SilverStone AR02 CPU Cooler Review

SilverStone’s AR02 is currently on Scan Computers for £22.82, Overclockers UK for £27.95 and SpecialTech for £27.29 while its bigger sibling the AR01 costs £25.21, £25.99 and £25.29 from those retailers respectively. I find it a tad strange that OCUK and SpecialTech are stocking it for more than the AR01 because SilverStone’s American MSRPs state the pricing for the Argon series is as follows:

• AR01 – $34.99
• AR02 – $27.99
• AR03 – $49.99

That said I hope other UK retailers follow Scan’s lead in offering pricing that is cheaper than the SilverStone AR01. It is clear that SilverStone AR02 shouldn’t cost more than the SilverStone AR01 because it offers less performance and is much smaller.

Anyway if we take SilverStone’s MSRP we can see very competitive pricing from SilverStone from the AR02. For the size it offers excellent performance both in terms of temperatures and acoustics. The mount SilverStone provide is just top-class and the mount is so tight I think end-users should be careful about over-tightening. In fact a lot of CPU cooler vendors skip over the mounting hardware as an after-thought when actually it is vitally important, without strong contact heat transfer is hindered.

I definitely think this CPU cooler has its uses both in small form factor systems and budget systems. Although I am not sure how it stacks up against the budget favorite the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, however, considering it is much smaller I’d hazard a guess based on other reviews that I’ve seen to say it performs slightly worse, but this is totally expected given the much smaller size and the SilverStone AR02 is a much more efficient cooler when you consider size.

Pros

• Great cooling performance for the size
• Excellent mounting kit
• Good acoustic performance
• Out performs much more expensive options
• Compact size
• Will give 100% RAM compatibility on most ATX and Micro ATX motherboards, may be a bit tight on the first DIMM slot on some mini-ITX and micro-ATX motherboards
• Anti vibration fan mounts, and an extra set included for another fan

Cons

• Should be slightly cheaper as it is priced dangerously close to (or above) the AR01 by some retailers
• Cable is not sleeved or a uniform colour

Subjective Issues

• Blue colour is bold
• Thermal paste is in a sachet, can be difficult to apply

eTekix says: Just like the SilverStone AR01 the SilverStone AR02 is another fantastic CPU cooler, and it has some seriously impressive performance for such a compact unit. SilverStone haven’t really put a foot wrong with this CPU cooler and it’d be a great choice for smaller micro-ATX gaming systems or other space constrained cases that won’t support a traditional 120mm fan tower-heatsink CPU coolers of around 150-165mm in height. It may be small and it may be cheap but don’t be fooled, it is a great product – the saying “good things come in small packages” has never been more appropriate.

Thank you to SilverStone for providing this review sample.