Testing:

In order to keep test results equal across the board, all cooling testing is done with the following setup, conditions and methods:

Test System:

AMD Phenom II 1100T at stock 3.3GHz (125-watt TDP)
Asus M5A99FX Pro mainboard
4GB Corsair Dominator DDR3 RAM
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Radeon HD4870 video
Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 850-watt PSU
Thermaltake Spedo Advance full-tower case
120mm intake case fan (x2)
120mm exhaust case fan

Ambient temp in the testing environment is brought as close to previous testing levels as possible and recorded at the beginning of the test.  For this test ambient was 24C and remained stable within .2 degrees for the duration of the testing.

Before testing begins, BIOS power/performance settings are set to "balanced" mode and the system is allowed to idle for 30 minutes to get a stable idle temp.
 
Stress testing is done with OCCT 4.4.0, running 30 minutes on each set, with large data set and a 1-minute idle time recorded at the beginning and end of each test.  If a cooler has multiple modes (high and low fan speeds, for instance), the test is run for each mode and all results recorded.
 
Tests are performed using Noctua NT-H1 thermal interface material for equal comparison with other cooling solutions.

For acoustic testing all case fans are connected to a Sunbeam rheobus fan controller and their speed is lowered to the point that they are inaudible.

This is obviously a high-stress environment for any cooler, with a 125-watt six-core processor being loaded to 98% or more across all six cores.  So how did the Pallas low-profile cooler fare in this torture?

Much better than I had anticipated.  Honestly, I didn’t think this small cooler could keep this thermal load below the shutdown threshold of 70 C.  While it did come close on a couple of occasions it managed to maintain temps just under 68 though most of the test.  While this is hotter than I would run my machine obviously, this is again an extreme test and an excellent showing by a cooler of this size.

Noise levels:

The 140mm PWM fan on the Pallas is effective, as we see from the test results, but how quiet is it?  Again, I was surprised by this little cooler.  Being as slim as it is I expected it to be very noisy when it had to generate the air flow needed to keep this load in check, but the truth is it was very reasonable.  Acoustic performance is the most subjective part of any cooler review and your mileage will vary, but while I could definitely hear the fan doing its job it was a very low hum, perfectly acceptable for an office environment.  Even with this kind of load I would have no problem with the noise level with this cooler on my desk.