# Arctic Cooling ATI Silencer 5 Rev. 2



## W1zzard (Jul 22, 2005)

Video card cooling specialists Arctic Cooling have listened to the user's reports and released the ATI Silencer 5 Revision 2. This VGA cooler, which is designed to fit on ATI's X800 and X850 PCI-Express was built with high-performance in mind, while keeping sound levels at an acceptable level. We test the cooler against an X850 Pro which already has a big fan, a copper base and cools memory as well.

*Show full review*


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## Unregistered (Jul 25, 2005)

*warning...*

i know i am unregistered. but this is a true tale.

i have had two of these coolers. and the fan on both has died. it seems to be a somewhat common problem around the net (do a google search). i am waiting for the warranty replacement now and will sell them on ebay or something. since i obviously cannot trust the fan on the Silencer, i went ahead and replaced the Silencer with a zalman VF700-CU.

the zalman is alright, but not quite as good as the Silencer. there is about a 1-2C temp difference between the two at idle and a load (in the Silencer's favor). and i liked the fact that the Silencer could be hooked into the video card's fan header for control. i have to control the zalman manually. 

on a good note, when both the Silencer's fans died, the idle temp of the GPU core never rose above 56C. although when i started up a 3D app (by accident) the temp soared and the screen went blank. i had one of the first Silencers on my ATI 9800, and i really like the fact that it exhausts the heat out the back of the case. so maybe i will try Silencers again on my next video card.


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## SPHERE (Jul 26, 2005)

im wandering y this got a 9.5 and the zalman got a 8.9?!?!

the zalman is alot smaller, has better contact, cools better, is compatable with almost all curent, next and, last gen cards and, imo looks better


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## Unregistered (Jul 26, 2005)

I bought one of these for my X800 XL and my fan also died, but I discovered that if you unplug the power cable to the fan(with the pc off of course) and plug it back in, the fan will come back on; but only for a few minutes. I'm not sure if there is a permanent solution to this but if anyone has heard anything I'd like to know.


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## Unregistered (Jul 26, 2005)

*still didn't work for me...*

i am the person with the two dead fans. in trying to figure out what happened exactly, i took an old power supply i use for testing, jimmy-rigged a connector so i could plug into the fans directly (tested on some other old fans to make sure the setup worked and it did), and the fans were still dead. just for clarification, i run my computer 24/7 (doing SETI) and while not playing 3D apps, i underclock my X800XL @ 300/390 just to be safe. the first Silencer died after about 4 weeks. the second one died after about a week. good thing i keep a close watch on the system temps b/c of my SETI crunching.

like i said before, i really love the silencers and how they work (it worked better than the new zalman i got), but there is just something wrong with the current fan design. maybe next time.


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## Unregistered (Jul 26, 2005)

*Arctic Silver Lumière???*

where do you buy Arctic Silver Lumière?? where are the specs on it also? i went to arctic silver's web page but the page for Arctic Silver Lumière is Under Construction.

thanks.


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## W1zzard (Jul 26, 2005)

it's not publicly available for sale. if you are a reviewer/person who needs it for testing, just shoot them an email


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## Unregistered (Aug 15, 2005)

just wondering if this cooler is compatible with sapphire x800 pro pcie cards? its kinda confusing, coz ive seen ppl saying that they have it their x800 pro pcie with a silencer 4 rev 2, and then seeing a computer store selling a silencer 5 rev 2 with this card

help? thanks!


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## fishgoh0nk (Sep 9, 2005)

will this sucker work on an AIW x800 xt? the thing has two pins, it looks like it will.... i'm not very familiar with the characteristics of my card right now... so i can't estimate room for caps and tv tuner.... thanks.


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## thedivinehairband (Oct 2, 2005)

Ive bin using the acrtic silencer aswell on my x800xl and have been doing sum ovaclocking. Noticed couple days ago that there wasn't the hot air exhaust that there was before. yesterday took a look inside and discovered that the fan had stopped. only checked this after gettin sum checkerboarding during star wars jedi academy after bout 3 hours gaming. the temp actually hit 86degC!! This was after i turned my case fans rite down tho so i think it was only the case ventilation that has saved me from a fried card. looks like the heatsink itself is quite capable even without the fan. as you can see i run sum quite high clocks. great cooler. shame about the fan trouble. 
Looks like a retun to base coming up. only a month old. 
Cmon lads sort it out!!


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## yobo (Dec 30, 2005)

Quick question here
Bought the rev 2
Installed it according to the directions, which instructed to spread some thermal paste onto the GPU

I thought that the thermal paste had been misplaced or not included, so I used some leftover thermal paste from a water cooling install I did earlier.

Just now read this review which pointed out that there was a thermal pad already on the silencer. Is it dangerous that I doubled up on the thermal pad+paste?


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## spectre440 (Dec 30, 2005)

it can be. yes.
too much TIM (thermal interface metrial) could seriously hamper the heat transfer from the chip to the cooler.

i suggest you remove the cooler, remove all the thermal paste, and put in a fresh new thin layer of the good ol' arctic silver 5 on the chip and remount the cooler.

just be careful not to damage your card.

also: using previously used TIM isnt such a good thing either. you definantly should use a fresh layer of the stuff every time you mount/dismount/change/whatver any cooling component that requires it.


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## Silver-Arrow (Dec 30, 2005)

Do you guys just use the thermal paste/pads that come with the arctic cooler or do you remove it and use Arctic Silver 5 paste instead?


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## spectre440 (Dec 31, 2005)

personally, i use AS5 on everything.


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## MadMigMR2 (Jan 24, 2006)

Hi!
Can this cooler be applied on a Asus x800 Pro AGP ?


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## noneed4me2 (Jan 25, 2006)

everything i read says you should use revision 4 ATI silencer for your version, there is a review in this section of the forum http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=1858 . The 5.2 is strictly for PCI/E x800 cards. I use the 5.2 and it works great but others like the zalman 700c and that one should fit your card too. I chose the ATI silencer because i have a smaller OEM case and it shunts heated air out the back while the zalman just circulates air around the vid card. If you got a case with good ventilation the zalman will fit your card to. A review of the zalman can also be found here http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=2655.There are three versions, one with a light and one thats all copper and one with copper/aluminum mix, all cool about the same. both the ATI silencer and zalman are priced about the same.


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## Fatfairy2005 (Feb 1, 2006)

I think you have provided me with the answer to a problem I have with the HIS X800 GTO. At any speed less than 100% it makes a noise like a ciccada and I suspect it must have the earlier version of the Arctic Cooler. Anyone else come across this problem?

As for any help from HIS - forget it, they have failed on three separate occasions to respond to requests for help on this matter. Great card, rubbish customer care.


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## SunShine (Feb 19, 2006)

Yesterday i buy this *Arctic Cooling ATI Silencer 5 Rev. 2 for 28$*.
I have a Sapphire X800GTO Ultimate edition.Before whit standart heatpipe on 550/1120 temp on full load hit 80C.Whit Silencer temp going down whit 20C.


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## zekrahminator (Feb 19, 2006)

I'm hearing all sorts of things about the ATIsilencer 5, some say its the best thing ever, some say its unreliable, some say theres a review saying that the ATI fan control itself will fry the silencer. I was just wondering, how good is the stock cooler? I'm just trying to find these things out BEFORE I get my new X850XT.


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## Thermopylae_480 (Feb 19, 2006)

A stock cooler can be adequate for normal operation and some sporatic overclocking.  If you intend to run the card for extended periods of time overclocked, or wish to obtain really high overclocks a stock cooler just won't cut it.   If your afraid of the Arctic Cooling heatsinks, Zalman makes good ones also.


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## OOTay (Feb 20, 2006)

Will the Arctic Cooling ATI Silencer 5 Rev. 2 heatsink work on an agp version of a x850pro 256mb?


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## infrared (Feb 20, 2006)

It should work ok 

When you fit it, use the thermal pad it comes with also, AS5 will increase temps by around 3c.

Good luck!


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## OOTay (Feb 20, 2006)

Thanks thats good news. But why does that thermal pad work better then the as5? Just thought that was weird that a therm pad works better then a appilication of AS5.


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## infrared (Feb 20, 2006)

Yeah, It's strange. It's the same with all of arctic cooling's cpu coolers as well. I'm not sure what the thermal compound is, but it's pretty nice stuff! I've even polished the botton my my ATI Silencer, and used my credit card to get a very thin layer of AS5, yet temperatures are still higher than they originally were.

It's like a very thick (as in viscocity) square of grease, it goes fairly soft while hot, but doesn't appear to run. I don't believe it needs any time to get to it's optimal state either, unlike the 200hours needed for AS5 to harden.

I'm gonna send Arctic cooling an email and see if i can get hold of any of the stuff


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## OOTay (Feb 20, 2006)

Wow thats cool! Thats a definate company secret lol.


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## infrared (Feb 20, 2006)

Yeah, most likely


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## zekrahminator (Feb 20, 2006)

Thermopylae_480 said:
			
		

> A stock cooler can be adequate for normal operation and some sporatic overclocking.  If you intend to run the card for extended periods of time overclocked, or wish to obtain really high overclocks a stock cooler just won't cut it.   If your afraid of the Arctic Cooling heatsinks, Zalman makes good ones also.


lol no, I'm not afraid of AC, If I were to replace my stock cooler (which I've done before) the ATIsilencer 5 is what I'd use.


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## zekrahminator (Feb 20, 2006)

yeah, you have to remember also that Arctic Cooling designs their coolers to go with their thermal compound...so maybe thats why AS5 doesnt work as well as the stock gooze.


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## zekrahminator (Feb 23, 2006)

I got my X850XT yesterday!!!     5200 3Dmark05!!!  . 
ahem...
anyways. I noticed the "voltage spikes" that Arctic Cooling warned about when the fan control is applied (especially with ATItool lol). In my opinion, as long as you dont hack your cards fan speeds (as tempting as it is), the ATIsilencer 5 is a very fine cooler...I REALLY want it, I dont have the money and my things a freaking jet engine at full power.


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## infrared (Feb 23, 2006)

Great! 

You've got a nasty bottleneck somewhere though, my x800xl used to exceed 6k, with a little fine tuning.

... *sniffle* I miss my x800xl 

I wouldn't worry too much about voltage spikes or running the card at 100%, I don't think the voltage can exceed 12v anyway, i could be wrong, if capacitors and transistors are involved on the fan power supply circuits. Anyway, I just run mine at 100% 24/7. I find my particular one is quieter at 100% than at %50 or below.


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## Thermopylae_480 (Feb 24, 2006)

The problem with comparing 3DMark scores is they are not standard.  He may have ran it at 1152 x 864 with some AA and AF and that would give you a totally different score than if you ran it 1024 x 768 with no AA or AF.  If he did run it at 1024 x 768 no AA no AF then, there might be something wrong.


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## zekrahminator (Feb 24, 2006)

my bottleneck is probably my RAM lol...do NOT try to put two brands in a dual channel configuration, especially ones with different timings...my current stable RAM timings is 2.5-4-4-8 2T....I can push it to 1T, but it reboots every time I try to print something  . I think I'll get some RAM heatspreaders and see if I can push it to 2.5-3-3-6 1T


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## OOTay (Feb 25, 2006)

man, my 3dmark scores are low right now becuase i got some generic brand ram in here and worthless intel chipset... oh well ill get new amd chipset later this year hopefully!


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## zekrahminator (Feb 26, 2006)

lol pushed RAM to 2.5-3-3-8, and brought my 3Dmark05 score to over 6K...yeah, its definitely a RAM bottleneck


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## zekrahminator (Feb 26, 2006)

one more thing...3Dmark05 scored at 1024x768, no AA full AF, in other words, free version 3Dmark05


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## infrared (Feb 26, 2006)

yep, that's what most people have, so they're the settings we normally use to compare, though sometimes turning the AA and AF up can help differentiate between two high end cards. I have the full version, and i love the fact that you can skip all the pointless tests to get your score


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## zekrahminator (May 25, 2006)

infrared said:
			
		

> I'm gonna send Arctic cooling an email and see if i can get hold of any of the stuff


Or you could just go here . This is the stuff that originally came with ATISilencer5, until they started pre-applying . I really wish they wouldn't do that, it's always nice to get a free tube of thermal paste .


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## infrared (May 25, 2006)

hmm, that must have been an old post 

I got mine from an ebay store, selling a whole bunch of spare parts for all their coolers. I'll see if i can find a link later.

meh, got a great collection of thermal grease now...

AS5,
MX-1,
Ceramique,
OCZ +5
Arctic Silver Epoxy
Arcticlean (TIM)

hehe, and some sheets of 600 - 1200 grit sandpaper


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## zekrahminator (Jun 3, 2006)

Just thought I'd let you know, my ATISilencer5 reaches 604.13/604.13 STABLE (unless of course you happen to be running ATItool artifact test, but...whatever ). I won't be running it at those clocks, of course, I just wanted to see how high I could push it. ATISilencer5 FTW!. I can get it to 557.75/557.75 while still passing the ATItool artifact test (Edit: I run it for a few minutes, I don't really pay attention), and I leave it at 520/540 to preserve the life of my awesome card. I'll probably overclock if I really see the need though (AKA Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion).


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## Azn Tr14dZ (Jun 3, 2006)

How long do you scan it for?


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## ghost101 (Jun 27, 2006)

Two questions, ive installed it with thermal paste on top of the thermal pad for the GPU (Dam the stupid instructions).

Anyway, after about 3 days i tried to get the cooler off, its stuck to the card and is impossible to get off. Any advice.

Also if i do remove it, the memory thermal pads will be fine right? I say this because im pretty sure without the pads there will be no contact with using just AS5.


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## zekrahminator (Jun 27, 2006)

Well lets see, I'm not sure why you'd want to take off ATISilencer5, you've barely let it burn in yet. But if you were, you'd either be wanting to A) pull it off right after a round of Oblivion or some other GPU-intensive game B) stick it in the freezer C) Put some more elbow grease into it. After removing it, you will have to reapply thermal paste to EVERYTHING, and AS5 will actually make things worse. All heatsinks from Arctic Cooling are specially designed with the thermal compound that comes with them (MX1.). If you use anything else, even AS5, you will lose performance (a good 3-5*C of performance.). Also, remembering how I killed my 6200 (tried securing heatsinks with thermal paste instead of the thermal pads that came with them.), I suggest you stick with the stock stuff.


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## ghost101 (Jun 27, 2006)

So the fact that for the GPU I have the stock thermal pad as well as a film of AS5 isnt worth the effort of removing and reapplying everything?

If so, curse the instructions again. It clearly says apply some thermal paste.


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## zekrahminator (Jun 27, 2006)

I don't remember the instructions saying anything about putting extra thermal compound on MY ATISilencer5, it just came with everything pre-applied. I hope you didn't put any extra thermal paste on, mixing things will cook your card . If you did, then definitely try to take your silencer off after a GPU-intensive game and reapply with ONLY AS5 or ONLY MX1.


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## mikelopez (Aug 13, 2006)

zekrahminator said:


> I don't remember the instructions saying anything about putting extra thermal compound on MY ATISilencer5, it just came with everything pre-applied. I hope you didn't put any extra thermal paste on, mixing things will cook your card . If you did, then definitely try to take your silencer off after a GPU-intensive game and reapply with ONLY AS5 or ONLY MX1.



The problem is that the instructions have not been updated with the addition of the pre-applied pads.  It refers to when they included the thermal paste for us to apply ourselves.

I just installed my Silencer and the idle temps have dropped about 3-4c but I have been searching the forum for a good recomendation on how to set the dynamic temps/speeds.  I dont want to run into any "clicking" problems.


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## jameskelsey (Aug 13, 2006)

I installed one on a ATI X850 Pro about a week ago. I cleaned off the thermal paste and applied AS5. My idle temps dropped 10c and my load temps dropped 17c. Never changed anything with the fan control. Works great!


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## kcm8819 (Jun 13, 2007)

Hey guys, I was wondering if y'all could help me out.
I bought my ATI Radeon X800XL almost 2 years ago and the fan began making a bad sound but after a restart it would go away. Well, yesterday even a restart wouldn't get the fan working properly again. I tried cleaning it out, thinking there may be junk in there but it's spotless and still making the noise. I think the fan is about to go out so I was trying to find an easy solution to this problem.
First off, i was wondering what y'all thought about the Silence 5 rev.2
Secondly, I am curious of how I would go about taknig the current fan off. 
Is it just a simple swap or what
Also, I was also looking at a Zalman and wondered which you thought was best for my situation


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## erocker (Jun 13, 2007)

I loved my Silencer that I used on my x800 and would totally recommend it.  The instructions tell you how to replace the old with the new.  I would aslo recommend that you use Arctic silver 5 thermal compound instead of the stuff that comes with the cooler.


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## jameskelsey (Jun 13, 2007)

I had the Silencer on my X850 Pro and it droped my load temps around 18c plus it exhausts out of the case,great cooler.The only thing I didn't like was if you have to remove it you have to carefully cut the thermal pads on the memory to get it off.But I found new pads on ebay for it. Also recommend Artic silver 5.


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## kcm8819 (Jun 13, 2007)

so do you think 1 tube of artic silver 5 would be a sufficient amount to use while installing the Silencer 5? And thanks for the help, I think I'm going to try to find one and order it tonight


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## infrared (Jun 14, 2007)

You'd have plenty to spare from one tube. You just need to put a very thin covering over the gpu core. Remember that using too much TIM will increase temps.


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## jameskelsey (Jun 14, 2007)

Here are instructions.

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm


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## infrared (Jun 14, 2007)

Oh, also... 

On the new AC silencer 5 rev 2's, they spray the base of the heatsink with lacquer, which can have a big impact on temps. I'd recommend removing it with some very fine sandpaper where it will make contact with the gpu. Start off with 600 grit, and finish with 1000 grit or finer.


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## kcm8819 (Jun 14, 2007)

well, unfortunately I can't find one anywhere for purchase. It's discontinued on all websites but one. The one website doesn't ship outside of greater Vancouver, and I'm in the US


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## jameskelsey (Jun 14, 2007)

Have you checked ebay?I sold mine there a couple months ago.Their well made and carry a 6 year warranty I think so buying a used one is not a big risk.Let me check around for one I know their hard to find.


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## jameskelsey (Jun 14, 2007)

Is this the one you mentioned?

http://www.kingstoncomputerplanet.com/products/?cid=15&scid=03&pid=150300019


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## jameskelsey (Jun 14, 2007)

Here's a list of usa dealers from Arctic cooling site you can try.

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/where_to.php


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## kcm8819 (Jun 14, 2007)

Yes, I've checked ebay. The only Silencer 5 was an NVIDIA. I've began checking the list of dealers but I don't expect to find any since the product is discontinued. I'll continue checking once I get home and have more time. Thanks for the site though, I might try contacting some of the distributors...although since it's discontinued that may be useless. Thanks for all the help though.
And the Kingston website doesn't have a way to pay online and the store is located in Canada, so unless I'm very desperate, I'm afraid to do a phone order with that company. No telling what I'll get...or wont get.


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