Arctic Cooling NVSilencer 5

Arctic Cooling NVSilencer 5
Posted :: Oct 14, 2005 by Impact

Video Card Cooling System
Arctic Cooling
NVSilencer 5 (Rev. 3)
MSRP: $33 USD

One of the latest video card cooling systems to hit the market from Arctic Cooling, the NVSilencer 5, was put to the test by the Absolute Insight staff on nVidia's 6800GT card. The NVSilencer 5 is designed to effectively cool an nVidia 6800, 6800GT or 7800. Many of nVidia's cards, namely the 6800 and 7800, are put to the test by overclockers and gaming enthusiasts everywhere. While running the latest demanding applications such as Half-Life 2, Doom 3, F.E.A.R, etc. video cards are pushed to their limits and often operate at 100% capacity. Such intense applications cause the video card to heat up fast. Even though the stock coolers found on these cards are usually sufficient, they limit overclockability.

The packaging.

The cooler itself. Notice that it is much larger than the stock cooler.

Everything included in the package.

The installation process went quite smoothly. The original stock cooler was unscrewed and then the NVSilencer 5 was screwed into place. Despite that the NVSilencer 5 was approximately twice as heavy as the stock cooler and two to three times larger (two slots wide), it attached very securely with little need for concern. After a quick, painless installation the card was reinserted into its slot and the computer was booted.

The back of the cooler, once it was secured on the card. It's attached by 4 screws.

The new cooler strapped to the 6800GT.

To get an idea of the size difference, this is the card with the stock cooler.

And this is the card with the NVSilencer 5, and it is more than double the size of the stock.

It was immediately obvious that the new NVSilencer 5 was significantly quieter than the stock cooler. To quantify the difference, a decibel-meter was placed about three inches from the fan and it read only 59dB compared to 68dB with the stock cooler. To the human ear, the computer was significantly quieter. Next, the GPU core temperature was checked to verify the cooling capabilities of the NVSilencer 5. The card wasn't put under stress tests, but it was put under a "normal use" situation. Half-Life2 was played for approx. 30 minutes, this gave the card time to heat up. The results were impressive.

nVidia 6800GT with STOCK cooling – 66oC or 19oC above ambient

nVidia 6800GT with NVSilncer 5 cooling – 55oC or 12oC above ambient

It all comes down to a video card cooling system with excellent cooling capabilities that is easy to install, and amazingly quiet. Whether you're an overclocking enthusiast or hardcore gamer, the NVSilencer 5 is a solid choice for your nVidia 6800/7800 series. Don't worry if you have a different video card than the ones listed, because Arctic Cooling delivers equivalent cooling systems for a large variety of both ATI and nVidia based cards. You can visit their website here to find out if Arctic Cooling has a product that matches your needs.

Pros:

Easy to install
Stealthily Quiet
Excellent Cooling
Reasonably Priced (~$30)

Cons:

Bulky – Takes up two slots

After thoroughly reviewing and testing Arctic Cooling's NVSilencer 5, the Absolute Insight staff felt it deserved our "We'd buy it! ooooh yeah!" award. We would like to thank Arctic Cooling for giving us the opportunity to take one of their latest creations for a test drive. Well done!