Introduction
This is a review of the Arctic Cooling NV Silencer 5 REV 3 for NVIDIA 6800 cards and 7800 cards.
http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/6573/picture0478ot6yl.th.jpg
Most of us have heard of the Silencer series of graphics card coolers. They are among the best selling cooling solutions for GPUs. And for hardware geeks who want to tweak the most out of their system, this is a very good buy. Or so, the company advertises 
[break=Official Description and Application]
Official Description
**Easier Installation
New clip and back plate design for better fit.
Thermal paste is already pre-applied to the heatsink.
**Enhanced Compatibility
New fan casing design to enhance compatibility.
**Ripple Noise Solution
A filter is integrated into the PCB to reduce the noise generated from the motor.
**Extremely quiet
A large fan and optimized fanblades offer a minimum noise level at a high air flow.
**Unique Cooling Performance
Highest fin surface area and a 3.5 mm thick copper base achieve best cooling performance at its noise level.
**Efficient Memory Cooling
With this highly efficient heatsink the memories get cooled up to 6 times better than without memory cooling.
**High Service Life (L10 at 30ĂâĂ°C: 274000h)
Our ARCTIC Ceramic Bearing (alloy bearing and Ceramic shaft) provides our fans with an outstanding service life.
**6 Years Warranty
**DHES (Direct Heat Exhaust System)
The DHES draws cool air from inside the case and exhausts warm
air outwards. This prevents the fan from recycling warm air to cool the
GPU, which increases cooling performance.
Further the DHES lowers the air temperature inside the case, because the heat
of the GPU will be carried out directly.
**Easy Installation
Compared to our VGA Silencer, we could ease the installation process significantly.
Application:
AGP: Geforce 6800 Series
FX 4000
PCIe: Geforce 6800 Series
Geforce 7800 Series
Quadro FX 1400, 3400, 3450, 4400, 4500
[break=Personal Experience]
Personal Experience
In one sentence ----- Build quality SUCKS!! Read the whole thread to get an idea http://www.techenclave.com/forums/new-toys-p-68269.html
Now, I am not that bad when it comes to handling hardware. About the screw which started rotating, I was just screwing the nut in. And the whole damn screw started rotating.
Anyway I finally fixed everything by using a bit of superglue and a bit of contact cement
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/2336/37ts9rd.th.jpg http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/2003/13gg25lx.th.jpg
These are the pics of the screw which was rotating. I put a bit of super glue a few months back and a few days back, I again used the contact cement. It seems to be holding.
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/7969/nvs513zq6hl.th.jpg This was the screw which came out completely. Another problem I had was that the nut had got really screwed to the screw⌠I could not remove it easily. Finally, my dad holding the screw with one pair of cutting pliars and me holding the nut with another pair, we could loosen the nut and remove it completely.
After that, I used a bit of contact cement again and fixed it properly back.
These are the pics of the tube of contact cement I am talking abt.
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/9091/dsc002699er.th.jpg
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/3106/dsc002708kx.th.jpg
So, basically, I have been very disappointed with the way Arctic Cooling makes these things. These things are not supposed to fall apart in my hands.
Anyway coming to the REAL reason you are all reading this review
[break=Installation]
Installation
The installation is very easy as long as the Silencer does not fall apart in your hands. It is just a matter of removing the old heatsink, cleaning the core and RAM with IPA and then reapplying thermal paste to the core and fixing the Silencer 5.
What I did was, I cleaned the core and RAM chips. After that, I obviosuly disregarded the thermal paste provided by Arctic Cooling. They give some Arctic cooling MX-1 paste. I of course applied a thin layer of Arctic Silver 5 on the core. I used my finger covered with a thin plastic cover to spread it evenly on the core.
The NV Silencer 5 has thermal pads on the copper base for the RAM Chips. So, obviously, I didnt need to use any thermal paste for the RAM chips.
http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/5180/silencerpic2kb.th.jpg
I would have actually preferred the older versions of the Silencer 5 as they had a pure copper base, even for the RAM chips. That would have certainly been better than the thermal pads given with this revision.
After this, I just placed the Silencer over the card, and on the other side of the card, I placed the metal clip and the rubber spacer ad tightened the screws with my hand. I was too afraid to use screwdrivers or anything for fear that the newly fixed screws would again start giving me problems.
But anyway it was a cinch. The Installation instructions given with the Silencer says that if needed, the screws can be tightened further. I didnt need to do so as the core and RAM chips were making good contact with the copper base and the thermal pads respectively.
[break=Performance]
PERFORMANCE
Test Bench:
AMD 64 3200+
Asus A8V Deluxe
BFG 6800 GT OC. Stock speeds are Core - 370 MHz and Memory â 1000 MHz
1 GB UCCC
El-cheapo cabinet. But tests have been done with side panel open and one intake fan.
With Stock cooling:
Stock speed:
At Idle â http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/9788/stockidlenooc9ft.th.jpg
At Load â http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/9896/stocknoocload2vc.th.jpg
At Overclocked speeds (Core â 414 MHz)
LOAD â http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/8623/stockloadoc0ee.th.jpg
With Silencer
Stock Speeds
IDLE Ă¢ââââŹĹ http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/4062/silenceridle7ar.th.jpg
Stock speeds at load ---- http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3318/silencerloadstockspeeds4nl.th.jpg
Overclocked Speeds
Load â http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/7478/silencerloadoc5ou.th.jpg
A quick recap:
Stock cooler [B]
Idle â 57
Load(non-Ocâed) â 79
Load(ocâed to Core of 414) â 77[/B]
After installing NV Silencer 5
Idle â 55
Load(non-OCâed) â 71
Load(ocâed to core = 414) â 70
As can be seen, the idle temps are not too great. But the load temps are simply amazing!!!
The strange thing is that in both the cases the load temps when ocâed is less than the load temps when at stock speeds :S.
And I noticed it more so when I ocâed the core to 420 MHz. The Load temps did not even touch 70 at that time. It was always at 69 or lesser.
I guess that can be attributed to the fact that my room is not maintained at a constant temperature or anything. So, I guess variations on room temperature show up here.
And after loading it to 71 deg C and then closing the RTHDRIBL window, it takes all of 1 min 47 secs for the GPU temperature to drop to 57 deg C :D.
I did not do this test on the stock cooler, so I canĂ¢ââââ¢t really compare. But I guess that is something really good.
And it is DEAD Silent. I mean, I myself could not believe how silent it was compared to the stock cooler when I installed it and started up my PC. I am not such a big fan of silent computing but this is mindblowing.
The best I could overclock on the stock cooler before it started artefacting was 414/1150.
With this NV Silencer installed, I can go upto 420/1170. I know it isnĂ¢ââââ¢t much but I guess this is the limit of the GPU itself. Even at this speeds, the temperature of the GPU core does not cross 71 Deg C
[break=Conclusions]
Conclusion
Some more pics after installing the Silencer fitted 6800GT in my cabby
http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/2419/pic0084tj.th.jpg
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/9871/pic0091ub.th.jpg
http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/3198/pic0107zm.th.jpg
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/3047/pic0116zx.th.jpg
I got my NV Silencer for 60 Singapore $. That is abt 1620/- Rs. I think that it is quite a decent price for the performance it offers.
This concludes my review of the Arctic Cooling NV Silencer 5.
Pros: Superb cooling, very very silent, reasonably priced.
Cons: Bad build quality, thermal pads for the RAM chips.
reped ya
