INTRODUCTION

   The market currently is filled with two types of CPU cooling solutions, the extremely old and popular CPU Air Coolers of all types aimed toward the masses and the somewhat more advanced and expensive AIO and custom Liquid CPU Coolers aimed primarily towards professionals, enthusiasts and overclockers (custom water cooler kits however are still considered niche mainly because of their price and installation). Through the years many air and liquid coolers have reached our test bench and if we've learned something is that nowadays air coolers don't seem to be advancing as much as liquid ones. Luckily there are some CPU Air Coolers out there capable of going head to head with many AIO Liquid Coolers and so since there's no real headroom for serious improvement the next best thing is for manufacturers to improve on what they already have. Thermalright has been polishing the Silver Arrow model for quite some time now and according to them the brand new Silver Arrow IB-E model which we have here today is a clear improvement over the previous SB-E model.

   Thermalright is an elite design house that manufactures cooling products for computer components for the best quality and performance your money can buy. In 2002, AMD released its first generation Thunderbird CPU and since then we have been there every step of the way to counter high voltage and high heat with innovative design and highly acclaimed cooling solutions not only for AMD but for Intel as well. One of early well known solutions was the SK-6. With many positive and rave reviews under its belt Thermalright bolted to the top as the heat sink manufacturer mostly preferred by Overclockers and enthusiasts around the World. To this day, innovation never left our vocabulary as we keep coming up with leading edge designs staying ahead of the competition.

   The very first Silver Arrow model was released roughly 4 years ago and was able to keep up (and in some cases surpass) the award winning NH-D14 by Noctua. With the introduction of the LGA 2011 socket Thermalright released the Silver Arrow SB-E to combat the newly released NH-D14 SE2011 by Noctua with identical results. To clearly win the performance crown Thermalright then released the Silver Arrow SB-E Extreme edition which is indeed the best CPU Air Cooler we have tested to date with sole drawback the very high noise levels emanating from its two high-RPM fans. The Silver Arrow IB-E and IB-E Extreme models are the two latest additions in the Silver Arrow line featuring a different heatsink design to improve on slight clearance issues with the PCIex socket encountered with the previous SB-E models. Fortunately the size is roughly the same and although this time over the IB-E model comes outfitted with two TY-141 fans (instead of one TY-141 and one TY-150) thanks to the new design it should be able to go up against the SB-E model.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The typical box which Thermalright has been using like forever is used here too so once again we see their logo at the top.

Both sides have the model name and CPU socket compatibility list printed on them.

As usual the entire package is placed inside several foam spacers.

The bundle is very rich and aside the IB-E heatsink and the two TY-141 fans it also includes a 4pin Y splitter, thermal paste tube, Allen key, 8 rubber pads, installation manual, 6 fan clips, Thermalright case badge and all the necessary screws and bits used to mount the Silver Arrow IB-E on Intel LGA 775/1150/1155/1156/1366/2011 and AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3+/FM1/FM2 compatible mainboards.

THE SILVER ARROW IB-E

The Silver Arrow IB-E is quite massive and measures 154mm in length, 103mm in width and 163mm in height with a weight of 750g.

A total of 44 aluminum fins are placed on each of the two heatsinks of the IB-E version.

In the two pictures above we see the special arrow design of the fins which should increase airflow between them and thus improve cooling efficiency.

We have a total of eight 6mm nickel plated copper heatpipes leaving the base designed in such a way to reduce clearance issues.

Once again Thermalright has used a mirror-like finish for the copper base.

With both fans installed the Silver Arrow IB-E measures 154mm in length, 129.5mm in width and 163mm in height with a weight of 1090g.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   We always take things quite seriously when it comes to work so just like with the previous LGA1366 database we will not be testing each CPU Cooler on its own and with different ambient temperature levels and thus we can actually have yet another valid CPU Cooler database. Testing a CPU Cooler automatically means that you need to know where it stands against the immediate competition and to accomplish that we have spent both money and time through the years, something that we plan to continue to do so in order to get the most accurate results for the end consumers who read these lines. Every CPU cooler in this database is tested with the bundled 140mm/120mm/92mm/80mm fans while working at both idle speed and 100% of their speeds for all the temperature tests. CPU Coolers that do not come bundled with a fan/s are measured using a Noctua fan (size dependent on the model) to test for the temperature tests but due to the lack of a stock fan dBA level tests are obviously skipped. Single (120/140mm) watercooling solutions are tested with the radiator mounted at the rear of our test rig while dual/triple/quad (240/260/280/360/420/480/560mm) solutions with the radiator mounted at the top. For the dBA tests every cooler in the database was measured both while on idle mode or with the fan controller in the minimum setting and while on extreme load or with the fan controller all the way to the highest possible setting (PWM fans do that on their own without our intervention). Every single test takes place in a temperature controlled room of 23 degrees Celsius Ambient Temp with the help of two AC units placed diagonally inside the room. The Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste is used with every CPU Cooler in our latest LGA2011 database (although initially this was not the plan we had to change things to get the most accurate results). Finally it's very important to point out that just because a CPU Cooler is better than another when tested with our test rig that does not necessarily mean that the same performance differences will apply 100% for other CPU models and in other situations (such as different ambient temps and system configurations).

     To successfully record the load temperatures we use the latest OCCT application for around 6-10 minutes to push the processor to its limits and after that is done and the temperatures are recorded we wait for about 10-20 minutes for the CPU to cool down and record the idle temperatures. This is done to allow time for the thermal conductive material to achieve the optimal performance level. Same procedure is then repeated with the Passmark BurnIn Test as a failsafe just in case the OCCT results are wrong. This procedure takes a lot more time than the usual peltier/thermometer tests but this way not only can we deliver real world results to our readers based on real CPUs but we can also triple check the results using a variety of programs. Last but not least the temperatures were recorded using both the latest versions of AIDA64 and RealTemp while the noise level tests are performed using a high precision ExTech HD600 Decibel Meter placed about 10-15cm above the CPU Cooler. Still although the same testing procedure applies to all units do take into consideration that unlike the official numbers which are measured in special noise isolated labs with just the fans here we also have both the rest of the cooler and the rest of the system (although all system fans are turned off when recording noise levels).

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

   As you can all see from our charts we never had the chance to test the normal Silver Arrow SB-E model with our LGA2011 test rig in the past (i did with my previous LGA1366 rig at another website but that's a different story) so we can't really compare it to the new IB-E model in order to spot the performance differences. However having tested the Silver Arrow SB-E Extreme we can say that we didn't expect the IB-E model to lag just 2.5 degrees Celsius behind, not when it's TY-141 fans are much more silent compared to the TR-TY143 ones of the Extreme model. That being said the fact that the Silver Arrow IB-E model is currently the 5th best CPU Air Cooler in our charts (out of 24) and the 13th quietest one (out of a total of 26) speaks for itself.

   If you're reading these lines chances are that you have an idea on how much dual heatsink CPU Air Coolers similar to the Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E cost so the current retail price tag of USD89.95 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and 64.99Euros inside the EU (PC-Cooling.de) shouldn't come as a surprise. Of course at around the same price point there are many more solutions today than there were almost 3 years ago when i tested the SB-E model and that may confuse some people but Thermalright has a perfect track record so far and i really think that matters quite a bit. All that’s left is for us to also see how the IB-E Extreme model performs but right now our job is to award the 5th best CPU Air Cooler in our charts with our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Very Good Performance
- 8 Nickel Plated Heatpipes
- Dual Fan Solution
- Low Noise Levels
- Clearance Issues (Improved Compared To The SB-E Model)
- Ability to Add An 3rd Fan

CONS

- Size
- Price (For Some)