Thermaltake Silent Tower Cooler

Manufacturer: Thermaltake Technology
Supplied by: Thermaltake Technology
Street Price: $50

By Dean Barker (5/19/2004)

 

Introduction

We have all seen heatsinks grow in size and cooling ability but the attention now is on performance cooling that doesn't end up sounding like a Dustbuster.  The advent of heatpipes has helped to make this a very viable option.  Most of the higher end coolers available today are sporting heatpipes as an efficient and very effective method of whisking heat off a processor.  With this added efficiency comes the ability to back away from the louder fans that drive us nuts.  Thermaltake has combined heatpipe technology with the theory of bigger is better to produce the Thermaltake Silent Tower.  Measuring a tad over five and a half inches tall the Silent Tower is one big sink.  It also has the benefit of being a four in one cooler that can effectively fit almost any platform out right now; AMD XP, AMD Athlon 64, Intel P4 and Intel Socket T.  Occasionally the strengths of a product get lost when it is made to be a one size fits all.  Today we have the Thermaltake Silent Tower on the bench to see how well Thermaltake gets the rubber to the road with their one size fits all heatpipe cooler.  First off, let's look at the specs.

Specifications

• Application: AMD Athlon 64/Athlon 64 FX, AMD XP, Intel P4 478 (pin) and Intel Socket T

• Observed dimensions (with fan): 92 (W) x 142 (H) x 110mm (D)

• Observed weight (with fan): 723gms

• Construction: Aluminum fins with copper heatpipes

• Fan: 90 x 90 x 25mm

• Fan speed: 2500 RPM

• Air flow: 52 CFM

• Sound level: 21 dBA

• Connector: three-pin

What you get

Included with the Silent Tower cooler itself are mounting brackets and screws for K7, K8, P4 and socket T installations.  The included manual was straight forward and easy to understand.  Plenty of pictures were inside to give you a better handle on how to install the unit on each of these platforms.  In addition to this, a small tube of generic white thermal paste is included.

The unit

As you can see, the Silent Tower is one big sink.  Measuring a full 142mm from base to heatpipe tip, the Silent Tower is very much a tower.  Most heatpipe coolers have their heatpipes bend around so that the pipes are running parallel to the socket and through the fins which themselves are radiating up from the cooler's base.  The Silent Tower takes a different approach.  The three heatpipes on either side of the base are angled up perpendicular to the base through fifty-nine 80 x 80mm fins stacked up parallel to the socket. 

  

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