360° View - Gelid Tanquillo Heatsink Information on Frostytech's test methodology is available here.
A single 120x120x25mm PWM fan with seven white impeller blades ships with the Tranquillo. It spins at 1500-750RPM and is held in place with wire fan clips (a second fan cannot be attached). A standard 4-pin motherboard header provides power. With the fan removed you can see how widely the aluminum fins are spaced on this heatsink. A small extruded aluminum heatsink caps the copper base plate below.
The Gelid Tranquillo heatsink stands 153mm tall, but the bulk of it is elevated 42mm for clearance of adjacent capacitors. The three 6mm diameter copper heatpipes are grouped closely at the base, and as they pass through the fins of the cooler. Each aluminum fin is roughly 60 x 120mm in size, furthermore both surfaces are textured with square dimples. Each fin measures 0.4mm thick and spaced 2.3mm from the next.
The base on the Gelid Tranquillo heatsink measures 45x35mm in size. The copper portion of the base ranges from 2mm to 5mm thick. The four 6mm diameter copper heatpipes have been soldered between the aluminum and copper base plates. Notice the dimpling on the aluminum cooling fins, and unique trailing edge profile.

Base Finish and Flatness

Flipping a heatsink over to inspect the business end is often a simple indicator of overall cooler quality. More practically speaking, a heatsink is in many ways only as effective as the contact it makes with the processor - the flatter and smoother the better. Base finish is one of the criteria that Frostytech measure in the course of evaluating heatsinks, and it involves two distinct aspects. Surface Finish is the first; this is calculated with the aid of Surface Roughness Comparator that has a cross section of common machine surface finishes and their numerical surface roughness equivalents in microinches. The second is Surface Flatness. This is tested with an engineers straight edge or proven flat surface, in two axis.

The Gelid Tranquillo heatsink has a small copper base plate soldered to the four 6mm diameter copper heatpipes. The copper base measures 32.5x35mm, the entire base plate is 45x35mm in size. Minimum copper thickness is 2mm. The base is machined perfectly flat in both axis, surface roughness is approximately ~16 microinches.

Next, let's see how this heatsink handles the heat compared to a selection of other heatsinks!