Testing

To test the unit, I used my aging Radeon 9200 256mb GFX card mainly for the fact that the GPU is passively cooled and therefore I should be able to see the biggest difference in temperature.

I used an external temperature probe to test the temperature of the GPU during the testing as the 9200 does not have a built in temperature diode. Whilst this will give an impression of the cooling capacity of the VCool unit, it will not give exact results.

Once the unit was installed, I ran 3Dmark05 excessively (30min). I then took the temperature.

I then did some overclocking, and ran 3Dmark again.

High: 15.9 CFM @ 37 dB

Medium: 13.6 CFM @ 35.5 dB

Low: 11.5 CFM @ 29.3 dB

The full results are below (250mhz/165mhz):

And once again with a slight overclock (300mhz/197mhz):

Just to let you know, these temperatures are averages. The actual temperature at any one point varied by a few degrees, mainly due to where the temperature probe was touching.

I also managed to eek an extra few mhz out of my overclock which was a bonus.

Whilst these results look very promising, I don't think that I could have the unit on maximum speed for too long; the sound that it makes is too much for my ears. I'm probably just being picky, but I find that the whine of the fan is too much for everyday computing, and I usually turn the fan to low. I would change the fan to high whenever I play a game, but its just not worth the effort of bending down... :D. It would have been nice for an easier way to change the temperature.

Once I completed the testing, I took a look at the blue LED's. Considering as my case is already themed with blue lights, the LED's complimented it perfectly.