SilverStone Tundra TD03 AIO CPU Cooler Review

Introduction

Normally if I were to just say, "hey look guys, SilverStone made a new AIO," I am sure most of you would grown and say something along the lines of, just what we need... another one of these. I have seen so many AIO versions from various manufacturers that it is even hard for me to keep things straight. It used to be that it was a tit for tat competition from the OEMs to take turns at who had the better performing versions, but that was a long time ago, and now AIO units are more defined by generations of releases, and the fans that accompany them that we are left with serious advances in the way these new devices are delivered.

SilverStone takes a look at the basic idea that everyone and their mother has been making money off of for the better part of three to four years. However, SilverStone took a largely different approach to what they think is what makes for a better AIO unit. There are four major differences between what is being delivered in the Tundra series over every other AIO on the planet currently. First of all the transfer plate that typically has about 12 or so screws in it, well SilverStone devised a way to have no screws poking through that copper base. They also went to using extruded aluminum brackets rather than stamped steel ones. The last major change in the head unit end of this AIO is the all aluminum construction over the option of plastic that most use.

The last feature is based in the radiator, and while they don't mention the sharp looking shroud they wrap around theirs in the Tundra series, this is not the typical radiator. Where most use a fin that zigzags back and forth between the tubes, the latest to come from SilverStone has a perpendicular tube design, where it looks more like an air cooler than any radiator you have likely seen offered in the PC realm.

Thinking outside of the box usually does deliver products that perform better than previous concepts and designs, so let's get down to it and see just what the Tundra Series and this new TD03, 120mm thick radiator AIO is all about, and just how well it performs.