Installed

Once everything is installed, make sure that the PCIe power connectors are plugged into the card, double check the loop and the cables. Even though it looks like the new cooler uses only a single slot, it barely does not. That is also the reason why CoolIT Systems is not supplying separate PCI bracket covers to go with the cards.


To power the radiator, simply plug in a Molex connector from your power supply. There are additional connectors, which can be used together with the optional control module from CoolIT Systems. This gives you a user interface and lets you adjust the fan speed and thus the noise level of the overall cooling solution. Even though CoolIT System tends to show off their solutions using the very popular TJ07B at large shows, it did not fit flush into my retail version of the case. The plastic cover of the radiator was extruding from the front of the case. This is made a bit worse by the chrome plastic edge of the device. An all black, aluminum front would have looked gorgeous within this case.


The company logo on the front of the dual drive bay radiator lights up blue, when everything is powered on. If you are wondering, this is the way the unit is to be installed, with the logo toward the right edge.

Performance

As mentioned before, I will not go into detail about graphic performance, in this review. We have covered the 8800 GTX, as well as the new GTX 260 and 280 on various occasions. Below is a link to these reviews, if you are looking for those performance numbers:

• Zotac GeForce 8800 GTX OC Editon
• Palit GeForce 8800 GTX
• Point Of View GeForce GTX 260 Assassins Creed Edition
• Point of View GeForce GTX 280 Assassins Creed Edition
• Zotac GeForce GTX 280 Amp! Edition

Test System

Cooling Performance

As you can see, the difference is quite impressive. The CoolIT Systems Dual Bay NV reference series system manages to shave 19° off the load temperatures of the GPU.

Overclocking

Overclocking an air cooled GeForce 8800 GTX seems to have a rough 10% headroom, which seems to be set by NVIDIA. When I overclocked the two cards with the stock cooling, I got 619 MHz on the Core and 978 on the memory when running them in SLI. While it was possible to set them higher in Windows, they did not end up stable over long periods of time. Seems like heat does become an issue and limiting factor, as the cards do get quite hot during use.


Things are much improved with the CoolIT Systems setup, as shown by the screen shot above. With 656 MHz on the core and 991 MHz on the memory. The latter did not seem to benefit so much from the cooling setup. These parts of the PCB are not actively cooled with the new cooling setup, so the memory only benefits from the lower surrounding temperature as it seems. Traditional GPU water blocks tend to cover the memory as well, which should enable a better overclock. Remember, your mileage may vary and your cards may perform much better or worse.