Thermalright HR-03 GT GPU Cooler Review

Idle Temperatures

In this test we allowed the graphics card to sit for 30 minutes on the Windows desktop.



Overall, it looks like the HR-03 GT is able to cool off the 8800GTS 512MB better then both the stock cooler and the Thermaltake DuOrb. The difference between it and the stock cooler is quite significant but was a bit less clear-cut when compared to the cheaper DuOrb. That being said, even though the 65nm G92 core does not produce much heat, a reduction of over 12*C is quite remarkable. Let’s see if this holds true for the load tests as well.


Load Temperatures

The “Load” tests were conducted after 30 minutes of the graphics card being in idle mode. We then ran 30 minutes of the 3DMark 3DMark 06’s Batch Size Test which puts significant and constant load on the GPU.

We have found that 3DMark’s standard tests are some of the worst programs to use when testing the cooling capabilities of a graphics card. This is because the graphics card is left to idle during the CPU tests in 3DMark06 and will then cool down significantly. The same goes for many games as there are points in games where the GPU is put under less load than at other points. These rendering tests represent a “worst case” scenario.



The results posted by the Thermalright HR-03 GT in the load test are nothing short of amazing. Not only does it show a stunning reduction of 13*C over the stock cooler but it also begins to pull away from the venerable DuOrb by a few degrees. It should also be noted that since you can use whichever 92mm fan you want on the HR-03 GT which will guarantee you a quieter running environment than you would encounter with the horribly noisy stock cooler.