A Closer Look

Taking a closer look at the Silverstone Argon AR03, it is easy to see that it follows the traditional U-type tower design. While tried and true, it also offers a clean appearance that keeps it from coming across as overly large and bulky. The aluminum fin stack consists of 53 cooling fins and receives the heat through six heatpipes. With just 560 g without fans, the overall design is fairly lightweight compared to some coolers.


The cooler's design is simple, but it should be effective considering its use of HDC (Heatpipe Direct Contact) technology, although Silverstone did not mention that the Argon AR03 can take a second fan. They even include the extra anti-vibration fan mounts necessary to do so. The addition of a second fan should further increase cooling performance for little extra cost.


I myself am not a fan of the blue and white color scheme; however, with white cases and blue LED fans being extremely popular, this cooler could make a nice addition with these fans. The fan Silverstone picked for this cooler has the model number AS1225H12. This PWM fan with an RPM-range of 1000-2200 makes use of a sleeve bearing. The fan blades also make use of an aerodynamic design that should allow for quieter operation.


The six heatpipes are 6 mm in diameter and make direct contact with the CPU's IHS. Silverstone has done a good job here in terms of the connection between the heatpipes and the aluminum fins. I did not see any serious gaps and no filler compound is readily visible. The heatpipes themselves are arranged in sets of two that enter the aluminum fin stack in staggered positions. The base, while not pretty and polished, is adequate, with the gaps being very small. This is good to see as larger gaps can reduce cooling performance due to less contact between the IHS and heatsink base.