Test – Silverstone AR06 – Conseil Config : Specs | CPU | Hashrate | Review | Config

Hi all !

Let’s continue the tests of products from Silverstone with today a very small cooler designed to be used in a small box, I named the AR06! Under this name hides a cooler 5.8cm high for 263g (without fan) equipped with a 9.2cm fan, small the beast and therefore recommended in a mini ITX box, let’s take a closer look!

The box of the AR06 is like the cooler, small! All dressed in blue and white, we can see the main characteristics as well as a photo of the cooler in profile, everything is very sober, we will not complain!

At the rear we find the same characteristics as at the front, but in 9 different languages, everyone will find something!

Once the box is open we fall on the instructions and under it the foam protecting the cooler and the bundle.

Under the small foam square we finally find the cooler, very little risk of damage during transport.

Here is the beast seen from above! A 9.2cm and 1.5cm thick fan which covers almost the entire cooler. The fan is given to rotate between 1200RPM and 2500RPM which should allow relative silence at rest but a certain noise nuisance under load, which is anyway the case for all coolers of this type because of the small size.

As can be seen the AR06 is a very compact block with 4 copper callpipes and 52 aluminum fins, the 1.5cm thick fan helps to maintain a limited height. The build quality is very good and the product is robust, no problems at this level it will not break in your hands during assembly!

Below there are 4 callpipes in direct contact with the processor, the dissipation surface unfortunately does not offer a mirror finish, too bad even if this should not influence the results more than that. Now let’s see what the bundle has in store for us:

The bundle consists of:

• 1 kit de fixation Intel (Socket 1150 1155 1156)
• 1 kit de fixation AMD (Socket AM2 AM2+ AM3 AM3+ FM1 FM2 FM2+)
• 1 installation manual
• The screws required for the various fixing kits
• 1 syringe of thermal paste

You can see that the Silverstone AR06 bundle is pretty classic, no tricks here but you’ll have everything you need to install the cooler.

The AR06 is confined to the latest Intel sockets, the time of the LGA775 is over! Regarding the 1366 and 2011 sockets, it is not really surprising that they are not in the list because all the CPUs have a TDP of more than 95Watts which is not really compatible with our little cooler.
The dimensions of the beast are really very small and it should not pose a problem in 99.9% of cases, the main goal being to use it in a mini-ITX case in which the space is very small.
Regarding noise pollution Silverstone announces 20 dB minimum and 28 dB maximum, at 2500 RPM the fan will be heard, that’s for sure, we will see this during the noise pollution test!
The price of 30.5 € HT places it in the mid-range part of coolers of this type, it will be necessary to see during the tests whether the price is ultimately justified.

The assembly of the Silverstone AR06 turns out to be childish! First of all you have to take the kit compatible with the processor used (Intel in my case) and place the 4 fasteners, as in the photo in the 4 locations.

Then you have to place the 2 plates and screw them to the cooler using the 4 screws provided, like this:

It’s almost over! Now let’s move on to the preparation of fixing to the back of the motherboard.

Just take the 4 nuts above (left) and place a rubber washer on each of them (right). Once done, just put the cooler on the processor and screw the 4 nuts on the back of the motherboard, the Silverstone AR06 is in place!

As you can see the Silverstone AR06 is really tiny on the motherboard, a very good point and the mount really holds it in place. Memory compatibility is maximum, you can install all types of memories on the market.

The test platform

The Silverstone has been tested on the configuration below:

• Processor: Intel Core i7 875K @ 3.2Ghz
• Motherboard: Asus P7P55D
• Memory: Kingston HyperX 4 x 2 Go 1600Mhz
• Hard disk: WD Raptor 150 Go
• Graphic card: Sapphire Toxic 5850
• Food: Seasonic X650

The test protocol

The i7 875K core is overclocked to 3.2Ghz, this will exceed the 95 Watts recommended for the AR06 but this will push it to its limits! The temperatures under load are an average of all the cores for 3 tests of 30 minutes on OCCT, the temperatures at rest were taken after 15mins on the desk (still an average of the 4 cores).

The cooler has been tested against the Noctua NH-L12 which is the cooler that most closely resembles the Silverstone AR06 format and the Thermalright HR01 (equipped with a Nexus real silent 120 fan) which is the control cooler on the Core i7 875K . Note that the readings are repeated each time because with changes in ambient temperature would give erroneous results.

The temperatures

Given the size of the cooler the temperatures are rather contained, nothing that can damage the processor with respectively 69 ° in 12V and 72 ° in PWM mode. Let’s not forget that the processor has an original TDP of 95Watts and that in addition it has been slightly overclocked, the Silverstone AR06 is doing very well and surpasses expectations even if it remains far from the other coolers in the comparisons. the HR01 being a tower format and the NH-L12 having 2 fans!

Noise pollution

Attention : Part to be taken with a grain of salt, unfortunately not having access to the appropriate equipment and using an android application to take the readings the measurements below are only indicative! The readings were taken 15cm from the cooler.

Of course with a single 9.2cm fan in the “slim” format of 1.5cm and the small size of the whole it was impossible for the AR06 to be silent, despite everything at rest and in PWM mode it is really very discreet and will be probably quieter than the rest of the config. On load, on the other hand, it is heard but the noise generated is neutral, no noise coming from the motors or friction so the result is ultimately satisfactory, especially since the noise generated will not reach this level during a normal PC use.

Here we are at the end of this test, what about the Silverstone AR06?
Small would be the most appropriate qualifier for the Silverstone AR06, it will be able to install in 99.90% of the configurations without the slightest compatibility problem with the memory or the components around the socket. Mini-PC oriented and capable of cooling a processor with a maximum TDP of 95 Watts, it was able to hold the slightly overclocked i7 875K core from the test config without problems which was not really won given its tendency to heat up very quickly!
The noise pollution is rather contained despite the single fan of 9.2cm, the sound is free of parasitic noise and therefore non-intrusive even if a little high at high speed, given the size of the machine there are no miracles!

Soon available at a price of 30.50 € HT, the Silverstone AR05 will be an excellent choice of cooler when mounting a mini-ITX office configuration or even an HTPC.

A big thank you to Marie from Silverstone who allowed me to do this test.

Where to find the Silverstone AR06?

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