X-bit labs

XIGMATEK BATTLE-AXE VD964 and AURAS Fridge VGA Coolers (page 7)

Category: Coolers

by Sergey Lepilov

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

Installation Tips

The cooler can be installed on a pretty wide variety of graphics cards very easily. All you need to do is determine what retention holes to you for your particular graphics card and attach the cooler with four or two screws from the bottom of the card PCB:

When the cooler is installed onto a GeForce 8800 GTX based graphics card it may look pretty bulky, even when used without any fans in the passive mode:

However, the manufacturer designed the cooler capable of accommodating one 120x25mm fan or two 80x25mm fans. To fasten them you should use the bundled plastic clips that lock in the corresponding heatsink retention holes:

This very simple, convenient and reliable solution ensures quick installation of an active fan:

Don’t even try fitting two 120mm fans onto AURAS Fridge heatsink, as the retention holes will not match. Besides, AURAS Fridge is smaller than 240mm (two 12mm fans combined). However, you can easily fit a pair of 80mm fans. In this case you will have to turn one of the retention plates with the retention facing downwards. Moreover, although the manual doesn’t say that the cooler is compatible with a pair of 92mm fans, I could easily fit them both onto the heatsink fastening only at the top (I used the fans from the XIGMATEK cooler).

If you install AURAS Fridge in the passive mode, it will block only one PCI slot next to the graphics card. However with the fans attached, you will lose all three slots next to it:

The recommended retail price for this cooler is $44.99.