X-bit labs

New Graphics Card Cooling Solution from Cooler Master: CoolViva Pro Review (page 3)

Category: Coolers

by Sergey Lepilov

[ 03/12/2007 | 10:12 AM ]

The blower is manufactured by Delta Electronics (it is the BFB1012L model). Its speed can be varied from 700 to 1800rpm at a max noise of 20dBA. The blower can be powered via two types of connectors, a 3-pin and a 4-pin one, and an adapter (if necessary):

So, if none of the two suggested connection types suits your graphics card, you can use the included adapter for a Molex plug and connect the blower to your power supply directly.

It takes a few minutes to install the cooler on a graphics card. First, remove the protective film from the aluminum heatsinks and glue them onto the memory chips.

Then identify a pair or two pairs of mounting holes basing on your graphics card model and on the picture in the installation guide:

You may need to replace the fastening clips attached to the bottom, which is going to take you a couple of minutes.

Then insert the included studs into the appropriate holes:

Then you just need to glue the soft frame onto the GPU, remove the protective film from the cooler’s base, apply some thermal grease, and mount the CoolViva Pro on the graphics card. The cooler is secured with spring-loaded screws on the reverse side of the card.

It is easier and safer (for the GPU die) to perform the installation by placing the cooler down on the table and then putting the graphics card on it rather than vice versa.

Installed on a GeForce 7600 GT, the cooler looks like that:

The CoolViva Pro is just a gigantic cooler for this graphics card. It looks more decently on a Radeon X1950 XT:

The blower stands about 30mm above the top edge of the graphics card. In the case of the GeForce 7600 GT you should also install a mesh card into the neighboring PCI slot to exhaust some of the hot air outside. The Radeon X1950 XT has this mesh already, so you don’t have to do that for it.