Taking a break from their usual colourful cardboard boxes, Thermaltake have instead gone with a plastic package. Usually these come heat-sealed around the edges, but not this time. Simply pry it open, and that’s that. Bravo to Thermaltake for not making my life hell from Step 1, and for not wasting money on excessive fancy packaging. Included inside is the Silent Boost itself, an instruction sheet which doubles as a scratch-guard for the base of the unit, and a package of generic white thermal paste. Although seeming a bit bare, this is all you really need.
Heatsink:
The TtSB heatsink is all copper; a solid copper base with copper fins soldered to it. Thermaltake aren't very good at doing that, and it the solder job looks rather bad. Hopefully, this will not have a negative impact on performance. As you have perhaps picked out, the heatsinks fins do not line up, with one “excess” fin jutting out opposite each side. Whether this is a design flaw, production flaw, or perhaps even an intentional engineering “feature”, it probably won’t play a large part in performance, although it is odd. Flipping the unit over, we have the base.
It’s roughly lapped, which is probably good enough for most people, although some of you may turn up your noses in disgust at the sight of such an unrefined job. Only the tests will tell how well it truly works. An aluminium fan shroud holds the fan over the heatsink, which is fastened to the motherboard using a three-pronged clip.
Fan:
Looking somewhat gimmicky, the TtSB’s “Hydro Wave Bearing” fan with “Unique fan frame design” used to “reduce noise level” reeked of marketing bull. This is, until I removed it and turned it over.
It was not what I expected. Staring back at me was the tell-tale grey sticker of a high-quality Panaflo low-noise fan. Thermaltake have really outdone themselves this time, employing use of one of the best silent fan makers out there (Zalman, Vantec and Papst also hold prestigious positions) Running at 0.17A (contradicting the box, which says 0.13A), you can plug this one directly into your motherboard’s three pin fan header without needing a molex to 3pin adapter, which is just as well, because there isn’t one provided. 21dBA is the noise level at which the human ear cannot discern between noise and silence, which is exactly what the fan is rated at. Remember though, fan manufacturers usually measure decibels three feet away from the actual fan and perhaps even through a case so if you’re anywhere closer, you *will* hear it, albeit very softly. That being said, 21dBA (manufacturer measured or otherwise) is still a fine level and sure beats whining/roaring Deltas.
