One of the most important items to consider when building a computer is what you are going to use to keep your expensive processor nice and cool so that it does its job and does it well. CPU coolers come in many shapes, sizes and types, such as large air cooled heat sinks or complex liquid cooled setups, all designed to keep your processor within its operating temperatures while pushing your system to the limits. To keep your system cool, you need a good transfer surface and good air flow/pressure. However, you do not want that jet engine blowing right next to you either. It is tough to find a CPU cooler that offers good cooling with low noise for newer sockets, such as the Socket LGA 1156 platform, until now. Thermaltake has designed a cooler for Socket 1156 platforms that is supposed to keep temperatures in acceptable levels while keeping the noise down to a low 22dB. This cooler uses a heat fin and heat pipe design with a specially designed low noise fan that funnels air over the cooling surface to lower your temperatures, while keeping you from grabbing some ear plugs. Will the reduction in speed of the fan hurt this design or will Thermaltake hit a sweet spot with the Silent 1156 cooler and surprise us all? Let’s take a look and see.