Silverstone IceMyst 280
December 2023
Type
Liquid Cooler
Price
$122.99
Today’s review will cover a rather innovative AIO from Silverstone. For those unfamililar with them, Silverstone produces a variety of products for the PC market and especially the SFF market – cases, power supplies, CPU coolers, fans, storage related components, and more! We’ll be looking at their latest IceMyst 280 AIO which not only cools your CPU with chart topping performance, but can cool your RAM, VRMs, and SSD!
Pros
- Rivals the best 360mm AIOs
- Chart topping noise normalized performance
- Budget price of $122.99 USD
- Optional IMF70 fans can cool RAM, VRMs, and SSDs!
Cons
- Optional side fans cost an additional $15.99 each
Features of Silverstone’s IceMyst 280
The most interesting part about Silverstone’s IceMyst doesn’t actually come with the cooler. For an additional $15.99 Silverstone offers the IMF70 fans which plug into the CPU block and can be rotated to cool your RAM, VRMs, and/or SSD!
Normally, I would object to having to purchase an additional item to fully use a product. However, in this case the base cost of the AIO is rather reasonable at only $122.99 USD and not having the IMF70 included allows Silverstone to keep that low price tag. Those who find these side fans useful won’t mind spending a little extra, especially when you consider how well this cooler performs – as you’ll see in the benchmarks below!
- Large Copper CPU base with fully rotatable tubing
Silverstone’s IcyMyst AIOs have large copper bases to facilitate thermal transfer, and the tubes which connect to the CPU block are fully rotatable.
- Custom VISTA 140 ARGB fans
The fans included can be just as important as an AIOs pump and radiator. Included with the IceMyst 280 are 2x customized versions of Silverstone’s VISTA 140 ARGB fans which provide stronger cooling than the retail versions due to faster overall speeds (1750RPM vs 1600RPM)
These fans have unique connections to streamline installation, which convert into normal PWM and ARGB through an adapter cable.
- User accessible liquid refill port
Silverstone includes a user accessible coolant refill port and unlike other manufacturers, they don’t try to scare you away with a “warranty void if removed” sticker that is illegal in the USA under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.
However, Silverstone does caution that their manufacturing process for the AIOs utilizes pressured filling for the coolant – and as such, a user refilled AIO may not operate as effectively as one filled by Silverstone.
- Small tube of thermal paste
Included with the AIO is a small tube of thermal paste suitable for two or three installations, depending on how much paste you apply.
Included is a hardware ARGB controller that allows you to alter lighting settings if you don’t want to use your motherboard’s BIOS or software to control those settings.
Test Platform Configuration and Testing Methodology
I’ve tested with Intel’s i7-13700K to show how this cooler performs. The system system is tested with a full strength workload, two reduced wattage loads, and at noise normalized settings.
Observant readers may notice that the noise graphs start at 35 instead of zero. This is because my sound meter cannot measure sound levels lower than 35 dBA. This makes it the “zero” for testing purposes. For those concerned that this might distort results – there’s no worry. If anything, the graphs above will minimize the differences in noise levels because dBA measurements are logarithmic. For a detailed explanation of how decibel measurements correspond to perceived noise levels, please check out the video below from BeQuiet! which makes it easy to visualize and understand the true impact of of increasing dBA levels.
Intel i7-13700K Cooling and Acoustic Results
Maximum Cooling Power
Most coolers reach TJ Max, the maximum temperature of the CPU of 100 degrees Celsius, when power limits are removed with Intel’s i7-13700K. However, Silverstone’s IceMyst 280 manages a feat usually only achieved by the best 360mm AIOs – it can keep the CPU under it’s peak temperature, maintaining an average of 67C over a 23C ambient temperature (90C).
Maximum Noise Levels
Performance is only one part of the picture, noise levels are equally important. While Silverstone’s thermal performance is chart topping, it’s maximum noise level is a bit loud at 47.2 dBA – but that is less noisy than the competing 360mm AIOs shown here by 2dBA or more!
If you’re particular about noise levels, our next results will show you how it performs when it runs quietly.
Noise Normalized Performance
For noise normalized testing, I’ve set the fans to a low 38.2 dBA. This is a slightly audible noise level, but won’t bother most users. The IceMyst’s performance here was extremely impressive with chart topping performance, outperforming DeepCool’s LT720 by 7W!
175W Results
While maximum performance is important, most of the time you won’t be pushing the CPU to its limits. It’s good to see how a cooler performs in more typical situations, and most users won’t use more than 175W in common usage.
With the CPU only reaching 49C over ambient, Silverstone’s 280mm IceMyst outperformed 360mm AIOs from both MSI and DeepCool – if only by 1-2 degrees Celsius. It achieves this level of performance with a noise level of 40.9 dBA, a hair louder than DeepCool’s LT720 and much quieter than MSI’s competing AIOs.
125W Results
125W is the lowest level of power I test, and it’s similar to what users will consume with this CPU in demanding games. While I’ve tested and show thermal results, they’re really not a concern because even Intel’s stock cooler will keep the CPU cool enough in a workload like this. That being said, the thermal performance was excellent, topping our thermal results with a result of only 36C over the ambient temperature of 23 degrees Celsius.
Noise levels, that’s what matters in low intensity workload like this. At 38.2 dBA, Silverstone’s IceMyst 280 doesn’t run loudly when tied to the default fan curve of MSI’s z690 A PRO motherboard. If you are especially particular about noise levels, you can manually set a lower fan speed – our previously shown noise normalized results show that this cooler still maintains strong performance even at low noise levels.
Conclusion
Silverstone’s IceMyst 280 is one of the best coolers I’ve had the pleasure of testing recently. It offers genuine innovation with it’s IMF70 side fans which can cool RAM, SSDs, and VRMs. If you are particular about loudness, Silverstone’s IceMyst 280 provided the best performance we’ve seen when set to low noise levels. Best of all, it’s $122.99 USD price tag is extremely competitive.
If you’re looking for a good AIO with strong performance and a reasonable price tag, you won’t go wrong with Silverstone’s IceMyst 280!
Chart topping performance paired with a very reasonable price tag and optional innovative side fans
Pros
- Rivals the best 360mm AIOs
- Chart topping noise normalized performance
- Budget price of $122.99 USD
- Optional IMF70 fans can cool RAM, VRMs, and SSDs!
Cons
- Optional IMF70 fans cost $15.99 each
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