Raijintek's Themis CPU cooler may not run with the big boys of air cooling, but what it does offer is currently unrivaled performance per dollar. At just €23.90, or $31.75, it is cheaper than Cooler Master's Hyper 212 EVO, which it beats in terms of cooling. The Noctua NH-U12S being double the price and only 1°C better really drives home how good of a cooler for the budget-concious enthusiast Raijintek's CPU cooler is. Barely managing to stay below 50 dBA, it will not win awards for its noise levels but is not loud either. At 49 dBA with 1851 RPM, the trade-off between the fan's cooling performance and noise output is actually acceptable, and it's a breeze to install, which really helps matters as well. The Themis is a solid single-tower design that, while not groundbreaking, comes out on top when it comes to cooling performance on a budget.

A few issues do need to be addressed. Much like the Ereboss, the Themis has packaging that does little to protect the cooler itself. While not a big deal, some consumers may become aggravated when their new cooler has lots of bent fins, which should, while easily fixed, not happen. You can also install a second fan to the Themis, but the anti-vibration fan mounts to do so are not included. Finally, the fan's PWM range of only 1000-1800 RPM is a bit disappointing. Increasing it to 750-1800 RPM with a slightly better fan curve would allow for this cooler to maintain class-leading performance while also dropping noise levels at lower loads.

Overall, the Raijintek Themis is very impressive for its price. It won't win awards for quality or noise and certainly wont fit everyone's choice of colors, but is the best-performing cooler at its price point, of that there is no doubt. Including enough anti-vibration fan mounts for a second fan would greatly improve the Themis's appeal, but the performance speaks for itself as not even Cooler Master's venerable Hyper 212 EVO can touch the Raijintek Themis in price or performance.

The Themis is the answer if you are in the market for a solid, budget-centric CPU cooler with acceptable noise levels and exceptional performance.