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Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU Cooler E-mail
Reviews - Featured Reviews: Cooling
Written by David Ramsey   
Thursday, 24 February 2011
Table of Contents: Page Index
Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU Cooler
Closer Look: Silver Arrow Cooler
Thermalright Silver Arrow Detailed Features
Heat Sink Test Methodology
Testing and Results
Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Testing and Results

For this test, I used the following heat sinks in addition to the Thermalright Silver Arrow:

  • Thermalright Venomous X
  • Cooler Master V6 GT
  • Prolimatech Super Mega
  • Corsair Hydro Series H50
  • Corsair Hydro Series H70
  • Coolit ECO A.L.C.
  • Coolit Vantage A.L.C.
  • Antec Kühler H2O 620

For heat sinks without a stock fan, I used a Thermalright TR-FDB-12-1600 fan, which puts out 63.7CFM at 28dBa according to Thermalright. This mid-range fan provides good air flow and reasonable noise levels. For "apples to apples" testing, where each heat sink is tested with the same fan, I used a Delta AFC1212D. This high-performance PWM fan is rated at 113CFM at a claimed 46.5dBa at full speed...which means that while it moves quite a bit of air, it's very loud. As I mentioned before, the Silver Arrow has an adjustable clamping system, which I set to the maximum 70 pounds for this test.

The Intel Core i7-950 I used in this test runs much hotter than the Core i7-920 I've used previously. At 1.35 volts, with a BCLK of 175Mhz, the 4,025Mhz CPU pumps out enough heat to stress the very best heat sinks. AIDA64 would report throttling once any single core reached 100 degrees Celsius; any throttling resulted in canceling the test and recording a "FAIL". Although this overclocked and overvolted Core i7-950 represents an extreme, these are expensive, high-end heat sinks.

The chart below summarizes the results with the stock fans (hotter temperatures towards the top of the chart, and cooler temperatures towards the bottom). The twin-fan coolers have a real advantage here, since their dual fans generally move more air than the stock single fan of any of the other units.

Stock Fan Tests

Heat Sink

Thermal Difference
(degrees Celsius)
Difference
from Silver Arrow
Coolit ECO A.L.C. 75.2 +13.4
Corsair H50 73.1 +11.3
Coolit Vantage A.L.C. (extreme) 73.0 +11.2
Prolimatech Super Mega 67.2 +5.4
Antec Kühler H2O 620 65.9 +4.1
Corsair H70 (high) 65.3 +3.5
Thermalright Venomous X 63.0 +1.2
Thermalright Silver Arrow 61.8 +0.0
Cooler Master V6 GT 61.2 -0.6

With both of its 140mm fans connected directly to the computer's power supply and running at full speed, the Silver Arrow turns in amazing performance, edged out by less than 1 degree by the Cooler Master V6 GT. The minimal performance difference here is probably due to the V6 GT's high-speed fans, each of which is rated at 90CFM, as compared to the Silver Arrow's 69CFM fans. It's worth noting here that the V6 GT's fans are quite loud at full speed, whereas the Silver Arrow's fans are very quiet. Note the 5.8-degree "break" between the Prolimatech Super Mega and the Coolit Vantage A.L.C., neatly dividing the results into "high performance coolers" and "other coolers".

Delta High Speed Fan Tests

Heat Sink

Thermal Difference
(degrees Celsius)
Difference
from Silver Arrow
Corsair H50 68.1 +12.3
Coolit Vantage A.L.C. 67.8 +12
Corsair H70 64.7 +8.9
Coolit ECO A.L.C. 64.3 +8.5
Cooler Master V6 GT 59.5 +3.7
Prolimatech Super Mega 59.4 +3.6
Antec Kühler H2O 620 58.7 +2.9
Thermalright Venomous X 58.0 +2.2
Thermalright Silver Arrow 55.8 +0.0

Given that the Silver Arrow has four fan mounting positions, the question when using a single fan is where to mount it. I chose the middle position, with the fan mounting to and pulling air through the front set of fins and blowing towards the back of the case. In some cases, replacing a dual-fan cooler's twin fans with a single fan, even a very fast one, doesn't yield the performance improvement you might suspect— note that the Corsair H70 temperatures improve by less than a degree. But the Delta high-speed fan, blowing 113CFM (rated) of air through the fins of the Silver Arrow, drops the temperature by another 6 degrees Celsius over its stock fans. Other coolers improve as well, some (such as the Coolit ECO A.L.C.) substantially. If nothing else this test shows how important fan selection is to any cooler's performance. While this fan enables the Silver Arrow to turn in the best performance I've ever seen from an air cooler, it does so at a significant sonic cost, with a loud whirring whine that most would consider unsuitable for their desktop.

So while the Silver Arrow does have its drawbacks (size and price), the payoff is world-beating performance. I'll go into some detail on these tradeoffs in the next section.



 

Comments 

 
# RE: Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU CoolerRobert17 2011-02-24 20:37
Good review, again.

Not trying to be too nitty here, but the copper alloy referenced for the base material must be C11000, or alloy 110, which is 99.9% pure copper. Probably a typo? But to the nickel plating, I'm wondering, what corrosion? Cathodic? I thought the CPU surface was a non-conductive surface. Other than that, the thermal paste should insulate against what little moisture may be lurking around.

I'll go ahead and guess that the clamping of 40 to 70 pounds you reference is inch-pounds not foot-pounds. This is a pretty large range, even for a high carbon alloy steel, 43%. Normally there is only about a 20% range unless you're discussing non-ferrous alloys, but then the range is even smaller. Nevertheless, in inch-pounds it would be about right for a low-carbon screw, in this case a 3-4mm or #8- #10 diameter.

Wow. That's one huge rad !
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# re: what corrosion?dudeguy 2012-12-02 03:51
copper corrodes with exposure to oxygen. The reaction is accelerated with air contaminants and any condensation. It develops a thick oxide layer in time. First black, then green. It sux. Takes longer on heatsinks than roofs, but why not make its effectiveness pretty much indefinite? Oh yeah. Thermalright, baby.
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# RE: Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU CoolerDavid Ramsey 2011-02-24 20:49
The "C110 pure copper" is what Thermalright says; I'm afraid I don't know enough about metallurgy to comment on it. However, the clamping pressure referred to isn't torque, but actual heat-sink-base-to-CPU pressure. The screw itself turns freely when the retainer bar isn't mounted.
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# RE: RE: Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU CoolerRobert17 2011-02-24 22:25
The load pressure you are referring to, heat sink base to CPU, is obtained by the engagement of the internal and external threads of the mounting base, i.e., the thread engagement. Just laying the heat sink onto the CPU only applies pressure if gravity is in play, engagement being vertical. Different math. The clamp load of the screw (external threads, normally a 2A fit) turning into the nut (internal threads, normally a 2B fit) results in clamp load, sometimes referred to as proof load. Again, based upon common tables, this must be in inch-pounds, not foot-pounds.
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# RE: RE: RE: Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU CoolerDavid Ramsey 2011-02-25 07:42
It's pressure, Robert, not torque. As if a 70-pound weight were sitting on top of the heat sink.
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# RE: RE: RE: RE: Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU CoolerRobert17 2011-02-26 07:23
All things considered David, I was mentally at work when I read your review rather than being in a relaxed, "enjoy your hobby" state of mind. Why Thermalright included any mention of the load values of joining/mating the heat sink to the CPU is anyone's guess. So I shouldn't have taken up the matter of foot pounds vs. inch pounds. I'll bet you lunch that virtually no one uses a torque wrench to set the screws when mounting this radiator to their MB.

But trust me, please, as I work with metals and fasteners every day (except holidays and weekends, and dumb brain fart moments when I should be enjoying the very good work you do in reviewing computer hardware). If you ever need some relevant information on joint design, technology, metallurgy, or pre- or post tensioning advice, please contact me. If I don't have the answer off the top of my head, I have personnel with doctorates in metallurgy and mechanical engineering at my disposal. You will get the answers you may need.

Thanks again for your review.
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# RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU CoolerOlin Coles 2011-02-26 07:28
If all of our readers were as kind, writing these reviews would be much more enjoyable.
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# RE: Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU CoolerAndrew77 2011-02-25 01:46
Good review.
But I was missing the NH-D14 as main competitor of the Silver Arrow as they are playing in the same league.
But anyway, great review as always
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# RE: RE: Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU CoolerDavid Ramsey 2011-02-25 07:45
It would be a good comparison...maybe Noctua will send us one some day!
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# RE: RE: RE: Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU CoolerStupido 2011-02-25 07:48
+1 for that.

However I already read one or 2 reviews on internet where they compare them and it looks like silver arrow is on pair or beats NH-D14 with ~1-2 degrees...
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# RE: RE: RE: RE: Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU CoolerOlin Coles 2011-02-25 08:07
Noctua actually did send us a NH-D14 sample, but the large 14cm fan died after only a few days. Now it cannot be used for testing.
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# RE: RE: RE: RE: Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU CoolerServando Silva 2011-02-25 08:29
I've tested both the Cogage Arrow and the Noctua. The Cogage is the best for higher RPM fans and higher loads, while the Noctua is better with lower loads and quieter fans. This is just probably because its fins density.
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# RE: Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU CoolerRealNeil 2011-02-25 10:11
"It's almost ironic that coolers like this are becoming available just as processors transition to designs that may ultimately render them unnecessary; even overclocked to 5GHz, an Intel Sandy Bridge 2600K doesn't need anywhere near this level of cooling."
____________________ _______
"That" is the 800 pound gorilla in the room. It also bodes ill for the people making aftermarket coolers. As usual this was a good look at a nice product that I'll do without as my present Asetek and Corsair H2o coolers do a fine job on my i7's.
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# RE: Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU Coolerdlb 2011-02-25 20:56
Great review of a great cooler, however, I'm a bit confused by the "dual pull" configuration of the fans. IMO, most people buying this cooler would set the fans as "dual push", but maybe this was not possible due to the heatsinks on the memory modules.... not a big deal, just odd. I don't think I've ever seen any dual-rad coolers ever tested using a "dual pull" configuration... maybe not odd, but definitely different!
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# RE: RE: Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU CoolerDavid Ramsey 2011-02-25 21:57
As I mentioned in the review, setting up "dual push" would be impossible-- at least with the motherboard I had, and I suspect almost any X58 motherboard-- since the fan would block both of the closest RAM slots so completely that even removing the memory heat sinks wouldn't allow it to fit. With no RAM in the first two slots, no X58 motherboard is bootable, so that's out.

And if the first fan is "pull", the second must be, too, since there's not enough room to put both fans in the middle of the cooler.

Since the performance of the cooler was amazing anyway, I didn't worry too much about it.
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# RE: RE: RE: Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU CoolerDouglas Wagner 2011-02-28 22:03
Just wanted to see if, in the test with the X58 MB, you had blocked up any of the RAM slots and/or had to remove heat sinks from the RAM to get this installed.

This is looking like my best option at this point, but I don't want to buy it and then find that I can't mount a trio of corsair dominator sticks on the board.
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# RE: RE: RE: RE: Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU CoolerDavid Ramsey 2011-02-28 22:21
With the Sabertooth X58 motherboard, a Corsair stick would probably fit in the first slot if you removed the heat sink (it doesn't really do anything anyway). YMMV.
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# RE: Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU CoolerRio Darmasetiawan 2011-02-27 22:12
A nice review for a really nice cooler. Since I use Noctua NH-D14, which is visually similar, I wonder if this cooler is the closest "rival" to mine. I did read the previous posts saying this Silver Arrow beats NH-D14 by 1-2 degrees, but would like to know more comparisons towards it. The included dual 14 cm fans of Silver Arrow VS 14 cm + 12 cm included fans of NH-D14 is kind of interesting for me to see. Hope BmR can make one later on so that I could see the difference between these two monsters. Thanks.
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# RE: RE: Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU CoolerServando Silva 2011-02-27 23:25
When I tested them I used the same fans to make comparisons a little bit fair. I used a pair of NF-P12 and then a pair of NF-P14 fans. Both tests resulted into what I've said before. The Silver Arrow does better with higher loads and high-pressure fans.
The NH-D14 has the best mounting system in my opinion.
Regards.
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# RE: RE: RE: Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU CoolerRio Darmasetiawan 2011-02-28 03:03
Oh I see. Another test conducted produced another result though I've read another comparisons between the two that stated NH-D14 was better, but, as usual, different tests produce different results. Anyway, thanks for responding. Really appreciate it.
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# RE: RE: RE: RE: Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU CoolerServando Silva 2011-02-28 09:36
That's possible. For example, in my Zalman CNPS9900MAX tests conducted with a Core i7 860 the Noctua performed better. They both are great beasts.
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# great review but to declare the best air cooler you need to test the Thermalright Archonbestjinjo 2011-03-02 22:01
Xbitlabs pitted the Silver Arrow against the NH-D14 and the SA won. However, even with 2 fans the SA lost to the Thermalright Archon when it was only equipped with 1X 140mm fan. Once paired with 2 x 140mm fans, the Archon pulled away even more. Looking forward you guys reviewing that air cooler.
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# RE: great review but to declare the best air cooler you need to test the Thermalright ArchonDavid Ramsey 2011-03-03 06:18
Hm. I've only seen the Archon on Thermalright's web page; I'd think the Silver Arrow would beat it, especially with two fans. Maybe I'll be able to test one soon and see for myself...
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# i7-970Sempifi99 2011-04-04 15:11
Would be fun to see cooler results for a hexacore proc.
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# RE: i7-970JackNaylorPE 2011-04-10 19:20
Well I now have experience with this massive beats and have a couple of comments:

1. $42 shipping was cheapest option from frozencpu.com

2. I large tower cases, installing in multi-SLI MoBos don't work. If mounted in its intended configuration .... blowing to rear, the find hit the GFX Card in PCI-E Slot No.1 .... same thing w/ the Antec Kuhler 620 btw .... that cooler cost me $18 in shipping there and back :). I was able to mount it horizontally (blowing up), while less than ideal, it works ... at $42, I wasn't gonna ship it back.

3. I installed it w/ two fans, bought a 3rd, didn't fit. The fans we got, aren't the fans shown here .... they were an ugly green w/ gray blades (since painted black)

4. Fins stay at pretty much room temperature ...

5. Bought a PYM Fan Cable Splitter (also from forzencpu.com). This one was an Akasa "Smart Cable" model. Last build I bought a different brand, both times had them sleeve it. First builds splitter shorted out my fans ... was replaced with a working one but replacement would not control fan speed. The 2nd one, the Akasa didn't work at all. machine would not boot w/ it connected.

6. As for performance, it's hard to tell as unlike BNR, I don't have lotsa things to swap it out with. Using a i7-2600 in an Asus WS Revolution w/ twin 560 GTX (900 Mhz models). Here's the results (VCore under load in ( ):

Stock 51,53, 53, 51 (1.224) LLC = Auto
4.0 Ghz 52, 54, 55, 52 (1.016-1.024) LLC = Auto
4.2 GHz 54, 56, 57, 55 (1.256 - 1.264) LLC = Auto
4.4 Ghz 56, 60, 60, 67 (1.280 - 1.288) LLC = Auto
4.6 Ghz 62, 66, 68, 65 (1.360 - 1.368) LLC = High
4.8 Ghz 71, 77, 79, 72 LLC = (1.408 - 1.416) Ultra High*

I should note that on many builds I have seen temps drop after a few bits of thermal cycling. Most noticeably, if I set upa desired OC as my target .... then purposely run it at a higher oC to get higher temps, going back to my target now has lower temps. My guess anyway is that the 1st time the TIM hits its highest temps tends to "cure it" a bit. Have seen this on just about every build I have spent a lot of time with.

I may add to this once I get another shot at this. 80C is "my self imposed limit" and unless I can figure out a way to drop voltages a bit, I won't be delving further into bigger OC's.
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# Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU CoolerKenneth Fingeret 2011-10-14 02:18
On the page "Testing and Results" I noticed a small error. In the paragraph below the temperature results the Corsair H70 is listed as the Cooler Master H70. Otherwise a very good article.
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# RE: Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU CoolerOlin Coles 2011-10-14 06:07
Glad you liked the article. We've corrected the typo. Cheers!
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# Two mounting problems prevailsystembolaget 2012-01-03 09:06
Although in German, anyone with an ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 motherboard might want to have a look here ##computerbase.de/forum/showthread.php?t=1004709 As you can see, the pressure brace does not fit as it collides with an ASUS heat-sink to the left of the mounting frame. Also, even when the central pressure screw is fully tightened, the cooler can still be rotated on the processor.
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# RE: Two mounting problems prevailDavid Ramsey 2012-01-03 09:25
Cooler this large always have the potential for clearance problems with some motherboards. That's why I specifically mentioned this in the "Cons" section of my conclusion.
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# RE: RE: Two mounting problems prevailsystembolaget 2012-01-03 11:08
Yes, good that you mention that. Too bad I did not see your review before purchasing (we're building a tiny render farm). But, what would you say about the issue that that thing still rotates quite happily even when the central pressure screw has been fully tightened? Nowhere near 70 pounds of pressure, feels like 0 pounds to me :(
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# RE: RE: RE: Two mounting problems prevailDavid Ramsey 2012-01-03 11:39
I would say "Who cares? It's still one of the very best air coolers you can buy."
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# GreaseBruce 2012-01-03 11:43
...maybe because there is a thin layer of grease between two highly polished, flat surfaces. Increasing the pressure just thins out the layer, provided the two plates reamain parallel. So, yes, 70 lbs will feel just like zero, if you're looking 90 degrees from the applied force and friction has been reduced by the lubricant.
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