X-bit labs

XIGMATEK BATTLE-AXE VD964 and AURAS Fridge VGA Coolers (page 2)

Category: Coolers

by Sergey Lepilov

[ 04/01/2008 | 10:13 AM ]

Design and Functionality

The size of this newcomer is not as impressive as that of the recently reviewed Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme 8800, but it is still pretty big for a graphics card air cooler: it measures 194 x 110 x 32.4mm and weighs 617g. The cooler is really not that small:

The cooler sits on four copper heatpipes 6mm in diameter that form part of the cooler base. The heatpipes carry a heatsink array of numerous aluminum plates. The front of the heatsink is covered with a casing with two 92x25mm fans:

However, I cannot really explain why the heatsink plates are sort of closed at the bottom of the array creating a concave wall for the airflow generated by the fans:

It strikes as a pretty questionable solution for maximum efficiency, because otherwise the airflow from the fans could have cooled down the card PCB and its components.

It turned out that the cooler is actually much taller than the technical specifications claim: it measures 60mm instead of the claimed 32.4mm:

Maybe the manufacturer reported only the height of the heatsink array without taking into account the fans with the casing:

The casing can be easily unscrewed revealing two 92mm fans:

The fans are fastened with four rubber spindles that are inserted between the heatsink plates:

Note that in the center of the heatsink these spindles are not installed at all neither into the heatsink nor into the retention holes on the fans: they are shipped in a separate plastic bag. Looks like they couldn’t figure out a way to insert them there, as it doesn’t seem like an easy task. Besides the rubber jacks, the fans are also held by the casing on top of them, so you shouldn’t worry that they will not be sitting reliably enough.