you are in my situation which is not having enough room (or you move the case very frequently) for water cooling, but air cooling does not cut it. Water cooling is still a good bang for your buck, and I am sure some top of the line air coolers can come close to this, but this provided a good situation for me.
I managed to find it on sale for under $100 which makes it a good investment for me, The usual price I believe is $115
If I am not mistaken, there are three different versions of this floating around, A first generation thermoelectric (Sensors, internal display, external mounted power box) A second generation one, same as the first, but more for overclocking with a bit better cooler. And the latest one, which has no internal display, and no external mounted box, instead, everything is built into or under the heat-sink (this is the version I chose)
Also, there is a tan version, which is just the heatsink part of it, without the peltier cooler part of it. I think that one goes for $80.
