Hardware Bistro

Product: EFZ-120HA5
Manufacturer: SilenX
Supplied by: SilenX
Price: 33USD/RM99
Launch Date: Jan 2012

 

Today we have an exciting brand landed on our shore - SilenX. Some of us might not have heard about SilenX as they are not volume player and they has been focusing on OEM business instead of consumer market. However today we will look into one of their latest and top range CPU coolers, EFZ-120HA5. If you are looking for a budget and entry CPU cooler then you should really take a look on this.

 

Company Profile

SilenX has been a privately-owned and operated company based in southern California since 1995. There are several research and design facilities in addition to our primary warehouse facility and our renowned technical support and customer service center. Originally a high-end systems integrator for silent computers, SilenX shifted its focus to manufacturing silent PC components in 2002 and established factories in the United States, China, and Taiwan. Our retail products are distributed in numerous countries around the world. We also have an OEM division. Our specialty is in low noise components as we have among the lowest noise cooling equipment in the industry.

 

Features

- Perfect complement to any system
- Great performance, low noise and with a very affordable price tag
- Work with the most powerful CPU on the market today
- Utilizes three 6mm heatpipes that directly contact the CPU
- Intertwined to provide six effective heatpipes worth of thermal dissipation
- A universal mounting bracket supports widest range of current AMD & Intel sockets
- Included an Effizio 120mm fan with 3rd generation fluid dynamic bearings
- Otion of adding a second fan for more performance
- Comes with a three year warranty

 

Package & Contents

 

Although SilenX is not a junior thermal & cooling vendor but it is still pretty new when come to consumer market hence an attractive packaging is definitely able to draw the attention from the crowd. Apparently SilenX has done a good job on EFZ-120HA5's packaging which is pretty outstanding than its competitors. 

 

Besides the outer interesting packaging with a small see-thru window and the well-equipped information on the box, SilenX EFZ-120HA5 is also packed neatly with another inner plastic container. Other accessories besides the CPU cooler are mounting plate & brackets, 2 sets of anti-vibration fan mounts, user manual, thermal paste and etc. 

There are two similar mounting back plates for SilenX EFZ-120HA5 but in fact one of them is used to mount at the bottom of the CPU cooler so that it can be mounted on the motherboard securely. Two sets of fan mounts are provided so that SilenX EFZ-120HA5 can support up to two 120mm cooling fans for greater cooling result.

 

A Closer Look on SilenX EFZ-120HA5 

Since this is the first time we introduce SilenX in our website, let us talk a little more about their product offering. Besides the CPU coolers, SilenX is also having other accessories like HDD cooler, chipset coolers, full range of Effizio cooling fans (40mm till 140mm), fan mounts, fan speed controllers and interesting devices like cabinet cooling system.

Most of the performance CPU coolers nowadays are able to support multiple sockets to for better competiveness and SilenX EFZ-120HA5 is one of them. SilenX EFZ-120HA5 comes with universal mounting method which is able to support both Intel and AMD sockets such as LGA775, 1155, 1156, 1356, 1366, AM2, AM2+ and AM3.

 

SilenX EFZ-120HA5 is one of the performance CPU coolers which comes in tower form factor to maximize its cooling performance. 125 x 85 x 153 mm and 648g are its dimension and weight, not too bulky and heavier which is just nice for midrange usage. If you would like to go further than this then you may consider EFZ-120HA4; extreme version.

 

SilenX EFZ-120HA5 is made with anodized aluminum fins and copper heatpipes. The aluminum heatsink block is pretty solid with its thick and quality aluminum fins; plenty of tiny dots on the surface to enlarge the heat dissipation area. SilenX EFZ-120HA5 can support dual 120mm cooling fans but it is optional to purchase the second one. 

 

SilenX EFZ-120HA5 comes with three 6mm copper heatpipes while its sibling (EFZ-120HA4, extreme version) comes with five. These copper heatpipes are having direct contact method with the processor which enhancing its heat conductivity. Besides that a small heatsink block is added right on top of the cooler's base to further enhance its heat dissipation. 

 

SilenX EFX-12-15 is bundled with SilenX EFZ-120HA5 which is using third generation fuild dynamic bearing; silent yet long lasting. This red charming fan is a silent fan where its rated noise is only about 15dBA with producing 74CFM and drawing 0.11A current. Hopefully SilenX will have another EFZ-120HA5 bundle with dual 120mm fans. 

In term of design, quality and appearance, SilenX EFZ-120HA5 has not much difference with those famous world class CPU cooler vendors. Everything has been well designed and neatly on SilenX EFZ-120HA5 but nevertheless let us find out its real performance with following installation, testing and performance results.

 

Installation, Testing & Performance

There are couples of ways to start the installation but we prefer to start with the fan mounting as this step requires a little bit of skill to get the job done correctly since SilenX EFZ-120HA5 is not a giant CPU cooler. Pliers is a good tool to slot in the fan mounts easily on the heatsink block and adjust the fan mount position so that it aligns with the fan for easier fan mounting. 

If the chassis has plenty of room to do in-chassis installation then the fan can be mounted on the SilenX EFZ-120HA5 first or else it could be the last step so that securing the SilenX EFZ-120HA5 on the motherboard will not be an issue. Next step could be installing the mounting bracket at the bottom of the SilenX EFZ-120HA5 with two screws; AMD sockets may need additional brackets. 

Mounting the SilenX EFZ-120HA5's backplate at the back of the motherboard requires four set of bolts, nuts & washers and right mounting holes must be used or else it will not fit into the motherboard's PCB and damage could be incurred. This step applies to both Intel and AMD sockets; can be installed in north-south or east-west direction.

After that the SilenX EFZ-120HA5 must be fasten on the motherboard with four sets of washer and nuts again; remember thermal paste must be applied on the processor in order to transfer the heat to the CPU cooler more effectively. All the nuts must be secure firmly and a flat screw driver could be helpful on this especially for in-chassis installation.

Lastly the fan can be mounted on the SilenX EFZ-120HA5 if this has not be done earlier or else do a final checking to ensure the SilenX EFZ-120HA5 is sitting on the motherboard firmly. The installation for SilenX EFZ-120HA5 is pretty simple if the whole process is done outside the chassis or else extra time and care must be spent to take good care of the other components.

 

Test Bed: 

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8300 @ 2.83GHz
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3/Gigabyte G31M-ES2L
Heatsink: SilenX EFZ-120HA5
Memory: Kingston HyperX 4GB DDR2 8500
Hard Drive: 250GB 7200RPM 8MB Seagate
Graphic Card: Galaxy GeForce GTX260+
PCIe: Aten IC320U USB 3.0
Casing: BitFenix Colossus Venom
HDD Cage: Icy Dock MB994SP-4S
PSU: OCZ ZX 850W
Optical Drive: HLDS DVD RW +/-
Controller: Aerocool Touch 2000
Monitor: Dell 22" Wide Screen LCD
Speaker: Edifier R501
Mouse: SteelSeries Ikari Laser
Mouse Pad: SteelSeries QcK+
HeadSet: SteelSeries 3H
Router: TRENDnet TEW-639GR
Operating System: Window XP Pro SP2/Win 7 HP
Ambient Temperature: 27 Degree Celsius

Here are the test results of SilenX EFZ-120HA5 together with other market famous and unique CPU coolers. Frankly to say SilenX EFZ-120HA5 is not the best CPU cooler among the rest but it still perform as good as other branded mainstream CPU coolers. Furthermore SilenX EFZ-120HA5 costs half lesser than those performance CPU coolers which is pretty attractive especially if you are a beginner. Besides that one of the advantages of SilenX EFZ-120HA5 is its quiet cooling fan; very low noise. This could be the reason why its performance be held back or else its performance definitely can be boosted further with a strong fan or even dual-fan setup.

 

Verdicts

For such value and affordable CPU cooler from SilenX, EFZ-120HA5 basically did a good job to secure some of the entry to midrange market since SilenX EFZ-120HA5 gives so much of flexibility to further enhance its performance either by using much stronger fan or even dual-fan setup. Quiet operation and 6mm heatpipe with direct touch technology are other SilenX EFZ-120HA5's selling points. Less than USD35, SilenX EFZ-120HA5 is definitely a good buy with its performance and it is also a universal CPU cooler which supports multiple of Intel/AMD sockets. 

 

Pros:

+ Super value
+ Decent performance with its affordable price
+ Quiet operation
+ 6mm direct touch heat-pipe
+ Universal CPU cooler
+ Support dual 120mm fans
+ 3 year warranty

Cons:

- Prefer fan clip mounting method

 

 

Thanks to for SilenX providing this sample for us to review.

 

 

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