Sorry about the pretentious headline. It's almost like trolling. I know, there's always different strokes for different folks. Some coolers are better in one way, some in the other..

However, it really seems like S1 is receiving too little attention here, the domain of quiet cooling solutions, where for some pretty good reasons it demands more consideration. For the following reasons:

1. It passively, noiselessly cools far better than stock, and well on par with non-passive aftermarket coolers.
2. If you put fans on it, it becomes the most effective VGA air-cooling on the market
2. It does fit 8800GT, albeit unofficially and unsupportedly, and does fit the new Ati cards very well indeed, as you needn't even remove the standard RAM/VRM heatsinks
3. It only costs $20-$25, half as much as other decent aftermarket VGA coolers, or just $8 more if you want the "Turbo Module" (custom quiet 2x80mm fans) on it.
4. You can attach your own 120mm fans of choice for superior noise/cooling/reliability
5. It won't clog and lose effectiveness from dust, thanks to the sheer size of it

Seriously, eliminating one of the major sources of noise in the system for very reasonable money was for me one of the best computer purchases ever, so I heartily recommend it. Everyone who's looking to cool and quiet their gaming computer should be aware of this heatsink.
Here's also some links to reviews that compare it to the competition:
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getart ... rticID=593
http://www.abchw.com/content/vga-high-e ... er-roundup

I LOVE this cooler. I've had a VF700, VF900, NVSilencer, and now an S1, and the S1 just beats the pants off all the other coolers, ESPECIALLY because it's so versatile. Can't beat having a quiet, efficient 120mm fan controlled by SpeedFan silently cooling your fast gamer VGA card!

And now if it DOES fit on 8800GT and HD3870, that gives me complete freedom to choose between the two realistic options for my next VGA card. Gonna be a good Xmas this year...

I agree that its an under-valued product, I didnt see in your link that the S1 has actually been used on the 38xx series of cards or 8800GT cards. If you can find some evidence such as benchmarks and or photo's you are onto a winner.

Mine is fantastic, utterly perfect, very cool and with only 1 very slow running 120mm exhaust fan in the case, and no direct airflow over the S1 at all.


Andy

A few downsides I found to it: overall build quality does seem a little low, but that is probably a given for the price we are talking about. And also with how great thermalrights look they sometimes ship products with jacked up heatpipes.

Downside would be the crappy thermal adhesive pads on the memory, and also the fact that you need to mount one of them off-center to keep the heatpipe from dislodging it.

All that being said I am amazed how well it performs. I was able to get a much higher overclock with still lower temps, thing idles around 40C now, which is great for a GPU.

I'm running one on my 8800GT right now . Running it completely passively in an Antec P182 case with 1 intake fan and the 2 exhaust fans on low, I'm getting temperatures of 45-50C idle and 60-65C under load. I'm contemplating adding the Turbo Module or regular fans to it, but right now it works just fine in passive. ECS will be fitting one on their 8800GT as standard, although I'd suggest getting one separately since ECS is a piece of crap company.

The link above shows it fits on an Ati 3870 card just fine.

ps: Oh yea, the only downside I could find is that memory heatsinks tend not to stick very well, at least initially. You can use your own thermal adhesive, or other memory heatsinks you might have lying around.

I concur! Ordered one for my X1950GT. I looked at those same two reviews before buying.

Be careful what you say about ECS, calling them crap will only boost their ego, what they should be called will get me into moderator trouble

It looks sweet that it can be run on the 3870 and the 8800GT.

And yes the main downside is the crap non-sticky RAM modules, teflon has more sticking ability than those things I think that all of mine are still attached, and yes I have one at a funny angle because of the placement of the RAM chips vs the heatpipes.

My current temps (cool ambient), Core: 30-32C, HDD 29C, system 30C, GPU 39C with just one Nexus cooling everything @ 502rpm (everything in the top compartment, my HDD and PSU are being cooled by a Nexus @ 5v).

Only 9C warmer than my CPU is very impressive when both are idling, the GPU doesnt hit more than 65C (case fan spins up to about 850rpm as its temp controlled).


Andy

Aaaaaand it's mysteriously not available in Sweden, although their other products have always been easy to find here.

*edited out spyware riddled page

Search around on [H]ardforum, i remember seeing a few posts where they had the S1 attached to the 8800GT.
Other coolers I've seen pictures of fitted to the 8800GT: Thermaltake ND1, Thermalright HR-03a and Zalman Fatal1ty FC-ZV9.

I've actually seen quite a lot of people fitting their S1 on a 8800GT (with amazing decrease in temps, most seen to have a drop of 20ish in temps), of the 38xx series I'm not so sure.

Another link with review.

http://en.hardspell.com/doc/showcont.asp?news_id=1861

your link is full of massive spyware

thanks

I was wondering... what room would you have left if you install this?

it must take up 3 slots if you also put a fan on it. I mean, it looks awesome. I am thinking a fan blowing from the left to right , maybe stuck to a hardrive case blowing towards the back of the case.

hm.

i wish spcr would do more video card and less cpu. really, cpu's are already cool running and easily cooled. vga cards have a small fraction of the consideration and produce more heat and in a worse location with flimsy mounting compared to a cpu.

Really? Didn't notice any spyware myself. Just ye olde banners and such.

I'll do a check on it before i remove it.

yeah doubleclick tried to pound like 5x in a row. didnt get in fully.

the article is good though. just a bad place.

casale media, doubleclick, two classic shit places id like to firebomb

I dont have any pics, but my temp are above in another post, and here is a link to my board, I have to use the bottom PCI-E slot for the card (board design), and it still works well.... OK so I am only using a 65W GPU, but I am also only using 1x120mm Nexus (as the top compartments only exhaust) that spins at 500rpm - 850rpm and removes ALL of the heat from the mobo, CPU and GPU, I have all of the slots under the graphics card open, the vents to the side of the expansion slots closed (P180), and all slots above the card closed.

http://uk.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l ... odelmenu=1



I'm using Firefox, nothing happened, nothing at all.... I didnt even see any adverts courtesy of ABP. Your either using "Internet Exploder" or have some kind of nasty loophole that just allows a torrent of shit to hit your PC.


Andy

One note on using the S1 (or any other passive cooler for the 8800GT): you need to put memory heatsinks on the various and sundry power ICs as they get really hot otherwise. I happened to go with the HR-03 GT instead of the S1, but I can see how that could and should do a fantastic job with the 8800GT (I used S2s on my prior 6600GT and 7600GT cards).

-D

if you had a very slow moving fan, like a 90 mm nexus blowing, what would be the best to use?

I like the s3 option as it leaves no room for heat build up. I am new to vga air cooling... well been 3 years since i had water but I might move away from it as a pump cannot last forever (and i dont want to have to mess around wit that again)

Does the HR-03 GT require the additional chipset and mosfet coolers? Thanks!

edit: found the answer to my own question

the 03 GT includes all the necessary coolers. I know that the S1 is missing a couple. This might bring the S1 to $30 once you factor in the cost of additional sinks -- just something to think about.

I just picked one of these up yesterday. The memory sinks SUCK and they don't come with the mosfet/regulator sinks. I contacted Thermaltake to see if they would sell me the sinks that come with their HR-03 GT as they look of good quality and fit.

I plan to run mine on my 8800GT semi-passively. I have a case fan near and I'll make some ducting to help scoop up the air.

Where's the best place to order one of these in the U.S.?

The S1 or the HR-03 GT?

For the record, the thermal tape that comes with the HR-03 GT sucks as well - at least in regards to the IC/PWC sinks (which have very small surface areas so they're already a challenge). Luckily I had some thermal tape left over from some Zalman ramsinks that I was able to use. If you never plan on removing the aftermarket heatsink, you may be better off using thermal epoxy to secure the ramsinks.

-D

I was searching on AC rather than Artic Cooling. That was my problem finding vendors.

What is a recommended source of IC/PWC heatsinks for the S1?

I got my Arctic Cooling S1 from www.newegg.com for about $21.


As far as IC/PWC heatsinks, I am giving this a shot.

Where did you get this PWM heatsink? It looks great.

Thanks

Well, they are custom made and I actually set up a group buy for them that is going on now, but soon to end. I need to send an e-mail to the guy to see what the cap is as he makes these in free time. I think we have 10 people now, but if you want in on the buy, send me a PM and I'll see what I can do.

Price is currently $40+ shipping. He plans to put a cap on the amount of people as I am sure he is getting swamped.

How much room exists under the S1 for RAM / IC heatsinks?

For example, would the 14mm Swiftech MC14 fit underneath the S1?

I was looking at those too, but I was thinking they may be too tall. I don't know for sure though.

I am considering buying an S1 to run my 8800 GT passive.
Since there isn't enough ram sink for the VRM, I was thinking of getting some EnzoTech BCC9 to use for the ram chip and use the aluminum ones for the VRM.

Does that make sense or I shouldn't bother with the BCC9?

i'd like to see a performance comparsion between the AC S1 passive and w/ turbo module vs. thermalrights hr03 variants and zalmans ridiculously priced all copper vf-1000 to see who is the modern day king of vga cooling =)