Hardware Review
Silverstone NT06
The summer heat is here and what better product to review than a CPU cooler. Tonight we were kindly given a review unit of Silverstone's NT06 Evolution cooler. We would like to kindly thank the Silverstone team for making this review possible.
Okay, let's get right on to the review. We have had our fair share of reviews with CPU coolers now. The most important thing we based our score on is how well the CPU cooler cools down our very hot CPUs. We also consider the ambient noise the cooler makes while on normal operation as well as when the CPU is over clocked.
Let's first take look at the NT06's profile. As you can see from the photos below, the NT06 is a passive cooling solution with the flexibility of attaching an optional fan cooler. The NT06 also uses copper cooling to dissipate heat. All I can say is that this cooler is massive. The cooler uses five heat pipe channels to transfer heat away from the CPU. Silverstone has used aluminum fins to surround the heat pipe to further cool down the CPU. As mentioned above, you have the option of installing a 120mm fan on the cooler.
Click the image to see it full view...
Installation is very straight forward. We installed the cooler on our test system without a hitch. Silverstone has also included an installation manual to further guide you on how to properly install the CPU cooler. Please kindly refer to the list below for detail specifications of our test machine. We conducted temperature reading from the CPU while the CPU is on idle mode as well as when the computer is performing processes. We will also over clock the CPU and see how well the NT06 will cool down an over clocked CPU. We also used 3DMark06 as our CPU process for our testing. For comparison, we used a standard stock Intel CPU cooler.
| EVGA 680i Motherboard |
| Intel E6750 2.66GHz(Over clocked to 3.6GHz) |
| Crucial Ballistix 2x1GB PC2-6400 |
| 2x XFX 880GTS 320MB (SLI Mode) |
| 2x WD 80GB SATA - Raid 0 Configuration |
| 2x WD 250GB SATA |
| Creative X-Fi Soundcard |
Click the image to see it full view...
3D Mark 06 was used as our CPU load, running the benchmark application for about 15 minutes for each test. As you can see from the chart above, the NT06 cooled down our over clocked E6750 CPU. With about five to six degrees of difference from stock cooler to the NT06, the NT06 performed very well. We were pleasantly surprised with the result. Even though the NT06 did not have 120mm fan, the results were very good. And since the NT06 did not have a fan installed, the PCs interiors have become very quiet.
We really like the NT06's overall look and feel. Its cooling performance is also very good even in an over clocked setting for the CPU. If you want to make your computer quieter, a passive cooling solution is one option. The Silverstone NT06 really does the job if you're on the market for a passive cooling solution. We're pleased to give the Silverstone NT06 a score of 9 out 10 and our Editor's Choice.
Pros:
Excellent cooling performance
0dB(Without fan)
Nice copper heat pipes
Passive cooling
Cons:
120mm fan not included
Manufacturer Link:
