Mini-ITX CPU Air Cooler Round-Up

Reviews
By
published

Today we're reviewing the SilverStone Argon AR06, Reeven's RC 1001 Brontes, ID-Cooling's IS-VC45 and the Shadow Rock LP from be quiet!.

Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

SilverStone Argon AR06

First up on the testing block is one of SilverStone's newer low profile coolers, the Argon AR06. The AR06 is part of SilverStone's Argon series of CPU coolers, which is intended to provide not only excellent value but also high performance as well.

The AR06 is simply a scaled up version of its smaller counterpart, the AR05, featuring two additional 6mm diameter heat pipes and a taller heat sink to handle CPUs with TDPs up to 95W. Both coolers utilize the same 92 x 15mm fan and feature a standard format, downdraft style design. On the Intel side of things, the AR06 drops support for most of Intel's legacy sockets, and only includes hardware for CPUs that drop into the 115X series of sockets. When it comes to support for AMD processors, the AR06 includes hardware for any of the four bolt, rectangular sockets such as AM2/3 and FM1/2. Finally, the AR06 comes with mounting hardware, a standard instruction manual, thermal paste, and a set of rubber spacers to protect the back of the motherboard from the screws used to mount the cooler.

The AR06 is the only cooler in today's round-up with a design featuring direct contact heat pipes on the base of the cooler. The cooler's mounting kit is quick and easy to assemble and simply involves securing the screws to the proper set of mounting arms, attaching the arms to the base of the cooler, applying thermal paste to the CPU, placing the cooler onto the CPU, applying the rubber pads to the female hex bolts, and then securing the cooler to the motherboard using the bolts. Once the cooler is installed on the board, the installation is completed by connecting the cooler's fan to the CPU fan header on the motherboard.

Finally, one of the attractive features of the AR06 is that due it its extremely compact nature, users do not need to worry about having RAM clearance issues, which is common in other, larger coolers.

Chris Miconi
21 Comments Comment from the forums
  • megamanxtreme
    I was hoping for one that can be mounted like the stock AMD cooler, without having to rely on pulling-out the motherboard to install the back plate.
    Reply
  • why_wolf
    For these kinds of small form factor coolers I would greatly appreciated seeing the stock Intel cooler in there. No point in buying 3rd party if it can't beat stock.
    Reply
  • farlandprince
    What kind of a roundup is this?

    you missed like 10 available coolers ...
    Reply
  • Onus
    The Reeven appears to be available at Newegg, but all their products also tack on a $20 shipping charge.
    Reply
  • SuperBox
    The Shadow Rock LP does not require the use of low profile memory, standard memory without a tall heat spreader can fit.
    Reply
  • Calculatron
    I love cooler round-ups!

    Please tell me that more are coming!
    Reply
  • DonkeyOatie
    Shame some of the older coolers you have reviewed, like the RAIJINTEK Pallas or Xigmatek Januscould not have been included, so the earlier reviews could be 'normalized' with this hardware kit
    Reply
  • Dark Lord of Tech
    Cryorig?
    Reply
  • NMOGV2
    How about the inclusion of the scythe big suriken 2 rev. b? For 40$ it's an amazing little cooler.
    Reply
  • -Fran-
    No GeminII M4? :(

    I wish you guys can include them, as well as include (when available) the new boxed cooler from AMD, plus Intel boxed coolers.

    Cheers!
    Reply