SilverStone TUF Gaming Alliance AR01 Cooler Review

SilverStone Argon Series AR01

SilverStone may not be one of the first brands that rolls off the tongue when considering CPU coolers, but in recent years the company has been taking very positive strides to change that.

One such example is their association with the ASUS TUF Gaming Alliance brand and forms a significant part of their latest revision to their highly popular Argon Series AR01 cooler.

Offering a solid performance at a budget-friendly price, many may dismiss this as being a forgettable product. A closer examination, however, shows that this might be more than good enough to handle what your system can throw its way!

Features

• Great balance of silence and performance
• Three Ø8mm heat-pipes and aluminium fins for excellent heat conducting efficiency
• Heat-pipe direct contact (HDC) technology
• Patented anti-vibration fan mountings for easy installation and silent operation
• Includes compact 120mm PWM fan for excellent cooling and low noise
• Intel Socket LGA775/1150/1151/1155/1156/1366/2011/2066 and AMD Socket AM2/AM3/FM1/FM2 compatible
• Intel Socket LGA775/1150/1151/1155/1156/1366/2011/2066 and AMD Socket AM2/AM3/AM4/FM1/FM2 compatible (V2 & V2.1 & V3)
• ASUS TUF Gaming Alliance decals & branding (V3 only)

What Does SilverStone Have To Say?

“The Argon series coolers are designed to provide the best cooling solution for your CPU. The Argon AR01 features three 8mm thick copper heat pipes connect to the base using heat-pipe direct contact (HDC) technology. A new, compact 120mm PWM fan with excellent balance of airflow and noise is included to provide forced-air heat dissipation with the ability to cool components around the CPU area. For users requiring higher performance cooling at reasonable price, AR01 is a great choice..” – Official product website

Technical Information

For more in-depth specifications, please visit the official product page via the link here!

Dimensions

Exterior Packaging

SilverStone has all of the packaging features you would expect from their brand, but even then you have to commend them for getting it right. Particularly since so many of the other brands, quite bizarrely, don’t!

The front of the box gives you a nice clear image of the cooler as well as some brief specifications to it. In addition, it also wishes to make it abundantly clear that this latest revision is AMD AM4 ready out of the box!

The rear of the packaging saves itself from any of the usual hyperbole and sticks with pure and good specifications. The information provided is nice and clear and absolutely perfect for you to know at a glance if this cooler is going to be suitable for your system.

With a number of nice images of the cooler to the surrounds, it may sound basic, but SilverStone has really nailed this in terms of presentation.

Finally, and I only include this because I think it would be remiss of me if I didn’t, the cooler itself is packaged in what can only be described as something straight from the Nintendo Labo factory. Rest assured, if you order of of these, it’s arriving in one piece!

Accessories!

While you are not exactly spoilt with any extras, SilverStone has you covered immediately out of the box with all the components necessary to get this fitted to your system. In addition to this, however, you are also given some additional fan mounts (more on those later) and also some anti-vibration adhesive pads.

In addition to this, you are also provided with a nice full-sized written manual which should help you figure out the installation method for this particular cooler. See ‘installation’ for more on this!