Thermalright HR-11 VGA Backside Cooler Review

[One4yu2c]

Today's graphics cards emit an incredible amount of heat, and although even the stock coolers move heat adequately away from the GPU and memory, the top of the card, which typically sits right under the NB chipset, is an area where heat tends to collect. This does have an affect on the NB chipset, especially when used with increasingly popular passively cooled boards, like those from Gigabyte, ASUS, and nearly everyone else.

Today I'll share my experience with a unique product from Thermalright: The HR-11 VGA Backside Cooler. Wait, backside VGA cooler you say?? Exactly! While I spent the better part of an evening trying to understand the value of the HR-11, I came away with an idea, even if I wasn't overwhelmed by its performance.
Rich Caporali

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[_WBaS_]

Seems like a nice review Rich, but I think it's a waste of money... it just doesn't seem practical.

[gvblake22]

I've felt the back of my video card under the GPU and I have to say it gets REALLY hot to the touch. So I can see where extra cooling on the backside of the card somehow could reduce temperatures, but this doesn't seem like this is getting the job done that well. Always nice to see companies pushing the envelope and coming up with new, innovative products, but I think I'll probably pass on this one too...

[screwballl]

Like your review stated, a simple case-side fan does much more for cooling than this product does.
Otherwise a great review!!!

[Yellowhello]

Great review! Looks like it takes up a ton of space... and hmm, $25 for no real change in performance... I'll have to pass...

[Dread]

If ThermalTake would coordinate with nVidia and/or ATI to change
their reference designs to include a thermal transfer plate on the
back side of the GPU, this product could very well shine. As is, it
looks like the heat cannot transfer adequately from the card to the
cooler.

Nice idea, poorly implemented.

[Capper]

Which is why I contacted both graphics companies before finishing up my review. i think the consensus is that there are benefits, but they really aren't that dramatic. I did notice that the temperature difference grew as they overall temperatures grew, and as I added to the review this morning (I had thought about it all night, and woke up late).....The performance will obviously be impacted by the way the cooler is installed. I was limited to installing the cooler sideways....which meant any heat collected by the HR-11 was simply circulated in the case before being sucked out the rear......which is obviously going to affect temperatures, even if just slightly. I can see where mounting the cooler facing rearward, where you can, will drop temps a few more degrees as the heat collected is immediately sucked out the rear, instead of circulating around inside the case...

How much affect this might have is debatable, if you have good airflow, I don't think the difference would be dramatic. Which really brings me back to my original observation that the cooling effects can be easily replicated with a strategically placed fan.

[screwballl]

now it would be nice to see if there is a temperature impact on HTPC cases where a quieter solution may be needed and this could really shine

[onebxr]

Originally Posted by screwballl

now it would be nice to see if there is a temperature impact on HTPC cases where a quieter solution may be needed and this could really shine

I dont think you could fit all of that in an htpc case.
-1

[Capper]

Thats a good point, but I think thats a whole different set of issues....as most HTPCs suffer from cramped spaces, I think you'd run into room issues. i also think that while the cooler would wick heat away from the top of the card, it would simply spread that heat over other areas that could cause stability issues.