Features and Specifications
Deviating rather significantly from the standard heatpipe tower design, the Silent Square Pro, at first glance, appears to be missing a fan. In reality, however, the fan is internally mounted such that two separate banks of 35 convection fins act to cool five heatpipes each. The five heatpipes on the SSP go from the top of cooler down through the base and up through the other side of the fins. Due to the fan not being directly exposed to cool air the air flow through the fins appears to be quite low, but this is expected from a relatively low RPM (2500 max) 92mm fan. On the rare occasion that the fan is needed to run at full speed, it can get a little bit loud, certainly not the “silent” that the product’s name suggests. Most of the time, however, the fan does not run at full speed and is very quiet, certainly no louder than other components in the system.


As far as packaging is concerned, the SSP is placed in a protective plastic clamshell casing, which is then inserted into a relatively thick cardboard box with a handle and very small viewing window. The plastic clamshell seems to be situated in a way that allows it to provide fairly decent shock absorption, while the cardboard surrounding the plastic is capable of diverting any sharp objects or taking the blow of any bumps that the cooler might experience in transit. The box is also themed appropriately for the cooler within, sporting an orange deco and a picture of the contents.


The contents within the package are superb and really emphasize the same attention to detail that ASUS takes with all of their products. The package includes the cooler, a series of universal mounting brackets, an alternative installation method and corresponding parts for LGA775 applications, a small tube of thermal grease, the installation manuals, and a free fan controller. The fan controller is only capable of controlling one fan, but is not exclusive to the fan included with the SSP. It is also nice to see a fan controller without all the flashy excess that has become commonplace amongst such devices these days. The installation method itself, speaking strictly about the LGA775 application, is quite honestly the best we have ever seen from a cooler. It consists of a mounting base that is secured to a universal backplate with a substantial amount of cushion. The two pieces are separated unyieldingly by four plastic spacers that ensure the bracket is evenly mounted in place. The remaining component is a simple clip that applies pressure at the very center of the base of the cooler. The thing that makes this a great method is the tolerance built in to the design. When placing the cooler in the mounting bracket, there is absolutely no room for a mistake. If the cooler is positioned incorrectly, you will not be able to complete the installation. The result is, by our best evaluation, a close to perfect installation each and every time. Removal of the cooler after installation only enhances our opinions about the installation method, as the thermal grease is spread very evenly and cleanly in the middle of the processor. What performance increase the thermal grease being spread correctly has on the overall cooling properties of the device is not something we can test conclusively in the lab, but we struggle to think that any kind of negative impact could result.


Source: Asus.com
While the Silent Square Pro is undoubtedly a LARGE cooler, most of its size seems to be in the height dimension rather than width or length. As a result, there is very little chance of the cooler being incompatible with common motherboards, or there being space concerns of any sort for any other component in the system. In contrast with the Vigor Monsoon II Active TEC Cooling solution, the SSP does not interfere with heatsink-endowed memory modules, such as Corsair’s Dominator and OCZ’s Reaper HPC series.


The Silent Square Pro stands as somewhat of an orange monolith, its towering height besting even that of the OCZ Vindicator. Some people may question the color of the Silent Square Pro (SSP), but PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer 750 power supply proved that the copper-looking finish ends up complimenting other parts of the computer quite well. Looks are not something we particularly care too much about when reviewing a cooler, though it can speak volumes about its quality of manufacturing. Overall, the aesthetics of the SSP can be summed up in one word: swanky. The unit we received appeared to be free of any manufacturing or shipping-induced flaws. While we obviously can’t guarantee that all of these coolers ship in this manner, there do not appear to be any packaging problems that could lead to damage.