Testing

For testing after market GPU coolers, we take the temperature of the stock cooler at idle and at full load. We then take the temperature of the aftermarket cooler at idle and load and compare the results. However, ZEROtherm also state that if you are overclocking your GPU you should remove the shroud suggesting cooling is better without it. So, we tested the Hurricane, with and without the shroud and using the fan controller took temperatures with the fan at full and at minimum; and for the hell of it, the stock cooler with AS5 as well.

The results were taken by letting the PC idle for 30 minutes, and then checking the temperature. I would then use ATI Tool to fully load the GPU and leave it for 30 minutes before again taking the temperature of the GPU.

All temperatures were taken using ATI Tool and are measure in degrees celsius.

Conroe E6600
MSI P6N-Diamond
OCZ Flex PC2-6400
Silver Power 600w
BFG PhysX card with custom cooler
Auzentech Prelude

Results

Interestingly, changing from the stock heatpaste to AS5 didn't make any difference to the temperature. However, Arctic Silver is known to take time to get to its best conductivity so this temperature would improve over time.

Obviously the best temperatures were achieved without the shroud with the fan at full with a drop of 15 degrees C at idle and 22 degrees at load when compared to the stock cooler. The sweet spot however, seems to be when the shroud is off and the fan is set to minimum as then the cooler is quiet and effective.

Cost

The Hurricane costs a hefty £34.99 at most retailers. This seems quit expensive at first glance, but is actually a bit cheaper than most coolers that can take the heat from an 8800.

Noise

Noise wise, it all depends on what you set the fan controller to. If you set the fan to high speed it's stated to hit over 30db, and is pretty damn loud. However, at the slowest setting it's almost inaudible. Unfortunately, the fan is quite noticeable at almost anything above the minimum setting, but at least you get to pick your own setting with the controller.