JayG30
02-23-2010, 12:48 PM
I'm curious which of these would be the best cooler.
Perhaps break down the positives/negatives.
1. Arctic Cooling S1 Rev.2 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186016)
2. Thermalright T-Rad2 (http://www.heatsinkfactory.com/thermalright-t-rad2-gtx-vga-cooler.html)
3. Coolink GFXChilla (http://www5.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=28504&promoid=0)
4. Scythe MUSASHI Twin-Fan VGA Cooler (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185081)
This is what I've been able to summarize from reviews:
Arctic Cooling S1
Cheap (~$27) and effective. The design works well with low speed fans since it was designed for passive cooling. But it needs to be modified for crossfire bridges, personally think it looks...eh, and I believe can either hold 2 smaller fans or one 120mm fan. With the small turbo fans it can work with crossfire, but with a normal 120mm fan it becomes 3 slots.
Thermalright T-Rad2
More expensive (~$45) but comes with 2x92mm fans which if they are sufficient seems like it's not a bad deal really. It appears that due to fan spacing it won't work passively and I would say by extension low speed fans won't work as well as on say the Arctic Cooling S1. It also can take one 120mm fan. It's of a lower profile and believe is more dual GPU friendly.
Coolink GFXChilla
Looked like a well made cheap option. Had a lower profile design (so multi-GPU possible), decent stock fans (with proper screw mounting) and options to change for other sizes. The performance from what I saw was pretty much on par with other options (within a few degrees with stock fans). But it appears the one place that carried this (NCIX) has not had it in. Sort of a problem, lol.
Scythe MUSASHI
I haven't heard much about it. I like the way it looks and it APPEARS that it's of low enough profile that multi-GPU is possible. I'm really not sure how it compares to the other cooler though. I'd assume that being a Scythe the fans would be decent.
I'd love to see these, and maybe 1 or 2 others I forgot, in a single review to see how they compare in both TEMPERATURE and NOISE.
So if you had to pick one that hit the sweet spot for temperature and noise which would it be? Remember that, for instance, if you say Arctic Cooler S1 that you need to consider a fan into the price and performance. Same goes for if you recommend one of the others but feel the stock fans aren't good enough and need to be upgraded. In other words, something that is within a 2-4 degrees of another option but doesn't require purchasing other fans to meet acceptable noise/performance levels should be rewarded.
Perhaps break down the positives/negatives.
1. Arctic Cooling S1 Rev.2 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186016)
2. Thermalright T-Rad2 (http://www.heatsinkfactory.com/thermalright-t-rad2-gtx-vga-cooler.html)
3. Coolink GFXChilla (http://www5.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=28504&promoid=0)
4. Scythe MUSASHI Twin-Fan VGA Cooler (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185081)
This is what I've been able to summarize from reviews:
Arctic Cooling S1
Cheap (~$27) and effective. The design works well with low speed fans since it was designed for passive cooling. But it needs to be modified for crossfire bridges, personally think it looks...eh, and I believe can either hold 2 smaller fans or one 120mm fan. With the small turbo fans it can work with crossfire, but with a normal 120mm fan it becomes 3 slots.
Thermalright T-Rad2
More expensive (~$45) but comes with 2x92mm fans which if they are sufficient seems like it's not a bad deal really. It appears that due to fan spacing it won't work passively and I would say by extension low speed fans won't work as well as on say the Arctic Cooling S1. It also can take one 120mm fan. It's of a lower profile and believe is more dual GPU friendly.
Coolink GFXChilla
Looked like a well made cheap option. Had a lower profile design (so multi-GPU possible), decent stock fans (with proper screw mounting) and options to change for other sizes. The performance from what I saw was pretty much on par with other options (within a few degrees with stock fans). But it appears the one place that carried this (NCIX) has not had it in. Sort of a problem, lol.
Scythe MUSASHI
I haven't heard much about it. I like the way it looks and it APPEARS that it's of low enough profile that multi-GPU is possible. I'm really not sure how it compares to the other cooler though. I'd assume that being a Scythe the fans would be decent.
I'd love to see these, and maybe 1 or 2 others I forgot, in a single review to see how they compare in both TEMPERATURE and NOISE.
So if you had to pick one that hit the sweet spot for temperature and noise which would it be? Remember that, for instance, if you say Arctic Cooler S1 that you need to consider a fan into the price and performance. Same goes for if you recommend one of the others but feel the stock fans aren't good enough and need to be upgraded. In other words, something that is within a 2-4 degrees of another option but doesn't require purchasing other fans to meet acceptable noise/performance levels should be rewarded.