Silverstone tried to offer a lot with the Heligon HE01, and while they succeeded in many respects, they did not succeed across the board. The solid aluminum construction is definitely a plus, the cooling fins are not sharp, and the overall design is extremely solid. The interesting use of the massive 140 mm x 140 mm x 38 mm fan, while maybe not the best idea in terms of noise, certainly gives the cooler some big air flair. The option of picking between a quiet- and performance mode is a nice touch as both support PWM, and the fact that quiet mode limits the fan to 1200 RPM helps keep noise levels down to the point of it being one of the quieter coolers I have tested. Then we have the asymmetrical design offering clearance for taller memory modules on LGA 1155, although users will want to make sure they have at least 1.8 inches / 46 mm of clearance between the center of the CPU socket and the first DIMM slot. Most boards should offer more space than that, but without every single motherboard on hand for a measurement, I won’t make that broad assumption. The fact that Silverstone has included extra fan clips for additional fans is also nice. The Heligon HE01's cooling performance is also exceptional, being the best performing air cooler I have tested thus far; it rivaled the Corsair H100 and came close to the H110 in a few tests. Typical loads have Silverstone's product coming in third, 1°C behind the Corsair H100. The HE01 is, simply put, damn good for an air cooler; it even looks good.

That said, there are a few problems. The Heligon HE01 is loud in performance mode and the loss of cooling performance in quiet mode is not to the cooler's benefit. The 55 dBA at full speed in performance mode make the HE01 the second-loudest cooler of my tests, which may deter potential buyers. I do have to state that the noise level, while high, is simply the sound of air rushing through the heatsink as the fan is rated to push 171 CFM. The design, while great for more traditional motherboards, offers no benefits to LGA2011 users since the larger fin stack will loom over the DIMM slots, so tall memory modules are not possible on that socket. When it comes down to looks, the Heligon HE01 does have a nice appearance, but its aluminum construction will cause it to collect fingerprints like crazy.

With all the pros and cons I listed, I did find an easy solution to improve the Silverstone Heligon HE01 in some ways. During performance testing, I was surprised by how well it did, but I decided to play around after finishing the tests to figure out how much performance would improve by adding a second fan. With a single Noctua NF-P14 fan on the front spinning at 1200 RPM, I was left amazed at the performance gain. Quiet mode with both fans spinning at 1200 RPM, as with our 100% fan-noise test and one fan, produced a result of 46 dBA with a temperature of 60°C in Prime 95, which put the Silverstone Heligon HE01 behind the Corsair H110 by only 1°C in that test, with a sound level that is only 2 dBA higher than with the included fan in quiet mode. Users can, as such, keep sound levels down while improving performance with a second quiet 140 mm fan. In light of this, I have to say that Silverstone's cooler could easily rival some of the best coolers on the market if Silverstone would only include a second fan with their product. PC enthusiasts looking at this cooler may want to consider adding that second fan as it is an option that Silverstone offers through the inclusion of additional fan clips. This simple change will give users equal or better performance while allowing for lower noise levels, and I would recommend doing so from the get go.

If you need good cooling with extra options for both quiet operation and pure performance, the Silverstone's Heligon HE01 may be the option for you.