Coolink GFXChilla GPU Cooler Review

by Michael "SKYMTL" Hoenig     |     February 24, 2008

Cooling Particulars and SNAFUs

*Please note that Coolink is aware of this problem and all new GFXChillas which are presently shipping out have lower profile heatsinks

Now that we have seen what the Coolink GFXChilla can really do it’s time to show you what NOT to do and why Coolink needs to revise how this heatsink is installed. All of the past benchmarks were achieved with the two (what we find unnecessary) low-profile ramsinks uninstalled.


At first, we were experiencing higher temperatures than we were expecting so we took the time to investigate a bit further and found that the heatpipes were actually pressing down on the two low-profile heatsinks. This meant that the copper baste plate of the GFXChilla was not making full contact with the core.


You can see this point illustrated a bit better above. Even with the heatsink slightly loose (picture on the left) the heatpipes are still touching the ramsinks and once the screws are further tightened, this contact becomes even worse.

Here is the difference we experienced between mounting the GFXChilla with the low-profile ramsinks installed versus them being uninstalled.


As you can see, there is a HUGE difference between the temperatures. For those of you wondering if it was the simple matter of the first mount we did not being entirely kosher, the high temperatures stayed constant through three preliminary mounts with MX-2 thermal compound. So, Confucius says: don’t install the low-profile ramsinks. Their omission did not impact on the overclock of the ram at all and the difference in temperatures due to improper heatsink contact is absolutely stunning.
 
 
 

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