review and testing of coolers AeroCool SilverWind and Xfire

In the nominal operating mode, the heat dissipation of modern Intel Core 2 Duo processors and, believe it not, Quad is not great at all, so that it is obligatory to install on it cooling systems, alternative to the standard or so-called “boxed” coolers supplied with the processors. Moreover, even overclocking Core processors to impressive frequencies (over 3.4 ~ 3.6 GHz) does not require the installation of Supercoolers, which we regularly test. The only exceptions are processors of old steppings (B3, for example), which really require highly efficient air cooling systems, and even better liquid ones.

Of course, if you need to squeeze “all the juices” out of your processor in the air, then you cannot do without some Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme, since the processors of the Core family readily respond to an increase in the voltage on the core (s), which immediately affects on the growth of their heat release. Only now, not everyone needs such extreme overclocking. From my experience of communicating in conferences, I will say that there is a category of overclockers for whom it is enough not to overclock the processor too much, despite the fact that the standard Intel cooler is no longer enough for this, or it simply does not suit the noise level. It is in this case that such budget models come to the rescue as
Cooler Master Hyper TX(2)
, Titan TTC-NK32TZ or new line from GlacialTech. That is, cheap, efficient enough and not too loud.

Nevertheless, two new cooling systems released by AeroCool Advanced Technologies (AAT), which is not yet very well known in our country, cannot be attributed to this price segment. Since 2001, the company has been actively developing and promoting its cooling systems on the market, having in its assortment both inexpensive budget models of coolers for processors and video cards, and (until recently) top solutions, such as
AeroCool Dominator
… Unfortunately, the latter has already been discontinued for reasons not explained, so today we will be testing two other expensive coolers: SilverWind and Xfire.

The first participant in today’s tests was named by the company’s marketers quite interestingly – “Silver Wind”, although silver was not used in its design, as it might seem. The cooler itself is depicted on a small cardboard box, as well as its technical characteristics:

In addition to the cooler, the following components were found in the box:

• metal clip for attaching the cooler to motherboards for K8 processors;
• thermal paste Aero-700;
• fan speed regulator made in the form of a plug on the rear wall of the case;
• instructions for step-by-step installation of the cooler.

These are the few components. I will add here that the cooler was produced in Taiwan.

From the very first glance at the cooler, you understand that its design is of great interest:

The cooler heatsink, with the exception of the copper base, is completely made of aluminum and consists of two parts:

The lower part resembles a part of a boxed cooler from Intel processors with the same radial fins, but with a notch in the middle for a clip for motherboards with Socket 754/939/940 and AM2 sockets. Two copper heat pipes with a diameter of 6 mm pass through the copper base of this radiator, on which, in turn, 104 aluminum plates of the second tier of the radiator are strung:

The cooler’s dimensions are small and are only 130 mm in height and 95 mm in its maximum diameter.

At the same time, the cooler weighs 560 grams, so the AeroCool SilverWind seems to be unusually light after the copper Scythe Ninja.

The radiator fins in the upper tier have a rather bizarre shape, somewhat reminiscent of either swirling metal from the wind (in – said 🙂), or sea waves:

Inside this very second tier, directly above the lower radiator, there is a 92-mm fan impeller with transparent blades. Its rotation speed is adjustable from ~ 1700 to ~ 2700 rpm with an air flow of 42.36 ~ 60.38 CFM and a noise level of 17.99 ~ 28.91 dBA.

Schematically, the air flow movement of the AeroCool SilverWind cooler looks like this:

That is, the fins on the heat pipes in the second tier are cooled by the incoming air flow from the fan, while the lower radiator is cooled by the outgoing air flow.

The surface of the cooler base is made on a solid four

There are also no complaints about its evenness, verified by the imprint of thermal paste on the glass.

A plate with standard plastic clips for motherboards with LGA 775 socket is already screwed to the base of the cooler:

Thus, the whole process of installing a cooler on a platform for Intel processors (Socket 478 is not supported) is reduced to pressing these latches into the near-socket holes of the board. To install AeroCool SilverWind on platforms with K8 processors, the mount must be unscrewed, and the supplied mounting clip must be inserted into the lower radiator, which then hooks onto a standard plastic frame. In no case will you have to remove the motherboard from the case of the system unit.

Inside the case of the system unit, the cooler is compact and does not interfere with the elements of the near-socket space:

Well, at night, the light of the original white backlight of the AeroCool SilverWind fan will brighten up the sometimes not always successful overclocking process:

The cost of AeroCool SilverWind is recommended at the level 49 dollars, which is insanely expensive for aluminum on two tubes, no matter how bizarre they are embodied.