The Thermalright Silver Arrow is a monstrous 1.2kg heatsink with 8mm thick heatpipes and a pair of 14cm fans. Does it have what it takes to beat Noctua’s flagship NH-D14 cooler?
February 22, 2010 by Lawrence Lee
Product | Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU Cooler |
Manufacturer | Thermalright |
Street Price | US$70~$80 |
Thermalright has a history of simple, but incredibly effective cooling products. TR’s Ultra-120 series of CPU heatsinks is the longest-lived high performance CPU coolers, remaining popular to this day despite virtually no changes over the years. The Silver Arrow shares a similar construction and look as the Ultra-120 line but in a much larger package. Weighing in at 1.2 kg and armed with a pair of 14 cm fans, this monstrosity looks to take on Noctua’s flagship NH-D14 heatsink.
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While the Silver Arrow retains Thermalright’s utilitarian cardboard box design, there is a tiny bit of artwork at the side. Apparently this is as fanciful as Thermalright packages get. Inside, cushioned by foam are the heatsink itself, a pair of 14 cm fans, mounting hardware, and instructions.
The heatsink itself is not really new; it is simply a tweaked version of the apparently discontinued IFX-14 which included a small heatsink to cool the backside of the processor. We never got a chance to test the IFX-14, but the Silver Arrow should be representative of its performance. The Silver Arrow also has an updated mounting system and two fans are provided at no extra cost. It has four 8 mm thick heatpipes compared to the 6 x 6 mm heatpipes on the Noctua NH-D14. Its fin stacks are not as deep, but there are more fins and they are packed tighter.
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The last Thermalright heatsink we reviewed, the Ultra-120 eXtreme Rev.C, featured a Prolimatech/Noctua style mounting scheme for Intel motherboards. The Silver Arrow has slightly tweaked hardware with thumbscrews and nuts to make it easier and faster to install. Also instead of long fan damping strips, black triangular adhesive pads are used to cushion the corners of the fans.
Thermalright Silver Arrow: Key Features (from the product web page) | |
Feature & Brief | Our Comment |
4 X 8mm large sintered heat-pipes efficiently remove excessive heat away from the CPU, allowing for great Overclocking potential. | Larger than the 6 mm thick pipes used in most high performance heatsinks. |
Nickel Plated Base and Heatpipes, increase the longevity of the heatsink by slowing oxidation and deterioration rates… maintained performance over time. | All Thermalright heatsinks are nickel-plated to prevent rust. |
Double fin stack design, provides each tower with an impressive 147 x 103mm of surface area for heat dissipation | The Silver Arrow looks like a pair of smaller heatsinks fused into one. |
Special Arrow fin design, which allows cool air to pass through while rapidly moving heat away and maintaining a quiet operating volume . | A variation of their “bent winglet design” introduced by their Ultra series heatsinks. |
Soldered Copper Base, ensure the highest of Thermal conduction. | Standard. |
Support for Multiple-Platforms: Intel Socket 1366/1156/775 & AM2/AM3. | Good. |
Includes Two TY Series Ultra Low noise 160*140*25mm PWM controlled fan. | Okay. |
Thermalright Silver Arrow: Specifications (from the product web page) | |
Cooler Dimension: | Length 147mm x Width 123mm x Height 160mm |
Cooler weight: | 825 g (excluding BTK and Fan) |
Heat-pipe: | 8mm Sintered Heatpipe*4 units |
Cooler Base Material: | C1100 Pure Copper with Nickel Plating. |
Fan Dimension: | Length 160mm x Width 26.5mm x Height 140mm |
Fan Speed: | 900~1300 RPM (PWM) |
Fan noise level: | 19dBA |
Fan Airflow: | 69CFM |
PHYSICAL DETAILS
The Silver Arrow is composed of a copper base, four “U” shaped copper heatpipes and a stack of 55 fins on each side, all nickel-plated. By our measurements,
it weighs approximately 1210 grams, 870 grams without the fans and clips, making it slightly lighter than the NH-D14. The Silver Arrow is also taller than the Noctua by 5~10 mm; the heatsink measures 165 mm high, but with the fans centered, the overall height increases to 170 mm.
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INSTALLATION
The most critical aspect of installation is that the heatsink be securely
mounted. A firm mating results in good contact between the heatsink’s base and
the CPU heatspreader and more efficient heat conduction. Ideally, it should
also be a simple procedure to minimize user error.
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TESTING
Before thermal testing, we took some basic physical measurements.
Approximate Physical Measurements | |
Weight | 870 g 1210 g with stock fans and clips |
Height | 165, 170 mm with fans centered |
Fin count | 55 |
Fin thickness | 0.32 mm |
Fin spacing | 1.57 mm |
Vertical Clearance* | 48 mm |
Horizontal Overhang** | -7 mm |
* measured from the motherboard PCB to the bottom fin of the heatsink. ** measured from the far edge of the heatsink to the top edge of the motherboard PCB. |
Comparison: Approximate Average Fin Thickness & Spacing | ||
Heatsink | Fin Thickness | Fin Spacing |
Scythe Ninja 2 | 0.39 mm | 3.68 mm |
Thermalright HR-01 Plus | 0.45 mm | 3.15 mm |
Scythe Ninja 3 | 0.39 mm | 2.64 mm |
Noctua NH-U12P | 0.44 mm | 2.63 mm |
Noctua NH-C12P | 0.47 mm | 2.54 mm |
Noctua NH-D14 | 0.43 mm | 2.33 mm |
Prolimatech Armageddon | 0.51 mm | 2.08 mm |
Prolimatech Megahalems | 0.50 mm | 2.00 mm |
Zalman CNPS10X Quiet | 0.40 mm | 2.00 mm |
Scythe Kabuto & Zipang 2 | 0.34 mm | 1.94 mm |
Scythe Mugen-2 | 0.31 mm | 1.89 mm |
Cooler Master V8 | 0.30 mm | ~1.85 mm |
Noctua NH-C14 | 0.38 mm | 1.79 mm |
Titan Fenrir | 0.36 mm | 1.78 mm |
Scythe Yasya | 0.32 mm | 1.78 mm |
Cogage TRUE Spirit 1366 | 0.40 mm | 1.70 mm |
Arctic Cooling Freezer Xtreme Rev.2 | 0.30 mm | 1.70 mm |
Scythe Grand Kama Cross | 0.38 mm | 1.66 mm |
Thermalright Silver Arrow | 0.32 mm | 1.57 mm |
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus | 0.43 mm | 1.54 mm |
Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme Rev.C | 0.56 mm | 1.52 mm |
Zalman CNPS10X Extreme | 0.42 mm | 1.50 mm |
Testing was done on our
i7-1366 heatsink testing platform. A summary of the test system
and procedure follows.
Key Components in Heatsink Test Platform:
- Intel Core i7-965 Extreme
Nehalem core, LGA1366, 3.2GHz, 45nm, 130W TDP. - Asus
P6X58D Premium ATX motherboard. X58 chipset. - Asus
EAH3450 Silent graphics card. - Intel
X25-M 80GB 2.5″ solid-state drive. Chosen for silence. - 3GB QiMonda
DDR3 memory. 3 x 1GB DDR3-1066 in triple channel. - Seasonic X-650 SS-650KM
650W ATX power supply. This PSU is semi-passively cooled. At the power levels
of our test platform, its fan does not spin. - Arctic Silver
Lumière: Special fast-curing thermal interface material, designed
specifically for test labs. - Noctua 140 mm fan (used when possible with heatsinks that fit 140x25mm
fans) - Nexus 120 mm fan (used when possible with heatsinks that fit 120x25mm
fans) - Nexus 92 mm fan (used when possible with heatsinks that fit 92x25mm
fans)
The system is silent under the test conditions, except for the CPU cooling
fan(s).
Normally, our reference fans are used whenever possible, the measured details
of which are shown below.
Reference Noctua 140mm fan Anechoic chamber measurements | ||
Voltage | SPL@1m | Speed |
12V | 28~29 dBA | 1250 RPM |
9V | 21 dBA | 990 RPM |
7V | 15~16 dBA | 770 RPM |
6V | 13 dBA | 660 RPM |
Reference Nexus 120mm fan Anechoic chamber measurements | ||
Voltage | SPL@1m | Speed |
12V | 16 dBA | 1100 RPM |
9V | 13 dBA | 890 RPM |
7V | 12 dBA | 720 RPM |
Reference Nexus 92 mm fan Anechoic chamber measurements | ||
Voltage | SPL@1m | Speed |
12V | 16 dBA | 1470 RPM |
9V | 12 dBA | 1150 RPM |
Measurement and Analysis Tools
- Extech 380803 AC power analyzer / data logger for measuring AC system
power. - Custom-built, four-channel variable DC power supply, used to regulate
the fan speed during the test. - PC-based spectrum analyzer:
SpectraPlus with ACO Pacific mic and M-Audio digital
audio interfaces. - Anechoic chamber
with ambient level of 11 dBA or lower - Various other tools for testing fans, as documented in our
standard fan testing methodology. - SpeedFan,
used to monitor the on-chip thermal sensors. The sensors are not calibrated,
so results are not universally applicable. The hottest core reading is used. - Prime95,
used to stress the CPU heavily, generating more heat than most real applications.
8 instances are used to ensure that all 4 cores (with Hyper-threading) are
stressed. - CPU-Z,
used to monitor the CPU speed to determine when overheating occurs. - Thermometers to measure the air temperature around the test platform
and near the intake of the heatsink fan.
Noise measurements were made with the fans powered from the lab’s variable DC
power supply with the rest of the system off to ensure that system noise
did not skew the measurements.
Load testing was accomplished using Prime95 to stress the processor, and the
graph function in SpeedFan was used to ensure that the load temperature is stable
for at least ten minutes. The temperature recorded is the highest single core
reading. The stock fans were tested at various voltages to represent a good
cross-section of airflow and noise performance.
The ambient conditions during testing were 10~11 dBA and 21~23°C.
STOCK FAN MEASUREMENTS
The Silver Arrow ships with a pair of Thermalright’s TY-140 fans. The TY-140 is a 14 cm seven blade fan with curved struts to produce a desirable angle with the trailing edges. The blades are rather unusual in that the leading corners are rounded and the trailer corners seem to have been cut so they are not perpendicular. The housing is also an unusual shape.
Specifications: Thermalright Silver Arrow Stock Fan | |||
Manufacturer | Power Rating | 2.4 W | |
Model Number | TR-TY140 | Airflow Rating | 56~73 CFM |
Bearing Type | Hyper-Flow | Speed Rating | 900~1300 RPM |
Corners | Open | Noise Rating | 19~21 dBA |
Frame Size | 152 x 140 x 26 mm | Header Type | 4-pin PWM |
Blade Diameter | 130 mm | Starting Voltage | 4.9 V |
Hub Size | 42 mm | Weight | 160 g |
Data in green cells provided by the manufacturer or observed; data in the blue cells were measured. |
Stock Fan Measurements | |||
Voltage | Avg. Speed | SPL @1m | |
One Fan | Two Fans | ||
12V | 1290 RPM | 23~24 dBA | 26 dBA |
9V | 1000 RPM | 18 dBA | 19~20 dBA |
7V | 780 RPM | 13 dBA | 14 dBA |
6V | 650 RPM | 12 dBA | 12~13 dBA |
Measuring mic positioned 1m at diagonal angle from the center of the heatsink. Ambient noise level: 10~11 dBA. |
The stock fan’s acoustics are average at 9V and above. The fan generates a dry, tonal hum that decreases with speed, but it is always audible at close proximity. At 7V and below, it is barely noticeable at one meter, and if enclosed in a good case, it should be inaudible. The measured noise level is very low for a fan of its size and speed, generating just 23~24 dBA at full speed and approaching our anechoic chamber’s noise floor at 6V.
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COOLING RESULTS
Fan Voltage | One Fan | Two Fans | ||
SPL@1m | Thermal Rise | Thermal Rise | SPL@1m | |
Stock Fan: Thermalright TY-140 | ||||
12V | 23~24 dBA | 36°C | 34°C | 26 dBA |
9V | 18 dBA | 38°C | 35°C | 19~20 dBA |
7V | 13 dBA | 42°C | 38°C | 14 dBA |
6V | 12 dBA | 46°C | 40°C | 12~13 dBA |
Alternate Fan: Noctua NF-P14 | ||||
12V | 28~29 dBA | 37°C | 34°C | 30~31 dBA |
9V | 21 dBA | 39°C | 35°C | 22~23 dBA |
7V | 15~16 dBA | 45°C | 39°C | 16~17 dBA |
6V | 13 dBA | 49°C | 41°C | 14 dBA |
The overall performance of the heatsink with both the stock and reference fans was excellent. We found that the Thermalright fan consistently outperformed the Noctua fan at similar noise levels. The biggest difference was at 13 dBA@1m, where the TY-140 led the NF-P14 by a massive 7°C. With two fans, the Noctua caught up a bit, but was still beaten by 3°C at 14 dBA@1m. The NF-P14 has smoother acoustics, but at lower fan speeds and enclosed in a PC chassis, both should be too quiet to notice.
Using two Thermalright fans rather than one lowered the temperature by 2° to 6°C, depending on fan speed. Our reference fan was more successful when doubled up, improving cooling by 3~8°C. It seems the Noctua fans work better as a tandem on the Silver Arrow.
Comparison: Dual Fan Coolers
The following is a comparison chart of the top coolers we’ve tested so far on our LGA1366 heatsink platform. The results were generated using our reference Noctua 140 mm fans as is indicative of CPU cooling performance with dual low airflow/noise fans.
°C rise Comparison (Noctua 14 mm reference fans) | |||
Heatsink | 16~17 dBA | 14 dBA | 12~13 dBA |
Thermalright Silver Arrow (stock fans) | n/a | 38 | 40 |
Noctua NH-D14 | 37 | 39 | |
Noctua NH-C14 | 15 dBA | 41 | |
39 | |||
Thermalright Silver Arrow | 39 | 41 | n/a |
As an ultra-low noise dual fan cooler, the Silver Arrow comes out on top, just barely edging out the Noctua NH-D14 at the 14 dBA@1m level. The difference is small enough to be ignored for practical purposes. When using Noctua’s fans, the Silver Arrow is less efficient. The stock fans seem to be superior, at least when used on the Silver Arrow with its thinner fin stacks and tighter spacing.
Incidentally, though the downblowing NH-C14 uses the same fans as our reference models, there was a 1 dB difference at 6V; this may be due to slight variations in the fan samples or the difference in orientation.
Comparison: Single Fan Coolers
The following is a comparison chart of the top single fan coolers we’ve tested so far on our LGA1366 heatsink platform. The results were generated using our reference Nexus 120 mm fan as is indicative of CPU cooling performance with a single low airflow/noise fan.
°C rise Comparison | |||
Heatsink | Nexus 120mm fan voltage / SPL @1m | ||
12V | 9V | 7V | |
16 dBA | 13 dBA | 12 dBA | |
Thermalright Silver Arrow (stock fans) | n/a | 14 dBA | 12~13 dBA |
38 | 40 | ||
Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme Rev.C | 38 | 40 | 43 |
Prolimatech Megahalems | 38 | 41 | 44 |
Thermalright Silver Arrow (Noctua 140 mm fans) | 16~17 dBA | 14 dBA | n/a |
39 | 41 | n/a | |
Noctua NH-U12P | 39 | 42 | 44 |
Scythe Mugen-2 | 39 | 42 | 45 |
Cogage TRUE Spirit 1366 | 40 | 42 | 45 |
Prolimatech Armageddon | 40 | 42 | 46 |
Zalman CNPS10X Quiet | 40 | 43 | 46 |
Scythe Yasya | 41 | 43 | 47 |
Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme | 40 | 43 | 48 |
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus | 41 | 44 | 48 |
Thermalright Ultra-120 | 42 | 45 | 49 |
Titan Fenrir | 43 | 46 | 50 |
Scythe Ninja 3 | 44 | 47 | 49 |
Noctua NH-C12P | 43 | 47 | 51 |
Zalman CNPS10X Extreme | 43 | 47 | 53 |
Zalman CNPS10X Flex | 45 | 50 | 54 |
Cooler Master V8 | 46 | 50 | 54 |
Scythe Grand Kama Cross | 45 | 52 | 57 |
Arctic Cooling Freezer Xtreme Rev.2 | 49 | 52 | 58 |
Scythe Kabuto | 51 | 53 | 60 |
The Silver Arrow outperforms all the single fan heatsink we’ve tested, especially at very low fan speeds.
MP3 SOUND RECORDINGS
These recordings were made with a high
resolution, lab quality, digital recording system inside SPCR’s
own 11 dBA ambient anechoic chamber, then converted to LAME 128kbps
encoded MP3s. We’ve listened long and hard to ensure there is no audible degradation
from the original WAV files to these MP3s. They represent a quick snapshot of
what we heard during the review.
These recordings are intended to give you an idea of how the product sounds
in actual use — one meter is a reasonable typical distance between a computer
or computer component and your ear. The recording contains stretches of ambient
noise that you can use to judge the relative loudness of the subject. Be aware
that very quiet subjects may not be audible — if we couldn’t hear it from
one meter, chances are we couldn’t record it either!
The recording starts with 5~10 second segments of room ambiance, then the fan
at various levels. For the most realistic results, set the volume so that
the starting ambient level is just barely audible, then don’t change the volume
setting again.
- Thermalright Silver Arrow stock fans (2) at 1m
— 7V (14 dBA@1m)
— 9V (19~20 dBA@1m)
— 12V (26 dBA@1m)
- Thermalright Silver Arrow stock fan (1) at 1m
— 7V (13 dBA@1m)
— 9V (18 dBA@1m)
— 12V (23~24 dBA@1m)
- Noctua NH-C14 reference fans at 1m
— 7V (15 dBA@1m)
— 8V (18 dBA@1m)
— 9V (21 dBA@1m)
— 12V (29 dBA@1m)
- Nexus
120mm fan at 1m
— 5V (11 dBA@1m)
— 7V (12 dBA@1m)
— 9V (13 dBA@1m)
— 12V (16 dBA@1m)
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Silver Arrow is another in a long line of successful heatsinks from Thermalright. Taking a slightly different approach than the Noctua NH-D14 by using narrower, more densely packed fins and thicker but fewer heatpipes, the end result is more or less comparable. Both the D14 and Silver Arrow provide only a slight improvement over single-fan heatsinks, at least with a Core i7 at stock settings. But if you’re looking to cool a heavily overclocked processor, undoubtedly the extra surface area provided by these titans will come in handy. The recent change in Thermalright’s Intel mounting hardware also brings it up to par in ease and security with Noctua’s installation system.
The TY-140 fans that ship with the Silver Arrow perform well compared to the NH-P14’s that ship with Noctua’s various heatsinks. At similar measured noise levels, the Thermalright fans consistently delivered better temperatures, especially when we tested the Silver Arrow with just a single undervolted fan. The bad news is that they don’t sound as good, generating a low frequency hum that is absent in the NH-P14’s. The good news is at lower fan speeds, you probably won’t be able to hear the difference, especially if it’s mounted in a case. Also, NH-P14’s have a high starting voltage (6.4V vs. 4.9V) and lack PWM, so running them at low speeds requires a dynamic fan control system to ensure they actually start spinning when the PC is turned on. This can be problematic as some motherboards don’t offer more than one fan header with voltage control.
With a street price of US$70, the Silver Arrow is on par with the NH-D14 in cost. For many, the choice may simply come down to availability and price, but if you’re looking for a top-notch CPU heatsink and money is not a concern, you can’t go wrong with either.
The Thermalright Silver Arrow is Recommended by SPCR.
Our thanks to Thermalright for the Silver Arrow heatsink sample.
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Thermalright Shaman 140mm Fan GPU Cooler
Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme Rev.C & AC Freezer Xtreme Rev.2
Scythe Ninja 3 & Scythe Yasya CPU Heatsinks
Gelid Slim
Silence & Prolimatech Samuel 17 Low Profile CPU Coolers
SPCR’s 2010 CPU Heatsink
Test Platform [Updates: 10 April & 31 May]
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