X-bit labs

Passive Cooling Solutions for Graphics Cards from Arctic Cooling and Cooler Master (page 11)

Category: Coolers

by Sergey Lepilov

[ 05/31/2007 | 05:29 PM ]

Conclusion

I would like to point out right away that we liked very much all cooling systems discussed in this article. Both Arctic Cooling solutions proved up to the mark and performed perfect according to their positioning and range of supported graphics cards. The same is true for Cooler Master CoolViva Z1, but for “graphics cards with low heat dissipation”. Yes, this cooler can also cope with an overclocked Radeon X1950 GT, but the GPU temperature is too high in this case, in my opinion. However, an additional fan installed on top of the lower heatsink makes CoolViva Z1 a very efficient cooler. Accelero S1 and S2 are even more efficient with an additional 120-mm fan – in this case they are truly the best graphics card coolers out there. I hope that the recommended Turbo Module will also prove a great addition to them.

I tried to find some drawbacks about the three cooling solutions reviewed today, but couldn’t. They block the slot next to PCI Express? – Come on, most of the graphics cards in the market are already bundled with a dual-slot cooling system anyway, and third-party coolers no longer feature single-slot design either. They are pretty large? – Yes, they aren’t small, but that will hardly cause any problems. Arctic Cooling Accelero coolers are not universal? – No, but there are two of them available. Price? – The price is pretty competitive in this market segment and Zalman VF900-Cu LED costs $20 more. So, it should be more than enough to buy the whole bunch of additional fans :), and one high-quality fan for CoolViva Z1 costs only $2.5-$3.

So, feel free to pick one, all three of them are going to prove an excellent choice!