Today finding an effective and quiet cooling system for a graphics card seems to be a harder task to accomplish than finding the most optimal CPU cooler. Despite this fact, however, there are about 10 times more CPU coolers than VGA coolers released these days. That is why the users welcome every new graphics card cooler with great interest and excitement. I believe I don’t have to explain that overclockers are even more excited about these coolers than common users. GELID Solutions Ltd. does its best to satisfy both user groups, and not so long ago they announced the second revision of their Gelid Icy Vision cooler (GC-VGA02-01), which is compatible with most contemporary graphics accelerators from the mainstream and high-end categories. Today we are going to check out its features and functionality, test its cooling efficiency and acoustic performance.

Package and Accessories

The cooler comes in a pretty traditional package, which is a clear plastic blister with a pretty informative cardboard insert inside:

This packaging allows you to check out the cooler and even some of its accessories without even opening it. All accessories are carefully sealed in the lower part of the box. Here is what’s inside:

• Universal steel retention plate;
• Aluminum heatsink for NVIO chips of Nvidia GeForce GTX based graphics cards;
• Aluminum heatsink for voltage regulator components on AMD Radeon HD based graphics cards;
• 13 aluminum heatsinks for graphics card voltage regulator components;
• A set of 16 heatsinks for graphics card memory chips;
• A set of double-sided sticky pads;
• A set of washers and thermal band;
• Screws, screw-nuts and plastic push-pins;
• Gelid logo sticker;
• Gelid GC-2 thermal compound;
• An adapter-cable from the four-pin graphics card connector to a PATA connector on the PSU or to a three-pin connector for the mainboard fan;
• Installation manual.

The cooler is made in China. Its recommended retail price is set at $55 or €46, which is pretty expensive for a VGA cooler. At the same time, Gelid Icy Vision is available in retail for less than $50. It comes with a five-year warranty.