[nextpage title=”Introduction”]
Let’s test the SilverStone TD02, a liquid cooling system for processors. It has a 240 mm radiator with two 120 mm fans side by side and a full metallic CPU block.
As with any sealed liquid cooling system, the TD02 comes with the coolant liquid pre-filled inside the loop (block, radiator, pump, and hoses). We already tested the TD03, which is a similar cooler with a 120 mm radiator.
Figure 1 shows the blue box of the SilverStone TD02.
Figure 2 shows the contents of the box: the radiator-block set, fans, a Y-harness, a manual, a small syringe of thermal compound, and installation hardware.
This watercooler is discussed in detail in the following pages.
[nextpage title=”The SilverStone TD02″]
The sealed radiator-block system is shown in Figure 3. At the bottom is the block that transfers the heat from the CPU to the coolant liquid; at the top, you can see the radiator that transfers the heat from the circulating liquid to the air.
Figures 4 and 5 reveal the radiator of the SilverStone TD02. It looks different from most radiators we are used to see in liquid cooling systems, because of the white caps, white hoses, and rugged texture of the fins.
[nextpage title=”The SilverStone TD02 (Cont’d)”]
Figure 6 shows the top of the block, where the pump that makes the liquid flow is integrated. The block is all metallic, which makes it look more professional than similar products that use a plastic body block. There is a blue LED that glows under the logo, but it is barely visible. The cable has a three-pin connector, which draws power for the integrated pump. Notice that the holders for Intel systems come preassembled on the block.
The base of the block, which is made of copper, is revealed in Figure 7. The thermal compound does not come pre-applied. The base is not mirrored.
Figure 8 illustrates the 120 mm PWM fans that come with the SilverStone TD02, model AS1225H12 (120 mm, 2,500 rpm, 3.6 W, 92.5 cfm, 33.5 dBA).
[nextpage title=”Installation”]
In Figure 9, you can see the backplate for installing the TD02 on Intel socket LGA775, LGA1150, LGA1155, LGA1156, and LGA1366 systems, with the screws inserted. Socket LGA2011 CPUs use the stock backplate. For AMD processors, you must use the other side of the backplate.
Place the backplate on the solder side of the motherboard and insert the four spacers shown in Figure 11 on the component side.
As we mentioned before, the block comes with the holders for use with Intel CPUs preinstalled. If you will use the TD02 on an AMD processor, you must exchange the holders for the appropriated ones.
The last step is to install the system inside the computer, attaching the block on the CPU using four spring-loaded nuts and the radiator on the top panel of the case. In order to not interfere with the memory modules, we had to install the fans outside the case, both blowing outwards.
Figure 11: Installation finished
[nextpage title=”How We Tested”]
We tested the cooler with a Core i5-2500K CPU (quad-core, 3.3 GHz), which is a socket LGA1155 processor with a 95 W TDP (Thermal Design Power). In order to get higher thermal dissipation, we overclocked it to 4.0 GHz (100 MHz base clock and x40 multiplier), with 1.3 V core voltage (Vcore). This CPU was able to reach 4.8 GHz with its default core voltage, but at this setting, the processor enters thermal throttling when using mainstream coolers, reducing the clock and thus the thermal dissipation. This could interfere with the temperature readings, so we chose to maintain a moderate overclocking.
We measured noise and temperature with the CPU under full load. In order to get 100% CPU usage in all cores, we ran Prime 95 25.11 with the “In-place Large FFTs” option. (In this version, the software uses all available threads.)
We compared the tested cooler to other coolers we already tested, and to the stock cooler that comes with the Core i5-2500K CPU. Note that the results cannot be compared to measures taken on a different hardware configuration, so we retested some “old” coolers with this new methodology. This means you can find different values in older reviews than the values you will read on the next page. Every cooler was tested with the thermal compound that comes with it.
Room temperature measurements were taken with a digital thermometer. The core temperature was read with the SpeedFan program (available from the CPU thermal sensors), using an arithmetic average of the core temperature readings.
During the tests, the panels of the computer case were closed. The front and rear case fans were spinning at minimum speed in order to simulate the “normal” cooler use on a well-ventilated case. We assume that is the common setup used by a cooling enthusiast or overclocker.
The sound pressure level (SPL) was measured with a digital noise meter, with its sensor placed near the top opening of the case. This measurement is only for comparison purposes, because a precise SPL measurement needs to be made inside an acoustically insulated room with no other noise sources, which is not the case here.
Hardware Configuration
- Processor: Core i5-2500K
- Motherboard: ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z
- Memory: 16 GB G.Skill Sniper (DDR3-1600/PC3-12800), configured at 1,600 MHz
- Hard disk: Seagate Barracuda XT 2 TB
- Video card: MSI GeForce GT 210 1 GB
- Video resolution: 1920×1080
- Video monitor: Samsung SyncMaster P2470HN
- Power supply: Seventeam ST-550P-AM
- Case: Cooler Master HAF 922
Operating System Configuration
- Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit SP1
Software Used
Error Margin
We adopted a 2°C error margin, meaning temperature differences below 2°C are considered irrelevant.
[nextpage title=”Our Tests”]
The table below presents the results of our measurements. We repeated the same test on all coolers listed below. Each measurement was taken with the CPU at full load. In the models with a fan supporting PWM, the motherboard controlled the fan speed according to core load and temperature. On coolers with an integrated fan controller, the fan was set at the full speed.
Cooler | Room Temp. | Noise | Speed | Core Temp. | Temp. Diff. |
Intel stock cooler | 18 °C | 41 dBA | 2000 rpm | 97 °C | 79 °C |
Cooler Master Hyper TX3 | 18 °C | 50 dBA | 2850 rpm | 69 ºC | 51 °C |
Corsair A70 | 23 °C | 51 dBA | 2000 rpm | 66 ºC | 43 °C |
Corsair H100 | 26 °C | 62 dBA | 2000 rpm | 64 ºC | 38 °C |
EVGA Superclock | 26 °C | 57 dBA | 2550 rpm | 67 ºC | 41 °C |
NZXT HAVIK 140 | 20 °C | 46 dBA | 1250 rpm | 65 ºC | 45 °C |
Thermalright True Spirit 120 | 26 °C | 42 dBA | 1500 rpm | 82 °C | 56 °C |
Zalman CNPS12X | 26 °C | 43 dBA | 1200 rpm | 71 °C | 45 °C |
Zalman CNPS9900 Max | 20 °C | 51 dBA | 1700 rpm | 62 °C | 42 °C |
Titan Fenrir Siberia Edition | 22 °C | 50 dBA | 2400 rpm | 65 °C | 43 °C |
SilenX EFZ-120HA5 | 18 °C | 44 dBA | 1500 rpm | 70 °C | 52 °C |
Noctua NH-L12 | 20 °C | 44 dBA | 1450 rpm | 70 °C | 50 °C |
Zalman CNPS8900 Extreme | 21 °C | 53 dBA | 2550 rpm | 71 °C | 50 °C |
Gamer Storm Assassin | 15 °C | 48 dBA | 1450 rpm | 58 °C | 43 °C |
Deepcool Gammaxx 400 | 15 °C | 44 dBA | 1500 rpm | 60 °C | 45 °C |
Cooler Master TPC 812 | 23 °C | 51 dBA | 2350 rpm | 66 °C | 43 °C |
Deepcool Gammaxx 300 | 18 °C | 43 dBA | 1650 rpm | 74 °C | 56 °C |
Intel stock cooler | 18 °C | 41 dBA | 2000 rpm | 97 °C | 79 °C |
Xigmatek Praeton | 19 °C | 52 dBA | 2900 rpm | 83 °C | 64 °C |
Noctua NH-U12P SE2 | 18 °C | 42 dBA | 1300 rpm | 69 °C | 51 °C |
Deepcool Frostwin | 24 °C | 46 dBA | 1650 rpm | 78 °C | 54 °C |
Thermaltake Frio Advanced | 13 °C | 56 dBA | 2000 rpm | 62 °C | 49 °C |
Xigmatek Dark Knight Night Hawk Edition | 9 °C | 48 dBA | 2100 rpm | 53 °C | 44 °C |
Thermaltake Frio Extreme | 21 °C | 53 dBA | 1750 rpm | 59 °C | 38 °C |
Noctua NH-U9B SE2 | 12 °C | 44 dBA | 1700 rpm | 64 °C | 52 °C |
Thermaltake WATER2.0 Pro | 15 °C | 54 dBA | 2000 rpm | 52 °C | 37 °C |
Deepcool Fiend Shark | 18 °C | 45 dBA | 1500 rpm | 74 °C | 56 °C |
Arctic Freezer i30 | 13 °C | 42 dBA | 1350 rpm | 63 °C | 50 °C |
Spire TME III | 8 °C | 46 dBA | 1700 rpm | 70 °C | 62 °C |
Thermaltake WATER2.0 Performer | 11 °C | 54 dBA | 2000 rpm | 49 °C | 38 °C |
Arctic Alpine 11 PLUS | 11 °C | 45 dBA | 2000 rpm | 82 °C | 71 °C |
be quiet! Dark Rock 2 | 10 °C | 41 dBA | 1300 rpm | 58 °C | 48 °C |
Phanteks PH-TC14CS | 16 °C | 47 dBA | 1300 rpm | 58 °C | 42 °C |
Phanteks PH-TC14PE | 16 °C | 48 dBA | 1300 rpm | 57 °C | 41 °C |
SilverStone HE01 (Q) | 19 °C | 44 dBA | 1150 rpm | 63 °C | 44 °C |
SilverStone HE01 (P) | 20 °C | 57 dBA | 2050 rpm | 62 °C | 42 °C |
Thermaltake WATER2.0 Extreme (S) | 17 °C | 44 dBA | 1250 rpm | 52 °C | 35 °C |
Thermaltake WATER2.0 Extreme (E) | 17 °C | 53 dBA | 1900 rpm | 50 °C | 33 °C |
Deepcool Neptwin | 11 °C | 46 dBA | 1500 rpm | 56 °C | 45 °C |
SilverStone HE02 | 19 °C | 49 dBA | 2000 rpm | 64 °C | 45 °C |
Zalman CNPS9900DF | 23 °C | 45 dBA | 1400 rpm | 68 °C | 45 °C |
Deepcool ICE BLADE PRO V2.0 | 22 °C | 43 dBA | 1500 rpm | 67 °C | 45 °C |
Phanteks PH-TC90LS | 24 °C | 47 dBA | 2600 rpm | 95 °C | 71 °C |
Rosewill AIOLOS | 20 °C | 40 dBA | 1600 rpm | 94 °C | 74 °C |
Corsair H60 | 20 °C | 49 dBA | 2000 rpm | 64 °C | 44 °C |
Zalman LQ310 | 27 °C | 51 dBA | 2050 rpm | 65 °C | 38 °C |
Noctua NH-L9i | 24 °C | 44 dBA | 2500 rpm | 95 °C | 71 °C |
NZXT Respire T40 | 20 °C | 45 dBA | 1850 rpm | 76 °C | 56 °C |
NZXT Respire T20 | 21 °C | 45 dBA | 1900 rpm | 77 °C | 56 °C |
Zalman LQ315 | 20 °C | 52 dBA | 1950 rpm | 57 °C | 37 °C |
Corsair H80i (Quiet) | 19 °C | 44 dBA | 1100 rpm | 61 °C | 42 °C |
Corsair H80i (Maximum) | 19 °C | 57 dBA | 2500 rpm | 55 °C | 36 °C |
NZXT Kraken X40 (Silent) | 25 °C | 44 dBA | 1050 rpm | 66 °C | 41 °C |
NZXT Kraken X40 (Extreme) | 25 °C | 53 dBA | 1650 rpm | 62 °C | 37 °C |
Zalman LQ320 | 20 °C | 52 dBA | 2100 rpm | 57 °C | 37 °C |
Corsair H100i (Quiet) | 22 °C | 45 dBA | 1150 rpm | 58 °C | 36 °C |
Corsair H100i (Maximum) | 22 °C | 61 dBA | 2500 rpm | 54 °C | 32 °C |
NZXT Kraken X60 (Silent) | 26 °C | 46 dBA | 1000 rpm | 62 °C | 36 °C |
NZXT Kraken X60 (Extreme) | 26 °C | 60 dBA | 1650 rpm | 60 °C | 34 °C |
Prolimatech Genesis Black Series | 25 °C | 46 dBA | 1150 rpm | 69 °C | 44 °C |
Phanteks PH-TC12DX | 25 °C | 51 dBA | 1850 rpm | 74 °C | 49 °C |
Corsair H90 | 23 °C | 51 dBA | 1550 rpm | 61 °C | 38 °C |
Corsair H110 | 27 °C | 58 dBA | 1500 rpm | 60 °C | 33 °C |
Evercool Venti | 23 °C | 49 dBA | 2250 rpm | 72 °C | 49 °C |
Thermalright Archon SB-E X2 | 22 °C | 45 dBA | 1400 rpm | 68 °C | 46 °C |
Scythe Kabuto II | 20 °C | 41 dBA | 1450 rpm | 67 °C | 47 °C |
Prolimatech Megahalems Red Series | 20 °C | 51 dBA | 1500 rpm | 63 °C | 43 °C |
Zalman FX100 (fanless) | 18 °C | NA | NA | 98 °C | 80 °C |
Zalman FX100 (92 mm fan) | 18 °C | 50 dBA | 2850 rpm | 69 °C | 51 °C |
Gelid The Black Edition | 21 °C | 45 dBA | 1650 rpm | 66 °C | 45 °C |
Thermalright AXP-100 | 22 °C | 42 dBA | 2400 rpm | 76 °C | 54 °C |
SilverStone NT06-PRO | 19 °C | 50 dBA | 2400 rpm | 72 °C | 53 °C |
SilverStone AR01 | 11 °C | 46 dBA | 2150 rpm | 53 °C | 42 °C |
Cooler Master Seidon 120M | 16 °C | 52 dBA | 2300 rpm | 58 °C | 42 °C |
Enermax ETS-T40-White Cluster | 16 °C | 50 dBA | 2200 rpm | 63 °C | 47 °C |
Cooler Master Seidon 120XL | 17 °C | 54 dBA | 2250 rpm | 55 °C | 38 °C |
Cooler Master Seidon 240M | 13 °C | 59 dBA | 2200 rpm | 49 °C | 36 °C |
SilverStone AR02 | 9 °C | 46 dBA | 2800 rpm | 60 °C | 51 °C |
Cooler Master V8 GTS | 10 °C | 51 dBA | 1650 rpm | 54 °C | 44 °C |
SilverStone TD03 | 16 °C | 57 dBA | 2350 rpm | 54 °C | 38 °C |
SilverStone TD02 | 17 °C | 57 dBA | 2350 rpm | 50 °C | 33 °C |
In the graph below, you can see how many degrees Celsius hotter the CPU core is than the air outside the case. The lower this difference, the better is the performance of the cooler.
In the graph below, you can see how many decibels of noise each cooler makes.
[nextpage title=”Main Specifications”]
The main specifications for the SilverStone TD02 CPU cooler include:
- Application: Sockets AM2(+), AM3(+), FM1, FM2, LGA775, LGA 1150, LGA1155, LGA1156, LGA1366, and LGA2011
- Radiator dimensions: 4.9 x 10.9 x 1.8 inches (124 x 278 x 45 mm) (W x L x H)
- Block height: 1.3 inches (33.5 mm)
- Fins: Aluminum
- Base: Copper
- Heat-pipes: None
- Fans: Two, 120 mm
- Nominal fan speed: 2,500 rpm
- Fan air flow: 92.5 cfm
- Power consumption: 2 x 3.6 W
- Nominal noise level: 33.5 dBA
- More information: https://www.silverstonetek.com/
- Average price in the U.S.*: USD 120.00
* Researched at Newegg.com on the day we published this review.
[nextpage title=”Conclusions”]
Like its little brother (TD03), the SilverStone TD02 has a unique look that differs from the other sealed liquid cooling systems we saw to date. The metallic block is beautiful, and the big radiator looks like it has been designed for computer cooling applications, not for use with engines or industrial machines like most others.
The cooling performance of the TD02, on the other hand, was excellent, reaching the same level of the best watercoolers we tested so far.
Being an awesome liquid cooling system, with stunning look and extreme performance, the SilverStone AR02 receives the Hardware Secrets Golden Award.
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