Installation was not a strong point of the Frio's design. Although the instructions given are straightforward, the nuts and screws provided are very small, rendering the process less user friendly. The way the cooler is mounted also means that it has to be done outside of the case. Of course, all high end coolers require users to install a backplate support onto the motherboard but once this has been placed, it's generally still possible to install or remove the heatsink inside a case. However, with the Frio, it's impossible to remove the cooler from the motherboard without taking out the latter first. The instructions below should make it clearer:

1.) Place washers at the each end of the mounting clips/brackets.

2.) Use the smallest screws to install the appropriate bracket to the heatsink base, making sure that the ends face downwards. (Note that for AMD installation, an additional bolt has to screwed to the brackets)


3.) After applying thermal paste to the CPU, place the heatsink on top ensuring that the mounting brackets are lined up with the mounting holes on the motherboard.


4.) Install the backplate, which will be branded for either Intel LGA sockets or AMD sockets, to the back of the motherboard.


5.) Secure the backplate and heatsink with the 4 nuts. A flat headed screwdriver is recommended to tighten each corner.


6.) Fully installed!




On the X58 motherboard, the front fan comes very close to the first RAM slot but unlike the Thermalright Venomous X, the slot isn't fully covered. It allows users to install modules with tall heat spreaders in that particular slot. However, there would be very little clearance between the Frio fan and the memory module.

Some of the steps in the installation process clearly show that mounting the Frio isn't an easy process. Trying to bolt on the nuts to the backplate whilst holding the heatsink in place at the top of the motherboard requires some patience and once complete, the only way to remove the heatsink (should the user want to apply more thermal paste for instance) is to take the motherboard out of the case. It's not the most practical solution but on the whole, it's very secure and shouldn't bother the majority of users.