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ATI Silencer 4 (Rev. 2)
Artic Cooling has made a name for themselves, especially when it comes to VGA cooling. Recently we received one of their new VGA coolers designed for the ATI X800 series PCI-e video card. The "ATI Silencer 4 (Rev. 2)" is based off the Silencer line of VGA coolers we took a look at a few months ago except for some changes. We are going to take a closer look and see just how this cooler works and see if AC has made another winner.
Specs:
Application:
**Easier Installation
Information above taken from Artic Cooling website Product Page
Frozen CPU price 36.59 USD Purchase Link
Installation: The installation of this cooler is pretty straight forward, even a novice should have no trouble getting this cooler working. Make sure you use care, as in any situation with electronics, not to create any static charge, especially when removing the old cooler. Remember, treat your video card like a mini PC. There is a CPU or GPU and ram along with circuitry that can short if it is handled improperly.
This cooler, as I mentioned earlier, is very easy to install. First, remove your old cooler. There should be a few screws in the back that come off very easy. Then you will notice that the copper underside of the AC VGA cooler has thermal pads with adhesive covers that need to be removed before placing the new cooler onto the X800 video card. We will be using a Power color model for this demonstration but all X800 cards should be about the same. Notice the thermal pads are placed so that they sit upon the RAM chips. This is for two reasons. One, to help distribute the heat onto the copper heat plate and two, to protect the chips when fastening the cooler onto the card.
Next you will want to do the same thing with the rear aluminum plate. There will be 4 thermal pads there as well. Don't be afraid to make sure the pads line up properly and move them slightly if needed.
Once you have the two heat plates in place you will need to start by carefully fastening the two thumb screws evenly until just snug..
Then use the pressure bar for the lower mounts to fasten the lower half. It is a good idea to tighten these screws a little at a time to evenly snug the plates together. BE VERY CAREFUL not to over tighten, this may cause unwanted damage that will most likely not be covered under any warranty.
Once the heat plates are in place the only thing left is to connect the fan power. This should snap right into the existing connector.
Finally, just install the card into your PC. Make sure the extra PCI plate is installed to allow for an exhaust port on the rear of your PC.
**This install is quick and easy to understand. AC does a good job with the documentation but to be honest, there us bit much to be confused about as the installer is familiar on how a video card looks and works.
Appearance: This cooler as with all the AC line of VGA coolers appear to be out of a sci-fi movie. The design is not only functional but neat to look at in my opinion. The cooler looks much better and sleeker than the bland old stock unit provided by many of the manufacturers.
Performance: When discussing the performance of this cooler there are two important things to keep in mind: Cooling and Design. AC hits a home run with this cooler. We are having a little trouble with our contact thermometer but our ambient meter is working fine so what we decided to do is take the internal case temp between the stock cooler and the AC NV4 Rev 2. And although the internal case temp was only 2 Degrees Celsius lower, 2 degrees in the overall case temp is huge. For example, when running a normal load test on a CPU cooler the ambient temp in the case will fluctuate 5 to 10 degrees. So if a VGA Cooler can reduce the internal temp by another 2 degrees then imagine what it is doing for the actual GPU on the video card. Keep in mind your personal temps may vary from our results so you might have better results. It will depend on a case by case basis (Pun Intended.)
Another aspect of this cooler is that the design is just as impressive
as the cooling ability. The Thermal pads and air flow design help
tremendously in the overall appeal of this product. Let's go in a little
deeper on this, take a close look at the way the AC cools. They don't
just slap a fan on top of a heat sink and call it a day. Their design is
made to remove the surrounding air not only from the GPU but from the
case itself.
In short this cooler performs exceptional. The only thing I have personally seen which works better in heat dispersal thus far would be liquid, so for an air cooler this product ROCKS.
Quality: The AC ATI Silencer 4 (Rev. 2) is made of quality metals and designed to be quiet and cool. The construction of this cooler is very solid, the heat panels fit very well onto the card we used and I can only give good feedback on the overall construction and design. AC also feels so strongly about the quality of this product that this product comes with a 6 year warranty to show that it is made for the long haul. Other then fan failure, there is little that can go wrong with this product and with AC's track record, I don't foresee any problems in the future.. Big thumbs up from our team on this cooling unit. Nice job AC!
Pros: Easy Installation. Great performance. Moves heated air out of PC. Price is moderate. Look is much more appealing then the stock cooler. Quality metals and construction. Very Quiet. Cons: An extra PCI slot is needed but with PCI-e it shouldn't be an issue. Conclusion: Artic Cooling designed and manufactured a quality product with impeccable performance. The many factors they considered when creating this product shows they produce only quality products, have an excellent employee base w/the skills to make a great product and that they have a good feeling for today's PC hardware product market. This cooler will help make your gamming PC even better... Excellent product AC! & congratulations on winning our highest award the "Editors Choice Trophy of Excellence", for a cutting edge product that changed the way people view video cooling.
Rating
6 out of 6 Stars Review date 05/03/05 Reviewer pr101j (Paul)
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