H100, Kúhler H2O 920 or Silver Arrow

gilljoy · 28 Jun 2011 at 12:31

Finally started my new job so I can afford to get a nice cooler for my system.

Looking at the Thermalright silver Arrow since I've heard really good things. Not sure wither or not to go for one of the all in one coolers. Made a thread about this a while back but with the new H100 I thought I'd ask again to see what the opinnion is.

I'll be cooling an i7 930 to hopefully about 4Ghz or higher for my 24/7 build.

What cooler should I get?

sk82jack · 28 Jun 2011 at 14:11

What case and RAM have you got as the Silver Arrow is very big, but if you can accommodate it, I would suggest that.

gilljoy · 28 Jun 2011 at 14:34

I've got a xigmatek midgard, clone of a coolermaster 690,quite big so should be able to fit it.

Only got Corsair XMS3 ram so no fancy heatsinks

Plec · 28 Jun 2011 at 14:52

gilljoy said:
What cooler should I get?

I've just ordered the Silver Arrow for the below rig to replace a AKASA Freedom Tower in a Lian Li PC-7FN.

I've fitted one before with impressive results but that was in much larger case - this will be the first time i've used one in a relatively small enclosure.

I'll let you know my thoughts/results if you're interested tomorrow...

westiev8 · 28 Jun 2011 at 16:02

i've got the very same case and today i've just put the noctua d14 in and removed my titan fenrir, what a massive difference its made.

Plec · 28 Jun 2011 at 16:36

westiev8 said:
i've got the very same case

A Lian Li PC-7FN or a Coolermaster 690?

westiev8 said:
i've just put the noctua d14 in and removed my titan fenrir, what a massive difference its made.

Interesting comparison - what were the temp differences and fan speeds? (As the results would be very comparable to the Silver Arrow)

gazzaman2k · 28 Jun 2011 at 16:59

if you want quiet then the silver arrow is great, the antec is a little loud i didnt have the 920 but the 620 and that was nowhere near as good as the silver arrow cooling and sound wise

westiev8 · 28 Jun 2011 at 17:15

xigmatek case...3 fans (380mm) blowing in from the front and 3 fans (360mm) blowing out at the back, could not get to 3.8 ghz and into the 90's, now at 4.2 and not into the 80's, to be fair the base of the titan heat sink is of poor quality.....p.s nzxt fan controller for 5 of the fans in auto, 140mm intake fan controlled by the motherboard

Plec · 28 Jun 2011 at 17:29

westiev8 said:
>snip<

Thanks for that - useful info for myself and gilljoy as the noctua d14 has very similar cooling capabilities to that of the SA.

My case is lacking in case fans (just the front 14cm intake and 12cm rear outake) - but i'm after relative silence plus lower temps.

I'll see what results tomorrow brings...

westiev8 · 28 Jun 2011 at 17:32

fan controller is the way to go...when in auto mode the fans only run at 50% when inside the case is less than 25 degs.

Plec · 28 Jun 2011 at 17:50

westiev8 said:
fan controller is the way to go...when in auto mode the fans only run at 50% when inside the case is less than 25 degs.

I'm hoping i'll be able to run my case fans at 70% (silent) with the SA. And then have the SA set at 50% fan speed with it programmed to only hit 100% when above 65°.

If that doesn't work out - i'll may add a controller - but i can see myself buying another Silverstone Fortress FT01B instead.

gilljoy · 28 Jun 2011 at 18:53

Cheers Plec, I'd really appreciate hearing your verdict about the silver arrow.

Need to get myself a case too but cooler first. My case is fine but I'm just not happy with that and the PSU tbh

Plec · 29 Jun 2011 at 09:38

gilljoy said:
Cheers Plec, I'd really appreciate hearing your verdict about the silver arrow.

Well it's arrived - and it seems bigger than i remembered... (Thanks again 5UB for all your help.)

I'll hopefully find some time this evening to get it fitted and once i have i'll post back with results and first impression - and maybe some pics if i have the time/inclination.

bakes0310 · 29 Jun 2011 at 13:16

The silver arrow or the new H100 when it comes out is what im deciding on when i upgrade later on.

storm45 · 29 Jun 2011 at 14:25

after doing research, silver arrow seems to be winner, however, its impossible to compare with h100 as its not out yet. But its going to have to be very good to compete at that price (nearly £50 more than silver arrow).

Ordered the silver arrow to replace my broken antec kuhler 620, should come tomorrow, cant wait!

Plec · 29 Jun 2011 at 21:53

Plec said:
I'll hopefully find some time this evening to get it fitted and once i have i'll post back with results and first impression - and maybe some pics if i have the time/inclination.

OK, i'm home, knackered, and have the nickel plated monolith sat in front of me.

I'm trying to muster up the energy to fit it but i'm 4 beers down and losing the will to take my whole rig apart (did i mention i was knackered.).

I may take some pics and start clearing my desk in preperation - but the likelyhood is that i'll be fitting it tomorrow when i'm not so kna...

Plec · 30 Jun 2011 at 15:58

OK it's fitted but here are few things that need to be taken inot account:

Firstly my Silver Arrow measures 168mm from the very tip of the heatpipe to the base of the HS - i had only allowed for a 3mm discrepency so it was a close call whther it would fit.

It does fit, however, and i don't think it's touching the side of the case - still testing...

Secondly, it was a complete bitch to fit in a smaller case (lian li Pc-7)...

Below are quick test results...

N.B. these results are with the fans only running at 50% speed - even under load

Temps are superb (and as expected) idles at:

Core 0 @ 23
Core 1 @ 26
Core 2 @ 35
Core 3 @ 29

Core 3 has always been an anomoly so i'm ignoring that.

Under load after a quick prime 95 test:

Core 0 @ 45
Core 1 @ 52
Core 2 @ 55
Core 3 @ 52

Again ignore core 0 anomoly - it did this with my previous cooler...

I was using the Freedom Tower before and the idle loads on the Silver Arrow average about 15 degrees lower and at load 20 degrees lower - with the clock in my sig.

Will upload pics and further thoughts later...

storm45 · 30 Jun 2011 at 19:22

i got my silver arrow today, i think i must have installed it wrong though, maybe not correct amount of thermal paste? i did a pea sized blob and then spreaded with heatsink...

the temps @ idle with stock 3.4ghz i7 2600k are:
- Core 0: 28c
- Core 1: 29c
- Core 2: 29c
- Core 3: 30c

seems a bit high because i was getting the same temps with my broken antec kuhler 620 :|

heres some pics:

clearance from ram:

maybe i should try again? so annoying fitting this damn cooler, its sooo big!!

Plec · 30 Jun 2011 at 19:27

storm45 said:
i got my silver arrow today, i think i must have installed it wrong though, maybe not correct amount of thermal paste? i did a pea sized blob and then spreaded with heatsink...

the temps @ idle with stock 3.4ghz i7 2600k are:
- Core 0: 28c
- Core 1: 29c
- Core 2: 29c
- Core 3: 30c

seems a bit high because i was getting the same temps with my broken antec kuhler 620 :|

Idle temps are meaningless, to a point, it's the load temps that are crucial.

How do the load temps compare to the 620?

If the load temps are significantly better then it's fine.

EDIT: Did you manage to turn the middle load bolt - i only got to do a quarter turn, if that?

storm45 · 30 Jun 2011 at 19:35

running prime95 and the temps are:
- Core 0: 47c
- Core 1: 47c
- Core 2: 47c
- Core 3: 48c

ermmm, i forgot what the load temps for the antec 620 were... damn! i think they were higher though.

the middle bolt was so annoying, i turned it quite a bit but the thing is that i didn't even tighten it with my fingers to being with, so hard to tell. But i did get a few tough turns in though.