Page 2 - Physical Look - Hardware; Installation
The looks of the SilverStone Tundra TD03-SLIM is very similar to previous Tundra products, one of which Brian Cheung reviewed, the SilverStone Tundra TD03-LITE. I found the SilverStone Tundra TD03-SLIM looks great, even though there are some cost saving measures in the production, such as it does not have a carbon fiber finish. However, since it is inside a chassis, this does not matter so much, unless you have a nice big window to reveal the internals. Otherwise, the water block has an LED to light up the SilverStone logo. Funny enough, when the TD03-SLIM was installed in my case, I was not concentrating enough and I mounted the radiator with the tubes covering the LED, so I could only see it properly from specific angles. However, it should be mentioned the LED cannot be turned off. The LED only lights up the edges of the logo, so the light is not too distracting -- although the ability to turn it off will be nice.
Much like its counterparts of the Tundra LITE series, the TD03-SLIM's radiator features a traditional fin design, which, if you compare it to the TD03-E, is a cost saving measure. With the TD03-E the fins are soldered, therefore the surface area where the fins touch the liquid piping is bigger, allowing for better heat transfer. The TD03-SLIM has a fin design where only two sides of each fin touches the liquid piping, resulting in a lower heat transfer rate. SilverStone had to keep the TD03-SLIM within budget, so some areas were inevitably cut to keep the cost of the product down. The tubing is 310mm long, and has a 12mm diameter, as well as a braided line to make it sturdier. To be clear, the braided line is within the tubing. This improves the reliability of the tubing while preventing any leaks. The tubes bend easily, making top-mounted radiator installations convenient. Since the TD03-SLIM is an all-in-one cooler, there is no need to refill the closed water loop, so you can install it right out of the box.
The size of the SilverStone Tundra TD03-SLIM is where it really shines. It is designed to fit nicely into tighter chassis, which allows for the best of both worlds in terms of a smaller sized computer and liquid cooling. The dimensions come in at 153mm in length, 120mm in width, and 22mm in height. The Tundra TD03-LITE has the exact same dimensions, except for the height, where the SLIM version is 5mm thinner. On the next page, we will find out how much the thin design affects performance.
Just like others in the Tundra series, the pump circulates the coolant through the closed loop. The pump connects to a three pin header on your motherboard, with a motor speed of 2500±200 RPM and rated voltage of 12V. Similar to the Tundra LITE lineup, there are eight screws on the bottom of the base plate. The rest of the water block has a plastic body. Without the screws, the heat transfer would be even better, as seen in the TD02-E, but the screws in the base plate saves cost in production. The base plate is made out of copper, which has a thermal conductivity of 401W/mK, making it great for heat transfer. One issue with copper is under high temperature and in corrosive environments, there will be performance degradation over time. Nickel plating the base plate would solve the issue, since nickel performs much better in corrosive environments, but with a much lower thermal conductivity at 90W/mK. This will improve the longevity of the product. However, the nickel plating is usually very thin, so it will only decreases performance marginally. The lack of nickel plating is another cost saving measure, although I am unsure how much the cost would go up by adding the nickel plating.
I do not know if you have ever thought to yourself, "Man this fan just needs to be thinner." If you have, then the included fan with the SilverStone Tundra TD03-SLIM is great. They come in at 15mm in depth, which is really thin, including previous versions of the Tundra series fans. Attaching the fan to the radiator is simple and straightforward. I easily figured out which configuration I wanted the fan to be in. With the fans screwed on to the radiator, the thickness of both comes in at 37mm, which is quite slim. The TD03-SLIM deserves its name, as it does not shy away from being slim. On the next page, you will see I did not do a great job with cable management, as the tubes go across the water block, but there is only one wire, so it was not too much of an issue. After attaching the fans to the radiator, I started installing the backplate.
I did not require the manual for the backplate installation, since it was a very simple process. However, I did check the manual to make sure it made installation clear, which it did. As well, the same backplate was used for both Intel and AMD sockets. The screws that are used have their heads cut in half, ensuring they stay in place during the water block installation, while avoiding over tightening. On the other side of the motherboard, there are four little plastic stand offs to keep the backplate from falling off while you are preparing for the next part of the installation. The stand offs can be seen more clearly in the next picture.
If you take a look at the small print, you will see this is an AMD CPU, which is different from the rest of the systems at APH Networks running Intel processors. The stand offs and the screws are in place, meaning we are ready for the next part. I installed the radiator first, because I found it easier to finish the installation and make the tubes bend the way I wanted them to go. I found the top of my chassis to be the easiest place to install the radiator. A quick note is the manual recommends it to be installed on a chassis’ back grille next to the motherboard tray. However, it is ultimately up to the end user. With that step complete, I continued to add some of the included thermal paste onto the CPU. The next step was bit tricky for me, since you need some maneuvering to keep the water block on the screws while the backplate is not pushed out. It was easiest to quickly screw on one of the spring thumb screws, and then check to ensure the backplate or any of the other parts did not shift. Afterwards, I plugged in the pump and fan, and turned on my computer. On the next page, we will find out how the TD03-SLIM performs under pressure.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware; Installation
3. Test Results
4. Conclusion
