ZEROtherm GX820 Heatpipe VGA Cooler - Overclockers Edition

As you may know, the thermal design power (TDP) of CPUs is on the decline, especially with the introduction of Intel’s Core 2 Duo processors. In other words, processors are producing less heat and more performance. But it seems that graphics processing units (GPUs) are going in the opposite direction. The stock coolers supplied pre-installed on graphics cards are capable of cooling the GPU they are supplied with, but from a noise point of view they are generally left wanting. They are either noisy, ineffective or both. This is where ZEROtherm’s GX820 VGA cooler comes in. It not only provides better cooling than any stock cooler, but more importantly it does it in virtual silence!

Based on the same heatpipe technology as ZEROtherm’s processor coolers, the GX820 is equipped with an unusual fan. Instead of using an axial fan to direct air downwards, the blower fan is designed to move air horizontally. This is a great piece of design because the resultant airflow is drawn across numerous copper fins which are attached to the heatpipe. This airflow quickly cools both the fins and the heatpipe and also provides cooling for the supplied RAM heatsinks.

Another feature of the fan is that it is supplied with a fan speed controller. This gives you the freedom to control the fan speed rather than the GPU. This means you can set the fan speed at a desired level, giving you the perfect balance between noise and cooling.

Compatibility and Installation

The GX820 is compatible with the vast majority of graphics cards. ATI 1950 series and nVidia 7950GT series or lower are all compatible. Unfortunately they are not compatible with nVidia’s 8800 cards, but they work fine with nVidia’s 8500 and 8600 series. The coolers are only 32 mm high so if you want to use this cooler in an SLI or Crossfire configuration then there shouldn’t be a problem.

Installation is very simple. Once the stock cooler has been removed, choose the correct mounting holes depending on your graphics card (see image below) and screw the new cooler down. This sounds simple because it is! ZEROtherm have also included a new tube of thermal paste.