Introduction
SilverStone has released new coolers named VIDA. Two variants are released which are 120mm and 240mm. The salient feature of these coolers is their overall thickness of 38mm including the radiator and fans which make them suitable for the SFF builds where we are space constrained. The typical thickness of the regular AIOs in the market stands at roughly 52mm in which the radiators are usually 27mm thick unless stated otherwise. In VIDA the thickness of the radiator is 22mm whereas the thickness (or height) of the fans is 16mm. Despite its slim profile, SilverStone has managed to provide A-RGB lighting on the block and the fans. These coolers are compatible with Intel LGA115x/1200/1700/2011/2066 and AMD AM4/AM5 sockets.
Item: SilverStone VIDA 240 SLIM
Price: MSRP $124.99
Specifications
Packaging and Unboxing
The cooler is shipped inside a cardboard box.
The packing box has the same SST theme that we have seen so far. This is a SLIM 240mm AIO from SilverStone featuring A-RGB elements.
The specifications of the cooler are printed over here. The pump is integrated into the radiator. The cap on the block is rotatable and has A-RGB lighting under the logo. The overall thickness of the radiator and the fans is 38mm.
The cooler and mounting hardware is tucked inside an egged carton for maximum safety during shipping. The accessories are placed inside a transparent container.
SilverStone has provided a comprehensive user guide for ease of installation.
We have:
- Dedicated backplate for Intel LGA1700
- Dedicated backplate for Intel LGA115x/1200
- Mounting bracket for Intel
- Mounting Bracket for AMD
We have:
- 4x Intel LGA20xx Standoff pillars
- 4x Intel LGA 115x/1200 pillars
- 4x Intel LGA1700 pillars
- 4x AMD AM4/AM5 pillars
- 4x Spring-Loaded Screws/Nuts
- 8x Long Length Philips Screws
- 8x Short Length Philips Screws
SilverStone has provided a thermal paste syringe as well.
SilverStone has provided the following:
- A PWM Y-Cable for the fans
- A 2-pin socket to MOLEX cable which is probably for the Pump
- A Y-cable for 3-pin A-RGB connectivity
SilverStone has provided the following:
- A dedicated A-RGB controller
- A SATA cable to power the controller
- A-RGB cable
The controller is the same as we have seen on their previous models. There are three buttons. The + button increases the speed/brightness of the dynamic mode whereas the – button decreases the speed/brightness of the dynamic mode. The M button toggles through the 10 loaded modes.
A SATA cable is connected to this port.
Daisy-chained fans and pump A-RGB cable are connected to this port.
Closer Look
Let’s start with the features of the AIO:
- 38mm total thickness for the fan and radiator
- SilverStone’s unique 22mm radiator design, allows for effective heat dissipation in cases with space constraints
- The water pump integrated into the radiator
- The aluminum alloy cavity pump strengthens the overall structure
- Three-phase, six-pole motor design
- 9-bladed pressure-optimized fan blades
- The rotatable CPU water block
- Integrated rubber padding on fan mounts to further reduce vibrational noise
- ARGB controller included 10 lighting modes, adjustable brightness, and color-changing speed
The dimension of the radiator is 275 x 120 x 22mm. The thickness of the radiator is 22mm. With 16mm fans, the overall thickness would be 38mm without the heads of the screws. The radiator has an 18 FPI count. There is a gap of 105mm between any two fan mounting holes on the radiator.
The radiator is made of aluminum hence it is lightweight. The blocks on both ends of the radiator are rectangular. The fin stack is dense and taking into account the left and right side channels, it has a total of 12 channels for water flow.
The far head of the radiator is also rectangular with insets on the exterior side.
The above picture shows a close view of the fins. SilverStone has done a good job in the overall finishing. I am not sure about the OEM of the radiator.
The pump is integrated into the radiator. There is a 3-pin flat cable coming out of the pump housing. The pump specifications include:
| Speed | 4200 ± 10% RPM |
| Rated Voltage | 12V |
| Rated Current | 0.39A |
| Connectors | 3-pin |
There are cutouts on the top and bottom sides of the aluminum housing from where the flat cable can be routed toward the power source. The pump is using a three-phase, six-pole pump motor integrated within the radiator to further overcome interference issues.
The above picture shows the 3-pin power connector coming from the pump housing.
This cooler is using two barbed fittings with covers for reinforcement and better aesthetics. There is a refill port but it is reserved for factory use only. Opening it may reduce the vacuum pressure in the loop. There are serial number stickers pasted over here.
SilverStone is using rubber tubing with a length of 400mm. The soft material tubing is flexible and does not produce kinking which is always a plus. SilverStone is using mesh sleeves on the hoses to give them clean look.
Since the pump is now on the radiator, the block has lightweight. The block has a size of 74x41x74mm. This is a low-profile design. The top cap has SilverStone branding with a stylish layout using cuts underneath A-RGB LEDs.
The above picture elaborates on the unique design clearly. The user can rotate this cap at 90° and 180° so that the installation of the block does not affect the orientation of the logo.
The tubes are installed in a 90° mount on the base of the block so that they can be rotated as per the requirement to the left or right side position. Two cables are coming out of the pump housing.
SilverStone is using proprietary connectors for the A-RGB LEDs. Here we have a socket and a connector so that the block can be daisy-chained with the fans’ A-RGB cables for a single control.
There are two arrow symbols on the main body pointing upward. The rotating cap has a single arrow mark pointing downward. At any time, the downward point arrow must align with either of the two upward pointing arrow symbols.
Let’s take a look at the base of the block. The copper base has a size of 55x55mm approximately which is good enough for the majority of the consumer-side CPUs. There is a protective cover on the base which needs to be removed before the installation.
The SST-VIDA240-SLIm comes with 2x 120mm fans having a height or thickness of 16mm. Each fan has 9 frosted blades. These are A-RGB fans. The center has a large diameter as it houses A-RGB LEDs. The mounting corners have anti-vibration rubber pads. The fans are made in China. There is a 4-arm assembly on the back side with one arm being wider as it catches the wires.
The frame of the fan is quite sturdy. The above picture compares the 16mm fans on the VIDA 240 SLIM against the standard 25mm thick fans.
Each fan has two sets of cables. One cable has a 4-pin PWM connector whereas the other cable has a proprietary socket and connector for A-RGB LEDs.
The above picture shows the fans inter-connected and then further attached to the A-RGB controller. This is for illustration purposes.
The salient specifications of the fans are:
| Dimension | 120x120x16mm |
| Speed | 300~1800 RPM |
| Air Flow | 66.83 CFM |
| Air Pressure | 2.59 mmAq |
| Noise | 15.9 ~ 339 dB(A) |
| Fan Connector | 6-pin Proprietary |
| Bearing | Fluid Dynamic Bearing |
| Fan Voltage | 12VDC |
The picture illustrates the total height of the solution which merely stands at 38mm tall.
A-RGB Lighting
The A-RGB lighting is compatible with:
Here are some pictures:
Installation
The installation is simple and convenient. We need 10 components to set up the mounting hardware for the block. We are no longer covering the installation steps in the regular content. You may refer to the user guide for that. We did not observe anything, in particular, to be mentioned here during the installation except that the backplate on Intel needs to be fixed (2x self-adhesive pastes). Personally, I am against this concept.
Clearance
The cooler is an AIO and has no clearance issue for the RAM and PCIe slot. However, make sure that your case supports 240mm AIO. This being a slim version has better clearance overall with respect to the radiator and the fans.
Testing
The following test bench is used: –
- Intel i7 12700k
- GIGABYTE Z690 AERO G
- GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3060 VISION OC
- XPG Lancer RGB 32GB @ 6000MHz
- Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 2TB NVMe SSD
- be quiet! Straight Power 11 8500W Platinum PSU
- Thermaltake Core P6 TG Snow Edition in an open-frame layout
Here is the settings table for testing:
| P-Cores Clock (MHz) | 4800 All Cores |
| E-Cores Clock (MHz) | 3800 All Cores |
| VCore (V) | 1.140V [Overrides to 1.183V] |
| Turbo Boost | Disabled |
| C-States | Disabled |
| Speed Step | Disabled |
| Thermal Paste | Noctua NT-H1 |
| Thermal Paste Application | 4 small and 1 large dot on the IHS. |
| Test Run Time | 30 minutes |
| Idling Time | 10 minutes |
| Fan Speed | 100% PWM Duty Cycle |
| Header | CPU_Fan/CPU_Opt Headers |
| Software | CINEBENCH R23 |
Not every run of the stress test may yield the same result. This could well be due to many factors like mounting pressure, thermal paste application and varying ambient temperature. Not to mention the silicon differences even among the same category of chips. Hence, it is pertinent to mention the testing methodology along with the specifics.
Results
There is no other 240mm AIO in the graph as we have recently made some changes in the setup and moved on to Windows 11. The other cooler in the graph is DeepCool LS720 which is a 360mm high-performance AIO. It is impressive to see that the SilverStone VIDA 240 SLIM, despite having a slim radiator and fans has put up a good fight. Yes, the 5°C is a large margin but we need to remember that we are comparing the SLIM 240mm AIO with the regular 360mm AIO.
Noise
We are not measuring the noise level at the moment due to environmental noise which is beyond our control. The fans don’t make that loud a noise and the PWM fan curve is there in case one is not comfortable with the sound level.
Conclusion
SilverStone has released two new coolers under the VIDA SLIM series. These are 120mm and 240mm AIOs which are specifically designed keeping in mind the space constraints in the SFF builds. The main feature is the overall 38mm height of both the fans and the radiator (16mm+22mm) as opposed to a standard 52mm height on the regular AIO including fans and the radiator (25mm+27mm).
We have tested the SST-VIDA240-SLIM. This is a 240mm CLC solution. The dimension of the aluminum-made radiator is 274x120x22mm. The thickness of the radiator is 22mm which would be 38mm approximately with the 16mm thick fans. The FPI count is 18. The soft tubing is made of rubber and they have a length of 400mm. The soft material tubing is a bit flexible and doesn’t produce kinking which is always a plus. Another key feature highlight is an integrated pump on the radiator. The pump features a 3-phase, 6-pole powerful motor that can go up to 4200 RPM ±10%.
The block is a low-profile design that actually looks quite good thanks to its stylish outlook design with SilverStone branding which is A-RGB backlit. The cap is rotatable to 90° and 180°. This would help in having the upright position of the logo regardless of the block’s orientation. The block has a copper base of roughly 55x55mm in size which is good enough to cover the majority of the consumer-grade chips. This cooler is compatible with Intel LGA115x/1200/1700/20xx and AMD AM4/AM5 sockets. It uses AMD’s stock backplate hence it will work on AM5.
SilverStone has provided 2x 120mm fans with a thickness of 16mm each. These are A-RGB fans rated for up to 1800 RPM and generating 66.83 CFM at 2.59mmH₂O pressure. The maximum rated noise is 33.9 dB(A). These fans have a 4-pin PWM connector as well as the proprietary A-RGB socket and connector. The fans and the block’s A-RGB elements can be daisy-chained. There is also a dedicated A-RGB controller provided with the cooler. The A-RGB elements can be connected to the motherboard as well. Since they use a standard 3-pin, 5V adapter so it should work for the majority of the motherboards.
The installation is simple and we have to deal with 10 components to install the block on the CPU. The Fans and the block are daisy-chained. The fans were connected to the CPU_FAN Header using the bundled PWM Y-Cable.
The SST-VIDA240-SLIM has an MSRP of $129.99. This is steep pricing, particularly when many of the standard size 240mm AIOs are in this price range. However, this cooler gives maximum clearance for the SFF builds, unlike those regular AIOs. We have tested this cooler on an Intel i7 12700k and found it to be a good performer in its class. It was put up against the like of DeepCool LS720 and it was sitting under the 80s under full load. There is roughly a difference of 5°C between the two coolers which is understandable. A better comparison would come from a regular 240mm AIO against this cooler.
The SST-VIDA240-SLIM may be slim in design but not in the performance department. It carries a solid punch to deliver a good performance. SilverStone is providing a 2-years warranty on it. I wish this warranty would be a minimum of 3 years to justify this steep price somewhat. Still, this cooler would serve its purpose in quite a fashionable manner.
We are thankful to SilverStone for the provision of the testing unit.
