SilverStone TUF Gaming Alliance AR01 Cooler Review

Installation

The key to an easy cooler installation (other than the mounting system) is having a nice and clear manual. In this regard, the one provided by SilverStone is something towards the middle of the road. It tells you everything you need to know, but doesn’t perhaps go into the close details that you might like.

The best example I can find in regards to the detail is when comparing two different types of screw fittings. At a custory glance, those below look very similar and in the manual, they are even harder to distinguish.

From experience, I know that while these are both for Intel sockets, you do have to use the correct one. Worse case scenario, if you get it wrong you’ll find figure it out, but I would’ve liked to have seen the manual go into a little more ‘close-up’ detail here.

So, from out of the box and onto the system, how long did it take? Well, not very long at all. I had this all set-up and running within about 10-15 minutes which by air cooler standards is pretty decent. It has a design that is more than a little familiar for those experienced, but thankfully the manual is good enough to help those new to it as well.

Another key factor I should highlight as well is the way the fan mounts via those rubber brackets. As much as I was sure it would be a disaster, it actually works really well! So, kudos to SilverStone for definitely proving me wrong in that regard.