GELID Solutions Rev2 Tranquillo CPU Cooler Review

Installing the Rev2 Tranquillo

The Rev2 Tranquillo comes with everything needed to mount up the cooler. The mounting system is a universal one for both AMD AM2, AM3, and FM1 sockets, as well as all Intel LGA775, 1155, 1156, and 1366 sockets. GELID also includes a tube of their GC2 thermal paste.

The backing plate for the Rev2 Tranquillo is for both AMD and Intel. The parts of the backing plate that will touch the motherboard are insulated with a pre-applied plastic insulator sheet. The notches in the slots match tabs on the mounting bolts. This prevents the bolts from turning during installation.

First you install the backing plate with the mounting bolts and spacers.

Even though it part of the head of the mounting bolt is hanging off the end of the bracket the mount is quite solid. The backing plate also cleared the socket back and other motherboard parts nicely.

Flipping the board back over and installing the cooler I noticed that the mounting tabs were close to the spacers prior to tightening the mounting bolts. It did not take too much to tighten everything up. The mount felt secure, the cooler did not move. You can also see in the above image the mounting tabs are close to the socket side. They do not touch, but they are close.

From the base to the first fin is 38mm, the fan body and fan mounting clips will take that number down a little more. This allows for standard height RAM and those with small heat spreaders. Now with RAM with tall heat spreaders like the Kingston Hyper-X T1’s that are 65mm or 2.5″ tall, that 38mm height restriction can be an issue.

That is where drawings like this can help the end user. They can measure from the center of their socket and see where the cooler lands in relation to the RAM slots on the end users motherboard.

And here we have the test system in the case and ready to go.