Arctic Cooling NV Silencer 5 Rev3

Introduction

Over the past year or so, Arctic Cooling has done a great job at boosting their line of VGA coolers. Not only did they dominate the GPU aircooling category, they also continue to beat out many new challenges from various competitors. The VGA Silencers were not perfect when they initially released, but through time and some revisions, Arctic Cooling has made it near perfect.

When the big bad Nvidia Geforce 7800 series came out, everyone knew that Arctic Cooling would release a cooler fit for the giant card. It was only a matter of time when they would make the move. Some enthusiasts were impatient and just picked up the NV Silencer 5 and crossed their fingers hoping it would fit. Luckily for them, it worked. Well that does not mean that it would work with all the 7800 series. Arctic Cooling has released a new revision for the NV Silencer 5 and they guarantee compatibility with all Geforce 7800 series cards. Their Silencers have performed very well in the past, but will it still be as great when compared to the already big Nvidia cooler?

Arctic Cooling NV Silencer 5 Rev3

The Silencer comes in a tightly sealed plastic package. I hate the seal since it does not tear apart easily and I usually end up bleeding. Good thing I was extra careful this time and only ended up with some minor scratches. I tend to be clumsy. Included in the package is a simple instructions manual, thermal tape and heatsink, and some PCI slot brackets. The thermal tape and aluminum plate is for the back side of the 7800 series video cards, mainly the 7800 GTX. The 7800 GT that I used for testing did not have memory on the back side of the video card and thus I had no need for the aluminum plate.

The NV Silencer 5 Rev3 looks just like any of the Silencer line. The cooler is designed to exhaust the heat emitted by the GPU directly outside of the case via the lower PCI slot. One thing that Arctic Cooling has improved upon is the contact between the heatsink base and the video card memory chips. The older Silencers used to have the copper base touch the memory chips, but the contact is poor even if thermal grease was used. The newer revisions now come with thermal pads that make 100% contact with the memory chips. I’m not sure if these thick thermal pads are as efficient as thermal paste, but having 100% contact is way better than not having 100% contact. The previous revisions came with small tubes of thermal grease for the GPU. Arctic Cooling has changed it and now pre-applies a small amount of thermal grease at the center of the heatsink base. The fan on the NV Silencer 5 Rev3 connects to the fan header on the video card and comes in both 2pin and 4pin.

Installation and Specifications

Installation:

Installing the NV Silencer 5 Rev3 is child’s play. There was more work in removing the stock cooler than installing the Silencer. When your card is bare, simply sit the cooler over the four small holes around the GPU core. After the cooler slides through, flip the card over and slide the X plate through the screws. Take the four nuts and tighten it down with your fingers. When it is finger tight, use a flathead screwdriver to tighten it all the way. Voila. That is it.

The NV Silencer 5 Rev3 is designed perfectly for the 7800 GT. The memory comes in full contact with the thermal pads and the fan is clear from all the capacitors.

Specifications:

Arctic Cooling does not measure the noise level in decibels (sound pressure), but rather Sones (loudness). They explain that 1 Sone can be considered nearly inaudible in a computer case. The NV Silencer 5 Rev3 is rated to be 0.9 Sone, which means that it is extremely quiet during full operation.

Test Setup and Results

Test Setup and Method:

Ambient temperature was kept at a consistent 22°C. Arctic Silver Ceramic thermal paste was used during the entire testing process. Temperatures were recorded off of the ATITool overclocking utility. The purpose of this test was to determine the results a home end user would obtain. There were no scientific testing conducted, simply because I do not have the proper equipment.

Test System:

• AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice
• DFI NF4 SLI Infinity
• 2 x 1GB OCZ Platinum PC4000 EB
• Gigabyte Geforce 7800 GT @ 472/1130
• SilverStone ST65ZF

Competition:

• Gigabyte Geforce 7800 GT stock cooler

Test Procedures:

• Idling at desktop for 30 minutes
• Looping 3DMark03 video tests for 60 minutes

Results:

The Gigabyte Geforce 7800 GT stock cooler was already pretty good at keeping the video card cool during heavy load. The Arctic Cooling NV Silencer 5 Rev3 performed even better as expected, by a good 6°C! The results are very impressive.

Conclusion and Thoughts

The NV Silencer Rev3 is no joke when it comes to performance. The cooler is ridiculously easy to install, performs exceptionally well, has no compatibility issues with the card it was made for, and does all that with pure silence. Honestly now, what more could you ask for? Perhaps the only gripe that I would have is that the large size takes up another PCI slot. But then again, what other aftermarket cooler doesn’t take up another PCI slot? One major thing I should mention is that the NV Silencer 5 Rev3 allowed me to overclock the 7800 GT a little higher. With the stock cooler, the video card managed a good 472/1130. With the NV Silencer 5 Rev3, I managed to up it just a tad to 475/1140. Although the increase was not a lot, it was still done on air and in silence! Owners of the 7800 series should not hesitate to make the purchase. Honestly, I cannot think of any reason why you should not run out and buy this. This $30 investment for your $400+ video card is a no-brainer. The NV Silencer 5 Rev3 is available for purchase at Sidewinder so hurry up and buy it before they run out!

We would like to thank Scythe for providing us the sample. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to hit us up in the forums. You can also check out more of our latest reviews on the front page.