Silverstone AR07 & AR08 CPU Cooler Review

Final Thoughts

Price

If you’re looking for great value for money, then the SilverStone Argon series is exactly where you’re going to find it. and the SST-AR08 just £24.99, both at Overclockers UK, and both offer exceptional value for money.

Overview

The AR07 and AR08 are clearly two very different products, with very different applications and performance to be found. First up, let’s look at the smaller AR08, it’s not the most powerful cooler in the world, but when it comes to running a CPU that isn’t overclocked, it does a great job at keeping things cool and manages to stay reasonably quiet. What most important about it is the form factor, as its compact size means that it’s going to be compatible with a huge range of chassis, especially so for small form factor builds. When you’re limited to a small cooler, you have to expect a hit in cooling performance, but at this price, the AR08 is a competitive solution for this market and it’ll beat out any stock cooler with ease.

If you’re looking for something bigger and more powerful, then the AR07 is certainly the way to go. Of course, compared to the AR08, you’re going to need more space to support it as it’s 159mm tall and comes with a 140mm x 25mm fan. Despite the bigger size, however, its design doesn’t conflict with memory modules, motherboard components or expansion cards, meaning you’re not limited in your other hardware choices and that’s a welcome bonus overall.

When overclocking, the AR07 did a fantastic job of keeping our CPU at a reasonable temperature, giving many high-end air coolers that are at least double the price a run for their money. Even better, it managed to stay as quiet as some of the high-end air coolers from Noctua. For a slim air cooler, this is very impressive and it may be that the AR07 is the best price vs performance air cooler we’ve tested in a very long time.

Pros

• Excellent build quality
• Quiet fan (AR08) for a 92mm design
• One of the quiest 140mm fans we’ve ever tested (AR07)
• Stylish design
• Braided fan cable (AR07)
• Excellent cooling performance (AR07)
• Great system compatability (AR08)
• Very competitive prices
• Perfect for overclocking (AR07)
• Perfect for non-overclocked CPU (AR08)

Cons

• Not ideal for overclocking (AR08)
• Tricky screw/backplate installation
• No braided cable (AR08)

“The AR07 and the AR08 are two very different coolers, but both offer very competitive performance for their respective applications. If you’re in need of a good quality SFF CPU cooler, or a powerful and quiet tower cooler for overclocking, you’ll be very happy with the quality and value on offer with the SilverStone Argon Series.”

Thank you SilverStone for providing us with these sample.