Arctic Cooling ATI Silencer 4 Rev. 2

[W1zzard]

[Page=Introduction, Packaging & Installation]
Introduction

From the manufacturer Arctic Cooling (http://www.arctic-cooling.com):

Today we test Revision 2 of the Arctic Cooling ATI Silencer 4. Read our review of version 1 here (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4).

<table border="1" class="resulttable" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3">
<tr>
<th scope="row">Fan casing</th>
<td scope="row">Hair Dryer (35 fins)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Heatsink plate</th>
<td scope="row">t(Cu)=2.5mm, 1.3mm</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Bearing</th>
<td scope="row">Artic Ceramic Bearing: the shaft is made of ceramic for the perfect performance</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Memory cooler</th>
<td scope="row">Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Fan Speed</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">5V: 1100 RPM
12V: 2000 RPM</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Plug</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Small 3 pin. Connects to video card</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Fan cable length</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">150 mm</td>
</tr>
</table>

Packaging

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/package1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/package1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/package2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/package2.jpg)

Box contents:

VGA cooler with fan and screws
Backside cooling plate
Thermal Paste
PCI slot cover
Instruction manual
Sticker


http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/package3_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/package3.jpg)

The first revision used a heatsink base which was higher than the surrounding copper, which led to flatness problems. Revision two does not use this, so the surface is much flatter.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/flatness1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/flatness1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/flatness2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/flatness2.jpg)

Installation

As always when installing a VGA Silencer, installation is very easy and takes only a few minutes.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/installation1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/installation1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/installation2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/installation2.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/installation3_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/installation3.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/installation4_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/installation4.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/installation5_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/installation5.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/installation6_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/installation6.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/installation7_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/installation7.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/installation8_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/installation8.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/installation9_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/installation9.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/installation10_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/installation10.jpg)

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/ramsinks_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/ramsinks.jpg)

The second revision uses thermal pads to improve contact with the memory chips. Contact is excellent now, revision 1 had a few problems with it. It is easy to get the thermal pads off when removing the cooler.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/cable1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/cable1.jpg)

The fan connector cable is a bit long, but it is possible to hide the excess cable under the cooling fan.

[PAGE=Performance, Value & Conclusion]
Performance

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/contact1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/contact1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/contact2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/contact2.jpg)

After the initial installation the heatsink was immediately removed and the contact area was inspected. The new heatsink base clearly improves contact with the GPU core. While we have seen better contact with coolers from other companies, the contact of the VGA Silencer is good, as performance shows.

[hr]

For the overclocking tests I used my ATITool overclocking utility version 0.0.24 Beta 8. ATITool has the unique ability to detect artifacts, or flaws, in a rendered image. As defined by ATITool, the maximum stable overclock on a card is the speed at which it is able to consistently (15 minutes in this test) produce no errors, or artifacts. ATITool detects ANY artifacts, even ones which will not be visible in game. Using the human eye to detect artifacts introduces subjectivity into the test, so despite the fact that an ATITool tested overclock will be characteristically lower than a human one, I will use this.

Temperature was measured with one case side open by b reading the on-die X800 XT thermal diode. Idle temperature was measured after letting Windows sit one hour at the desktop. Load temperature was measured after running 3DMark2001 looped for one hour. Both at the card's default clock of 500 / 500 Mhz.

Arctic Silver Lumière was used as thermal interface material for the GPU core in all installations. Lumière is a specially engineered testing compound - it needs no settle in time to reach its maximum performance, but it's not designed for permanent use.

The fan was connected to the video card's fan output which features dynamic fan speeds - the fan speed is variated based on temperature. For all temperatures below 70°C it is 43%. The VGA Silencer does such a good job at keeping the card cool that it's always running at those 43%. I find this does not show the full potential of the VGA Silencer, so I also tested it with fan speeds forced to 100%.

<table class="resulttable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3">
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Radeon X800 XT</th>
<td>Maximum Core Clock </td>
<td>Sound level </td>
<td>Temperature Load </td>
<td>Temperature Idle </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Stock cooler - dynamic fan</th>
<td>534 Mhz</td>
<td>Quiet</td>
<td>80°C</td>
<td>42°C</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Stock cooler - fan 100%</th>
<td>545 Mhz</td>
<td>Noisy</td>
<td>67°C</td>
<td>35°C</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">ATI Silencer 4 dynamic</th>
<td>550 Mhz</td>
<td>Very quiet</td>
<td>62°C</td>
<td>35°C</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">ATI Silencer 4 100%</th>
<td>552 Mhz </td>
<td>Quiet</td>
<td>57°C</td>
<td>34°C</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Watercooling (Water ~30°C)</th>
<td>564 Mhz </td>
<td>Inaudible</td>
<td>35°C</td>
<td>31°C</td>
</tr>
</table>

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/graph1.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/graph2.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticCooling/ATISilencer4_Rev2/images/graph3.gif

The ATI Silencer 4 just does awesome on all settings. Even at the slow 43% it's working really good. The 100% setting does not really increase overclocking potential much, I would say it is best to keep the fan running at whatever the video card sets it at.
The clicking noises which Revision 1 had are completely gone now, no matter at which speed. Also it seemed to me, that the fan was a good deal quieter than the first revision's fan. When I turned the system on for the first time after installation, the fan was so quiet that I put a finger on the fan to check if it was really spinning.

Value and Conclusion

<table width="100%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" id="result">
<tr><th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/dollar.gif</th>
<td>
The ATI Silencer 4 is selling for about $30 which is a good price for this cooler.
</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbup.gif</th>
<td>
Great performance
Copper base
Easy to install
Cools memory as well
Fan connects to video card
All issues from previous revision were fixed
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbdown.gif</th>
<td>
Backside looks ugly
Only compatible with X800
Fan cable is too long
Ramsinks use thermal pads
</td></tr>
<tr><th>9.5</th>
<td>The VGA Silencer 4 Revision 2 is the best cooler tested so far for the X800. All previous problems were fixed, the fan is running very quiet now, and performance is just great. The extra memory cooling works very well and gives more overclocking headroom.</td></tr>
<tr><th></th><td>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/editorschoice.gif</td></tr>
</table>

[Cabaret Cow]

Great and informative review. It's made me want to buy one of these lickity split, but the whole thing about not being able to find one for sale online has really put a roadblock on my plans. Can anyone help me out?

[Barnacle Bill]

Is there any reason the ATI Silencer 4 Rev. 2 won't fit on a AIW X800XT? Arctic Cooling's website specifies that the ATI Silencer 1 Rev. 2 fits the AIW X800XT but that options doesn't provide any cooling for the memory chips and the ATI Silencer 1 Rev. 2 doesn't even come with memory heat sinks! Thanks in advance!

[N4rk Killer Of Bots]

I Want This Cooler Revisions 2 >.< No American Maerchants Online -_-

[Unregistered]

The Arctic Cooling VGA Coolers get good reviews but I would question the quality control. I purchased a Silencer 1 (Rev. 2) and at the first start up, the fan short circuited inside its case. The fault current also caused the fan supply to fail permanently so that I could not run the stock fan either. I'm advised by the company who sold me the Arctic Cooling unit (Overclockers.co.uk), that fitting the Arctic Cooling fan invalidates the warranty for the graphic card, so there is no recourse for the damage caused by the faulty fan.

[Unregistered]

If you are thinking of installing an Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer fan on an ATI card, be aware that that the Arctic Cooling fan may fail and cause permanent failure of the output to the VGA fan. I received the e-mail (below) from Arctic Cooling after a Silencer 1 Revision 2 fan failed on first start; I should add that the Arctic Cooling fan short circuited, not the ATI capacitor.

"Dear Mr. xxxxxx

The cap exploded on the ATI card because ATI uses their fan speed controller in an improper way. They don't provide the motor with a stable 12V voltage, they have voltage peaks over 25V. So far we were using a 16V cap, that should offer a good reserve, but not for some ATI boards. The Nvidia boards don't use this controller. ...

It is important to inform the customers that the failure comes from an
overvoltage from the ATI board. The spec tells actually for all fans in the PC a max. voltage of 12V. ATI seems to have recognized the problem and switched from the LM63 to the LM64 controller on their latest boards. Since the ATI fan speed controller doesn't offer a clean and stable voltage, I recommend all users to take the power for the directly from the PSU. In order to get 12V you have to take black and yellow, to get 5V black and red. The easiest way, buy a Y-cable for the PSU, cut one plug, remove isolation of black and yellow and do the same on your VGA board. Then just twist the corresponding cables into each other and isolate it with a tape.

Since we will remove the cap, we will get a clicking noise back as soon as there is an LM63 controller used on the ATI board. The solution is here exactly the same, get the power from a thermistor or the PSU directly. Unfortunately as far as I know, there are no adapter cables...

Best Regards

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

ARCTIC COOLING Switzerland AG
Huobstrasse 4
8808 Pfäffikon - Switzerland"

[Unregistered]

I Want This Cooler Revisions 2 >.< No American Maerchants Online -_-

I know, its rediculous, even newegg doesnt carry it. So i sent in a request for them to carry it, maybe if they get a bunch of requests they will put it in stock. If you havent done that, do it, everybody that reads this do it too. :)

I want one of these pretty bad, my sapphire x800 gets up into the mid to upper 70s under load....its the only part of my system that gets super hot.

[redlight]

I know, its rediculous, even newegg doesnt carry it. So i sent in a request for them to carry it, maybe if they get a bunch of requests they will put it in stock. If you havent done that, do it, everybody that reads this do it too. :)

I want one of these pretty bad, my sapphire x800 gets up into the mid to upper 70s under load....its the only part of my system that gets super hot.

I know its a different model but my ATI silencer 5 rev2 for r430 x800s does not fit on a sapphire board,my board is blue if that makes any difference. It took over an hour with a dremel to make it fit. It was worth the effort though.

[sportcnter]

I think you have the same card as me redlight. Its an r420, the silencer 5 is made for x850s (r430) and the other more expensive cards. How did you get the 5 to fit on yours? I'm half tempted to just buy the 5 and mod it too.

I'm the guest that posted above you BTW.

[redlight]

I think you have the same card as me redlight. Its an r420, the silencer 5 is made for x850s (r430) and the other more expensive cards. How did you get the 5 to fit on yours? I'm half tempted to just buy the 5 and mod it too.

I'm the guest that posted above you BTW.


No mine is a pci-e r430 its just that sapphire decided to shuffle the board around,I had to cut out a little bit(an inch) of the very hard copperplate and cooling fins,only cause it was too much hassle to send it back. It works great anyway.