SilverStone TUF Gaming Alliance AR01 Cooler Review

A Closer Look

The radiator design looks relatively straight forward out of the box and, in truth, besides from a few design choices, there is very little to distinguish it from most. That doesn’t, however, mean to say that there are not a few things to pick out.

Firstly, there is a nice design pattern to the top. It does, however, reveal more than just an aesthetic styling. This is (according to Silverstone) the path in which air will flow through the cooler based on the designs of the vents.

It’s incidental, it probably means very little, but that is a pretty cool piece of information to tie into the design.

This does perhaps become a little more apparent when you view the cooler from the side. As you can see, this doesn’t take a ‘straight-blade’ approach and instead looks to vent the air through the cooler in a very specific manner.

Contact Plate

The contact plate for the AR01 is a little smaller than we usually see, but it should still be large enough to provide plenty of coverage for your processor.

As a slight note of concern, it is a little disappointing to see such large (and clear) gaps between the plate and the pipes and, in addition, where they curve away to meet the radiator. Hopefully, this will not impact upon its performance.

Fan

The cooler is provided with a single SilverStone TUF Gaming Alliance branded fan. As this cooler does not have RGB lighting effects, there isn’t much to speak about in terms of functionality. It does, however, have a 4-pin PWM adaptor which should provide some nice and precise speed control.

One of the more notable factors in the design is the manner in which it attaches to the radiator. This is done via 4 rubber clips which I must confess, confused me more than a little to start with. They do, however, (and against all my expectations) work really well and with you provided with 4 extras you could, if you wish, purchase a 2nd fan and easily ‘double-up’ on your air flow potential.

Overall

As a completed product, and for such a basic design, the SilverStone AR01 has a really nice strong aesthetic. Admittedly with no RGB lighting, it did really need to produce something in this regard and thankfully it does.

As noted earlier, while the aesthetic choices are subtle, they are there. Perhaps more geared towards people who do a little research, but it’s hard to fault the look of the cooler.

The manner in which the fan attaches to the radiator is also surprisingly attractive. The yellow colouring ties in well to the TUF branding and compared to the standard metal hooks, actually adds to the overall look.

So, we’ve determined that it has a nice design and it looks good, but how will it perform when put to the test?… Well, there’s only one way to find out! Let’s see how easily it can be installed and how well it performs!