Installation

Installation for each heatsink is almost identical to that of a stock heatsink. In this case an AMD CPU has been cleaned and the stock retention frame has been left in place to be used by the new cooler. The Silent Whisper is laid upon the CPU and the side of the clip opposite the lever is attached to the frame first. Then the other side is slipped over the tabs on the frame and the lever is flipped over from left to right.


Since the stock compound was removed to examine the base, the cooler was installed with Arctic Silver 5 according to the manufacturer's directions. After installation the cooler was removed immediately to inspect the compound. The Arctic Silver was spread out quite a bit, although it was pushed out a little toward the side of the mounting clip's lever. This has more to do with the way this heatsink was installed and with using the Arctic Silver than anything else. With the stock compound the coverage should be much more even.


With the thermal compound reapplied and the heatsink reinstalled, the fan was plugged into the CPU fan header on the motherboard. The length of the fan wires is appropriate for the CPU, and is not extremely long or too short for the header.


With the installation complete, the heatsink has plenty of clearance with the surrounding components on the motherboard.


With the motherboard tray installed back into the case and the rest of the components added, there is ample room on each side of the cooler. That is something one would completely expect with a smaller cooler like the Silent Whisper.