CoolIt Dual Drive Bay VGA Cooler NV Reference Series

INTRODUCTION

Way back when I was an SLI wannabe (a mere two months ago), my XFX GeForce 8800GTX video card zinged along happily at high resolutions (1900x1200) on my Dell 24" LCD monitor with a fair amount of detail and a fair amount of heat. I knew that it was a hot card with a hot chipset when I bought it, but I didn't care. I wanted to attain video bliss as best I could. Temperatures on my little GPU workhorse often reached 85°C while gaming even though I ran the stock cooler's fan at 100%. But I guess that was to be expected and I accepted it. That was the price that I was willing to pay to play.

Then, to my surprise, I became the proud owner of a second XFX GeForce 8800GTX video card to match the first, and thus, I was able to hook them together and run them in SLI. I was an SLI wannabe no more. Now, I had two little beasties working together in concert to produce more detail in my gameplay as well as working together to produce more heat. Because the second video card sits close to the top of my chassis, it benefited from the cool air being blown down through the radiator of my case's watercooling system that I use to cool the CPU exclusively. The secondary video card typically ran 10°C-12°C cooler than the primary card which sits closest to the CPU. The primary video card is where I have the DVI connector attached to my monitor.

CoolIt Systems has a solution to tame those heat generating GPU workhorses that they call the Dual Drive Bay VGA Cooler NV Reference Series. It is a closed loop, factory sealed pre-filled system that offers maintenance free operation for SLI setups. They claim easy installation and they say that it's "the perfect solution for any extreme gamer or overclocker that wants to push their nVidia 8800GTX, 8800GTX Ultra SLI VGA setup to the limits." Let's see if this holds up. But first, let's delve into a little more detail as to what it is.

CoolIt Systems' Dual Drive Bay VGA Cooler NV Reference Series is comprised of a dual drive bay enclosure that houses the pump, radiator, and fan. Attached to the fan with neoprene tubing are two nVidia VGA MTEC™ Cooler Cold Plates. MTEC™ is a patented technology using multiple TECs (thermal-electric coolers) or peltiers to actually refrigerate the liquid in this pre-filled system. Since liquid cooling is better than air cooling, surely then, chilled liquid must be better even still. To learn more about thermal-electric cooling and the peltier effect, take a quick peak at the wiki. They do a much better job at explaining it than I ever could as I seem to have misplaced my slide ruler somewhere.

CoolIt Systems Dual Drive Bay VGA Cooler NV Reference Series

SPECIFICATIONS

Nvidia VGA MTEC™ Cooler Cold Plate

     GPU FHE (Fluid Heat Exchanger)

     36 Watt TEC Bank

Dual Drive Bay Radiator and Pump Module  

Radiator

     High performance, custom designed radiator
     Dimension: 143 x 83 x 55 mm

Fan

     Power usage: Max 1.5 Watts
     Airflow: 63.5 CFM
     Noise: Max 34dBA
     Bearing Type: Ball
     Life Cycle: 100,000 hrs
     Type: Dual offset internal
     Overall Dimensions: 217 x 146 x 86 mm

Pump

     Power usage: Max 8 Watts
     Design: 12VDC coreless outrunner
     pump w/ integrated
     expansion vessel
     Noise: <15dBA
     Life Cycle: 50,000 hrs
     Dimension: 50 x 50 x 75 mm
     Flow: 3.5 L/min
     Weight: 205g

 About CoolIT Systems

"CoolIT Systems, based in Calgary, Canada, has been working with industry leaders in the computer industry to research, design, and deliver next generation cooling products that provide a comprehensive solution while exceeding high OEM standards for reliability and maintenance-free operation. This carefully designed and patented technology unleashes the full potential of a PC, providing superior cooling performance while reducing system level noise and improving reliability of vital components.  The CoolIT Technology can be found in the top names in performance computing like Dell, Alienware, Velocity Micro, Maingear, Biohazard and Shuttle."

 For more information on CoolIT Systems, go to www.coolitsystems.com