SilverStone Nitrogon NT03
Pulling the heatsink away from the foam insert that protected it during shipping, we were in awe at its design. Even though the heatsink measures in at a mere 90 x 72 x 64mm it does manage to pack a fair amount of weight at 608 grams. Everything on the unit from the fan shroud to mounting brackets are all composed of metal with no use of plastic. Taking care of the heat dissipation, it starts with a copper base and then the heat is transferred to three heatpipes as well as thirty evenly spaced copper fins. Closely examining the base, we were overall very pleased with its finish to the human eye. However, the base did not precisely have a mirror finish it was flat with no real manufacturing imperfections and we have full faith in its abilities. Recessed below the base the three copper heatpipes can be found. On two opposing sides of the Nitrogon NT03 base are the universal mounting brackets. These metal brackets simply have a few holes that will line up with the CPU socket on the motherboard, and in turn with the other mounting hardware provided, will be braced by the rear side of the motherboard's PCB. SilverStone does an adequate job at documenting the install process in its Nitrogon user's manual.
👁 Image
👁 Image
👁 Image
👁 Image
Providing the active support for the NT03 are two 60mm fans. These fans, with white blades, are actually Everflow R126015DL DC 12V 60mm fans. Each 11-blade ball-bearing fan is rated for 17.89CFM at 3600RPM with a noise level of 26.9dBA.The noise level certainly is not the quietest we have heard but two of these fans should be satisfactory in most purposes. These two fans are designed for a push-pull configuration on the heatsink, and thanks to the innovative heatsink design, the fans can be mounted on each side in either direction. This design should be quite beneficial for those with a uniquely designed setup or those who simply do not want to utilize both of the fans due to noise constraints. Looking at the fan shroud to where each fan is able to attach, we were quite impressed that it was made of black anodized aluminum, rather than plastic, and each fan simply connects to the shroud via two screws. On the top of the heatsink is a raised Nitrogon logo and printed SilverStone logo. Overall, the heatsink is very well laid out for optimal heat dissipation in addition to its attractive design. With the heatsink being petite, it should be able to easily fit inside any computer chassis whether it is the SilverStone Sugo SG01 or any full-size ATX case.