SilverStone AP81, FW81, FQ81, FM84 Review

While having a competent CPU cooler is great, as it allows most users to rest easy in knowing that the "brain" of their computer is nice and cooled, keeping the temperature around the aforementioned cooler as low as possible is also extremely important.

Managing temperatures inside computer cases is not always a simple process, especially when small form factor cases are thrown into the mix, while in your typical mid-tower or full-tower case you can easily move components and fans around in order to keep everything going smoothly, in cases designed for HTPCs for example, that same luxury is not always present. Choosing the correct and most effective fans is key if you want to have any sort of success when cooling your miniature systems.

Today, we're going to take a look at four SilverStone options for cooling your "wee" computers, the AP81, FW81, FQ81 and finally the FM84.

While the four products we're reviewing today differ in appearance from one another, in terms of packaging they are basically the same. All of them come tucked inside some see-through plastic that does a decent job of protecting the fans, there's also a sheet of cardboard that reveals not only the product's name but also its main features. I'm not a big fan (puns ahoy!) of plastic enclosures, they tend to be a pain to open and you can't exactly reuse them like you can with a cardboard box.

Bundled with the fans you will find quite a few extras, this is nice to see, especially when you take under consideration how affordable these cooling solutions from SilverStone are (7-10€). The FM84 model in particular is quite nice since it includes a helpful fan controller. Aside from that you will also find your typical screws and rubber washers to help reduce vibrations even further and a four pin to molex adapter.

The fans themselves have a nice weighty feel to them, this lends a sense of sturdiness and stability to these 80mm cooling solutions. They are also color coded, this way you can easily discern which fan is which and it aids the enthusiastic builder keeping the colors within their machines properly matched.

Besides being a lot more solid than what you might expect from such an affordable product, the blades also have three different designs to them ("mixed fan blade design"), according to SilverStone this reduces noise frequency.*

Aside from the differences in colors and cable sleeving, the design of the fans is pretty much the same. The only exception being the AP81 that has an air channeling grille, this gives the air flow a narrower path, making it more effective when cooling a single component is the objective.

Regarding the aforementioned cable sleeving, it would have been nice to see all four models come with it, unfortunately only the FQ81 brings that to the table.

Functionality-wise, all of them - exception once again being the AP81 - feel very similar both in terms of airflow and noise. But, as we can see from the table shown below, the FM84 can go a bit further in terms of cooling performance, while the AP81 is stuck at 3000 RPM which produces 30dB of noise. Finally, both the FQ81 and FW81 have the added value of a PWM connector, allowing them to adjust their speed automatically.

Another major difference between the four models is their bearings, both the AP81 and FM84 have your typical sleeve bearing, meaning silent operation as long as the lubricant holds. The FW81 has a long life sleeve bearing, which one assumes it's an improved version of the normal sleeve bearing. The FQ81 presents itself as the superior option with its fluid dynamic bearing, this may also explain why the FQ81 is the only version with sleeved cables.

Model	Speed	Airflow	Noise (dBA)	Life-Time (Hrs)	Bearings
AP81	3000	29.5	30	25000	Sleeve
FM84	1500~3500	15~36.87	18.1~34.8	25000	Sleeve
FQ81	1200~2800	12~27.53	15~28.5	50000	Fluid Dynamic
FW81	1200~3000	12~29.5	15.3~30	40000	Long-Life Sleeve

Final Thoughts

With more and more HTPCs and other forms of small computers inhabiting not only our offices but also our living rooms, size and silence become two of the most important factors when building a machine.

Since their RPM's don't need to be as high, keeping a 120 or 140mm fan silent is a much simpler process than doing the same with an 80mm model. Fortunately SilverStone did a fine job in keeping these fans silent, for the most part at least. At higher speeds they are noisy, and considering the speed adjusting limitations of the AP81, I wouldn't recommend it over the others unless you have a very specific purpose for it.

I would recommend the FQ81 for most builds, in very specific cases, I can also see the FM84 being somewhat useful. At the end of the day though, choosing the right fan for your system depends on what you want to do and your own personal preferences and priorities.

The Good

+Different colors

+Good airflow

+Various configurations

+Well built

+Fan controller (FM84 only)

+Price

The Bad

-Lack of cable sleeving (exception being the FQ81)

-Noisy at higher speeds

*Edit: The mixed fan blade design does not affect the fans airflow.

Thanks to SilverStone for providing the review samples

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SilverStone AR06 Review

In recent years computers in general have become more than just machines used for work or gaming, in order to be able to compete with other devices, particularly consoles, hardware manufacturers have been looking for more and more ways to transform these gaming/work machines into home entertainment centers.

Well, no one wants a big, ugly and noisy behemoth sitting in the middle of their living room, because of that, reducing the size of the cases, keeping them quiet and improving their looks in order for them to blend in are the first steps you should consider when building one of these machines.

With this idea in mind, today we will be reviewing an essential component for the "keeping them quiet" step, the AR06 low-profile CPU cooler from SilverStone.

Much like the fan itself, the package for the AR06 has a very distinct white and blue color scheme that really stands out. It's also nice to see all of the components inside well protected with soft foam, this ensures that your cooler will arrive in one piece, even if you ship it from the other side of the world.

Bundled with the AR06 you can expect to find a few important items such as thermal paste, the AMD and Intel brackets, an instruction manual and a few screws and nuts to hold everything in place.

Where looks are concerned, the AR06 is impressive, the different colors such as blue, white and silver work well together and give the AR06 its own unique visual style. I can see this cooler fitting extremely well in a build that shares the same color scheme.

In terms of construction quality, the AR06 is more or less in line with previous offers from SilverStone, well built with loads of attention to all the details, making this a solid and durable cooling solution.

Installation process

Simple and easy to understand and execute, thanks to the detailed instruction manual you shouldn't have any issues installing the AR06.

Simply select and install the correct mounting brackets, apply the thermal paste, secure everything in place with a few screws and nuts and you're good to go.

I would actually recommend the AR06 to beginners since it's a cooler with a very straightforward design that shouldn't really offer any doubts regarding where everything fits, it's basically hassle-free.

Performance and noise levels

For testing purposes, and even though SilverStone recommends using CPUs with a TDP lower than 95W, we decided to push the AR06 just a bit further with our AMD A8-5600K with a TDP of 100W. They actually mention that if the computer case is well ventilated you can demand a bit more of the AR06, that's our plan.

I personally think that the versatility of the A8-5600K is certainly something to bear in mind when building a small form factor computer, making it a realistic choice for this test.

Regarding the test itself, we stressed the CPU with the System Stability Test from AIDA64 for about 30 minutes for each cooler, after this period we recorded the minimum, maximum and average temperatures during that half an hour.

Keep in mind that besides the obvious comparison with AMD's stock cooler, we also added the gigantic Noctua NH-U14S to the test as a reference point to see how the AR06 compares with a cooler designed for high-end CPUs.

Noise levels were surprisingly low, especially when you take into consideration how compact the fan from the AR06 is (92x92x15mm). Even when playing games or using applications that demanded a bit more from the cooler, the AR06 was able to keep everything cool and still be relatively silent.

Final thoughts

Writing the conclusion for this review, I struggle to find any serious problems with the AR06. For what it was designed for, it performs extremely well and it is quite affordable. The construction quality is well above average, the performance is great and most surprisingly, the noise levels are extremely low.

At the end of the day, the AR06 is a great choice for any user looking for a compact cooler.

The Good

+Well constructed

+Compact

+Looks good

+Low noise levels

+Nice performance

+Affordable

 

The Bad

-Visual style not for everyone

Thanks to SilverStone for providing the review sample

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