OCC Review: Thermaltake TMG ND5 VGA Cooler Options

[Nemo]

Thermaltake TMG ND5 VGA Cooler Review

So you’ve had your nVidia 8800 series video card for a while and you’re probably happy with the performance now that they’ve got newer and better drivers available for it. If only you could bring the temperature down a little, to have some fun overclocking it, or even just for the peace of mind that the card is running cooler than the stock 55 to 70 degrees Celsius. As with many other cooling applications, Thermaltake has introduced an air cooler that just might suit your needs. The TMG ND5 is an air cooler that is built specifically to handle the cooling needs of the 8800 series graphics cards. So if you’ve got a 8800 GTS or GTX, this cooler was designed with you in mind.

[OweO2004]

Good review although I can't help but think that this cooler is pretty pointless given its results (3 degrees under full load when overclocked is not worth bothering about imo) coupled with the fact that unlike the stock cooler all the heat from the card is dumped back into the pc.

[Silverfox]

Good review although I can't help but think that this cooler is pretty pointless given its results (3 degrees under full load when overclocked is not worth bothering about imo) coupled with the fact that unlike the stock cooler all the heat from the card is dumped back into the pc.

I think it might be to do with the noise too perhaps?

[OweO2004]

I think it might be to do with the noise too perhaps?

This would only matter if the stock cooler was noisy in the first place.

The cooler on my 8800GTS (ie the reference model) is not audible over the rest of my system and even when forced to 100% all you get is a muted wooshing sound.

If the cooler was like the X18/X19 series cooler then yes I can see the benefit as at full pelt they were very noisy indeed.

[Psydotek]

I'm interested in this because it's a PITA to get the fans to run at 100% using the NVIDIA control panel + ntune on Vista 64-bit (it's weird because the software won't always activate the fans whenever i hit "apply" so i have to spend afew minutes fiddling with it). Additionally, the GPUs are usually around 70-75 degrees C even with the fans running at full tilt...

So i'm looking for a solution that'll run at 100% all the time (so i don't have to constantly go back into the NVIDIA control panel every time i boot up the computer and set the fan speed) and keep the cards cooler. I was thinking a watercooling setup but that would be about $300...

I've got dual EVGA 8800GTS 320MB videocards.

This post has been edited by Psydotek: Sep 5 2007, 09:16 AM

[christopher3393]

Just wondering if reviewer mentioned what case and case fan arrangement he used. Also any increase in system/case temp.? Another recent review of this cooler noted better performance than this review, but a 10C case temp increase!