Thermoelectric Cooling has come a long way since first making it to the hobby PC market: What was once a risky combination of nonstandard parts has been engineered to provide enhanced cooling at minimal risk to the majority of performance fanatics, by way of the Ultra ChillTec.

We certainly wish we could have overclocked further, but beating out our best air cooler and allowing additional overclocking beyond what we'd thought our CPU was capable of is no small feat. Above ambient temperatures might not yield the best possible overclock, but eliminating the associated risks helps to broaden Ultra's market.

The ChillTec is certainly a top performer, but is it a good value? At $130, the ChillTec is cheaper than all but the cheapest water coolers, and without the messy configuration of tubes and tanks. In spite of difficulties tightening its mounting nuts, it's certainly easier to install than any water cooler, can't leak, and weighs less than full-sized water coolers... in spite of its enormous heft.

One additional consideration is the overall affect this cooler will have on your build cost: Ultra claims its TEC removes up to 50W in addition to the front sink, but does not mention the maximum current drawn from the power supply. Guessing an efficiency of 80 percent would mean the TEC needs 60W to provide 50W of cooling, an extra 5A of power draw from the 12V rail that may force some buyers to upgrade their power supplies.

Pros:

• Ultimate "air" cooling, boosted by TEC technology
• Lower temperatures increase overclocking potential
• Great looks
• Excessive weight is well supported

Cons:

• Somewhat expensive
• Ultra-heavy (pun intended) 985G cooler weight
• Extremely large 5.0 x 4.1 x 5.8 cooler dimensions
• Mounting nuts difficult to reach
• TEC draws several amps from 12V power supply rail.

The Verdict: Ultra ChillTec's powerful cooling provides a great boost to performance optimizers able to afford it.