New passive VGA coolers from startup company Aero-Case

They make noise, too.

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JazzJackRabbit
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Post by JazzJackRabbit » Tue Jun 06, 2006 7:37 pm

JonV wrote:I'm not sure what, if any, connection you're trying to make between Thermaltake and Aerocool here. But the best Thermaltake cooler, the Schooner, should be able to cool a 7900GT passively just fine. (It's cooling my 7800GT with near-zero airflow right now, and from what I hear the 7900GT runs slightly cooler than the 7800GT.)
No connection between these two particular bits. I was making two points that PR campaigns like these remind me of Thermaltake and that at least one of the aeroase claims is partially false (they claim their coolers are the first ones that can cool 7900 series passively, of course 7900gt is not entire 7900 lineup, there is also 7900gtx, but I would like to see aerocase coolers cooling those effectively - being a skeptic here).

theyangster
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Post by theyangster » Tue Jun 06, 2006 9:16 pm

hmmmm

For the ordering page
(Down for maintenance. Please select Continue to return to main site)
good or bad sign?

JazzJackRabbit
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Post by JazzJackRabbit » Wed Jun 07, 2006 4:26 am

theyangster wrote:hmmmm

For the ordering page
(Down for maintenance. Please select Continue to return to main site)
good or bad sign?
Maybe they finally decided to get rid of the damn flash?

StealthGirl
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New Aerocase product details

Post by StealthGirl » Wed Jun 07, 2006 2:51 pm

Hi Guys,

Sorry it's been a while since I've posted ... been pretty busy here. Just wanted to let you know that the group has added some more product details to the website, and we've made a low-bandwidth version that is HTML only. Also we've added some lower-cost international shipping options, which should help out. I don't think the flash side has been updated yet, but I know the HTML product specs are up.

Here is the link to the Raven technical page:
http://www.aero-case.com/raven_tech.html

And here is the Condor:
http://www.aero-case.com/condor_tech.html

Also, I'd like you all to know I'm sitting here running the X1900XT Condor with the reversed wing ... and I gotta tell you, even upside down the darn thing works great! (Even surprised us here at the lab.) Runs about 82 C under load, which is STILL about 5 C less that the stock cooler.

Thanks for all your feedback!

StealthGirl

JazzJackRabbit
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Post by JazzJackRabbit » Wed Jun 07, 2006 3:34 pm

Judging from the motherboard clearance neither will work with Scythe Ninja unless you order "inversed" version pointing down...

theyangster
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Post by theyangster » Wed Jun 07, 2006 4:24 pm

what about the micro? :D

I think it's cool that they are listening to our insights :lol: and responding accordingly

Stealthgirl- what is the best way to contact you? I sent an email on Monday, but haven't recieved a reply. I understand you guys are busy, but I add some of what I said in the email here.

1-Have you considered adapting the Raven/condor to fit a cpu?
I see that the base is not flat, but has a space for the die of a GPU, but aside from pontential space concerns, could it be adapted to fit the CPU of today (and yesterday?)

2-also can the heatsinks be unscrewed? would it void warranty?

JazzJackRabbit
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Post by JazzJackRabbit » Wed Jun 07, 2006 6:35 pm

Yes, it's nice that we have a company representative here, it's also nice if all the stuff about product satisfaction turns out to be true too.

However, as I said in my first post in this thread. I would like to see a review of these coolers first and at the price they are asking for it, it better be damn good.


StealthGirl
Ditch the flash altogether. It's unprofessional and makes the website look like it was made by middle school students. It doesn't add to the website value, it makes browsing slow and information retrieval tedious. I don't want to wait 4 seconds of fancy flash visual effects if I want to see specs. If I want to see specs I want to see them immideately. Not to mention that your flash version seems to be 320x240 pixel sized. There are a whole lot of people (including me) that browse with the flash plug in disabled for those reasons. Ditch the flash.

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Post by mbetea » Thu Jun 08, 2006 7:59 am

JazzJackRabbit wrote:Judging from the motherboard clearance neither will work with Scythe Ninja unless you order "inversed" version pointing down...
And you should also make sure from your video card slot to the bottom of the case is more than 100mm. That's if you're going with the "reversed" wing setup.

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Flash

Post by StealthGirl » Thu Jun 08, 2006 9:18 am

JackRabbit,

I passed your comments along in our morning conf call ... so they've been duly noted. Meanwhile, I hope that the new HTML entry was faster and provided you with all the info you needed. www.aero-case.com/intro

Thanks for your comments.

SG

mclendo06
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for the 7950

Post by mclendo06 » Thu Jun 08, 2006 9:25 am

I wonder if a couple of Condor coolers could be rigged up for the 7950 GX2, one right way up and one upside down. This would probably limit CPU cooler selection, but it seems to me that this could be a neat way to silence the most powerful single card out there (well, sort of a single card). The main thing would be clearance between the PCBs as well as mouning layouts. Is the heatsink less than about 1 cm thick, and can the mouting screw locations be customized (I am assuming the 7950 GX2 has different heatsink mounting hole patterns than the other 7900 cards)? If yes/yes, then I don't see why you couldn't use a couple of these to cool the 7950 GX2. Just a thought.

JazzJackRabbit
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Re: Flash

Post by JazzJackRabbit » Thu Jun 08, 2006 9:39 am

StealthGirl wrote:JackRabbit,

I passed your comments along in our morning conf call ... so they've been duly noted. Meanwhile, I hope that the new HTML entry was faster and provided you with all the info you needed. www.aero-case.com/intro

Thanks for your comments.

SG
Now if you could also make some sort of navigation through the specs... This page for example doesn't even let you go back or up one level. I know you probably haven't had much time to make non flash version, but please do it properly. A website like this certainly doesn't inspire confidence in the company and its products.

arca
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Post by arca » Thu Jun 08, 2006 11:07 am

Who cares, you have a back-button in your browser, don't you. Getting a bit tired of wading through posts griping over flash/non-flash/web-design when it's the product I'm interested in.

JazzJackRabbit
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Post by JazzJackRabbit » Thu Jun 08, 2006 11:52 am

arca wrote:Who cares, you have a back-button in your browser, don't you. Getting a bit tired of wading through posts griping over flash/non-flash/web-design when it's the product I'm interested in.
Yes, I love clicking back 3 times just to get one level up.

oscar3d
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Post by oscar3d » Thu Jun 08, 2006 1:23 pm

Ok Guys we need a review from this, I got my eyes in the Condor Model.
This is what we've been all waiting for, but I'm not going to disimburse $60, without knowing what SPCR has to say about it.

I don't car about the Thermaltake Schonner, we are talking big leagues right now. Facts are:

1) Next year we are moving to Windows Vista.
2) New cards will use DirectX 10 (which by the way is Win Vista exclusive, no DX10 for XP)
3) Cards are getting hotter and bigger
4) ATI is coming with the R600 which I heard is 65nm and it'll be the biggest card ever made, and thus HOT as a Devil Waterbag!
5) We want something quiet enough to work or at least hear the game soundtrack decently.

So If Aerocase pass the test with SCPR, I bet many of us are willing to congratulate them finacially $$$$. And make them produce more unit$.


So Aero-Case, what are you waiting for, send SPCR reviewers the Condor and the Raven, we can just buy something blind. And if you make them good, who know you might beat the competition Zalman, Arctic-Cooling.

oscar3d
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Post by oscar3d » Thu Jun 08, 2006 1:44 pm

Two things I forgot to mention:

1) If you are going to test, test it with an ATIX1900XTX, the hottest.

2) The wings up won't work for many of us who have or want to have great quiet CPU coolers (Scyhte Ninja), and bet we won't trade a ninja for a VGA-Cooler like this. Unless you do an adjustment of the lenght of the wing, or have it facing down.

Aero-Case, please take note.

Thanks

JazzJackRabbit
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Post by JazzJackRabbit » Thu Jun 08, 2006 2:03 pm

oscar3d wrote:1) If you are going to test, test it with an ATIX1900XTX, the hottest.
I highly doubt spcr labs have one :D

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Post by andyb » Thu Jun 08, 2006 3:33 pm

Congratulations on making your webiste less shit :)

It seems as though your products are hand made.!!! Is that the case.???

If so you might not want to admit it to the silence freaks around here. On the point of freaks, can your heatpipes be bent, or will they break whilst being bent.???

You mention a list of compatable graphics cards,you mention the X850, but not the X800, was that an oversights, or is there a real compatability issue.


Andy

thenewguy8
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Post by thenewguy8 » Thu Jun 08, 2006 7:39 pm

why in the world has there been no review of this product???

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Post by peteamer » Thu Jun 08, 2006 11:13 pm

oscar3d wrote:Unless you do an adjustment of the lenght of the wing, or have it facing down.
You can order a 'reversed' wing version of both... :wink:

oscar3d, is the X1900XTX really that much hotter than the X1900XT StealthGirl has said she is running?, because that is already quoted with temps on the website, linked from SG's earlier post.


thenewguy8 wrote:why in the world has there been no review of this product???
I think you'll find Mike is washing his hair this week, Devon has to iron his summer shorts and tidy his room, Ralf is under wifely orders to sweep the yard (poor Chap, it really is very windy at the moment.. and his 'yard' is the Baja desert :? ..), the lab technicians... nobody knows, not even their names (the names on the 'About Us' page were provided by the FBI ), for they are in hiding from Betty having spilt some milk on the new hall carpet and Russ, well... Russ has been sent on a long walk till he promises to be a good boy and play nicely.....



Regards
Pete

arca
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Post by arca » Fri Jun 09, 2006 12:28 am

Ok, only way I can fit the Condor into my HTPC would be to place the wing right above the CPU heatsink, maybe with a distance of 5 mm. Then I would have 20-25 mm clearance above the wing. Is clearance below the wing necessary if there is air flowing through the CPU heatsink?

Here's an idea, how about making a combined GPU & CPU heatsink. One fan to cool both GPU and CPU. A Condor-XP-120 hybrid. :)

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Post by JazzJackRabbit » Fri Jun 09, 2006 5:19 am

arca wrote:Here's an idea, how about making a combined GPU & CPU heatsink. One fan to cool both GPU and CPU. A Condor-XP-120 hybrid. :)
It's been done by someone with VM-101 who bent pipes 90 degrees upward - too lazy to find the link but it should be somewhere on the first two pages. The temperature stayed almost the same so the effectiveness of such combo might not be as great as you think.

BTW a word of caution, even with xp/si-120 it's going to be a tight squeeze. Both are about 90mm high with a fan attached, and aero-case coolers provide 120mm clearance which leaves only 3cm between a fan and a condor. A bit tight and might lead to air starvation and backpressure. Of course that's just speculation, I have no idea if that would be the case.

arca
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Post by arca » Fri Jun 09, 2006 7:10 am

JazzJackRabbit wrote:BTW a word of caution, even with xp/si-120 it's going to be a tight squeeze. Both are about 90mm high with a fan attached, and aero-case coolers provide 120mm clearance which leaves only 3cm between a fan and a condor. A bit tight and might lead to air starvation and backpressure. Of course that's just speculation, I have no idea if that would be the case.
I was thinking about building a funnel enclosing both the Condor and XP-120, leading to the back of the case. On the outside I'd have a 120 mm fan sucking air out.

I dunno, I might just wait and see if these new external GPU heatsinks materialize. That would be a similar setup, just another order of components: CPUHS -> fan -> GPUHS or CPUHS -> GPUHS -> fan.

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Post by StealthGirl » Fri Jun 09, 2006 2:06 pm

I figured I'd drop in and answer some of your questions before the weekend. AndyB, you wanted to know if we excluded the X800 ... no, it's on the Raven order page (it's under 60 watts, and the 850 is over 60w, so it requires a Condor). And can you bend the tubes? Well yes, but not too much without a tubing bender ... you'll crush the tube at the bend. No, they don't break, but be careful with them ... they are the engine that makes these things work. (We bent a Raven up about an inch to clear a tall CPU heatsink the other day, so it's fine to move them within a couple inches up or down. But, it's best to have manufacturing do the bending for you. Just email us.)

And, yes, every one of our products are hand assembled (and that’s a feature not a detriment). The only way to get a precision fit on these heatpipes is to hand fit them. Also, there is so much more customization the company can provide the customer when the product is hand assembled.

As for the X1900XTX ... don't know yet (we don't have one either). It's rated 135 watts, up 15 over the XT, and that's almost 12% hotter. The x1900xt on a Condor runs near 80C ... that would push the XTX Condor near 90C, maxing it out. No question that's going to take some airflow to keep it cool.

Now, a bit of bad news, just heard today we're going to hold off on HTPC support right now (unless you contact us first). Most HTPC cases don't have room for the big wings, and most of the small fans won't exhaust enough air. Also there are clearance problems ABOVE the video card, as most HTPC case lids are right on top of the cards. We're experimenting right now with horizontal pipes and having the Wing on the backside of the video card, but I don't have any data on that yet.

Mind you we don't have hard and fast rules ... virtually every PC enclosure and configuration is different. We understand that, and can provide a lot of customization for you as we build these. And that is our business advantage. So please e-mail us at [email protected] with your questions. We'll get to them there a lot faster than here on the forums.

As for the reviews, I don't have any status on that. I do know we have some scheduled with other sites, but those are still a month away. I'm sure you'll know before I will.

Have a great weekend and I'll check in on Monday.
SG

arca
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Post by arca » Sat Jun 10, 2006 12:02 am

Personally I think it's great that you assemble them by hand and are open for customization. That's very unique in this type of market.

Would it be possible to have the fins going along the wing instead of across it? How about custom width and length of the wing? I know I'm pushing it now.

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Post by oscar3d » Sun Jun 11, 2006 8:40 pm

From Aero's website:

"Aerocase can also provide customization for a minimal charge. Please e-mail us with your questions or specifications."

If that means I can send my comp to you and you make a custom Condor Heatsink that could be fit inside my case with my ATI x1900XTX and my Scyhte Ninja (CPU Cooler), I'll be more than happy to pay the company.

Stealthgirl, that's actually the configuration that many of us in this site have.

I know that I'm getting a little bit exaggerated about asking you to try the Condor with a X1900XTX. And I really congratulate you for having success with the X1900XT.

But lets face reality:

1) Many of us are moving to High-End PC's, specially videocards, we like gaming, some of us including me use 3D Packages like Maya to work, and we need the best performance possible.

2) And we need to work in a quiet environment to concentrate better.

3) I sincerely suggest you try the the hottest cards availiable, because believe it or not that's going to be your market for at least the next two years, with the chance of puttting your company on top of the competition.

4) People are willing to pay for something reliable. If you test your products, I suggest you do it with an ambient temperature of 75 F. Which is somehow the median temperature.

If for example you conquered X1900XT with an ambient temp of 60-65 F. That doesn't mean success, and I'll explain why.

Many of your potential customers can buy stuff from you on Winter, and be very happy with them, but then summer comes, and you might be facing lots of returns, and calls from people suffering overheating.

So quality control is nice, but must be realistic.

Beat the X1900XTX on an ambient temp of 75F and you have my money hands down. If not, I'm sure there will be others who will step on your opportunity to win market.

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Post by StealthGirl » Mon Jun 12, 2006 12:43 pm

Oscar, et al.

We just ordered a 1900XTX for testing. However, we have all agreed here this morning, we've maxed out this design at 135 watts. Honestly, 477 sq. inches of cooling space is as much as we can squeeze from our customer's cases ... as it is we're already interfering with some CPU heatsink area.

So, our new Condor "XL" (geez!) will use an additional 3x5 inch heatsink on the base heatblock (chip side) to help offload the Wing ... but because the heatsink is inverted it'll be less than 50% effective. (This is why other passive designs just don't work ... conventional enclosures have the GPU heatsink upside down, trapping hot air).

Basically we're just out of cooling space ... and, clearly the industry isn't going to stop raising the power levels of GPU's. So, the only way we're going to silently cool GPU's of 150+ watts is to pump the heat energy directly outside the case. And, that's where our air-cooled enclosures come in. We get a huge heatsink area to work with, that's totally passive, and it's outside the case (or rather IS part of the case).

So, there you have our thoughts here at the lab ...

Thanks for all of your interest,
SG

oscar3d
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Post by oscar3d » Mon Jun 12, 2006 1:36 pm

Excellent StealthGirl,

I'll be waiting patiently for your results, and I thank you for being availiable in these forums and for listening to our prayers.

I understand the wattage cap here, and I thing X1900XTX will be my last video card, until these companies (Nvidia and ATI) start doing something smart with thier wattages, sizes and heat. Or maybe wait 15 years until we have molecular chips.

At least your products could reach a huge market of high end enthusiasts.
I'm hoping it works.

GamingGod
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Post by GamingGod » Mon Jun 12, 2006 2:51 pm

Have you tested it in a desktop type case? It would awesome if you made one that would fit in a nsk2400 and use the pci slots for air intakes.

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Post by GamingGod » Mon Jun 12, 2006 2:56 pm

Oh another idea is to have heatpipes that go out the back of the case through the pci slot and maybe mount onto the back of the case over the exhaust fan.

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Post by Modmaven » Tue Jun 13, 2006 10:54 am

It sure would be nice if they could make those so that you could move the "wing" to whatever angle fit best. This may screw with the heatpipe, but it seems like it could be done.

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