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VIZO Armada II Ram Cooler
Submitted by jwhitakr on Tue, 12/09/2008 - 18:30.
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Today I am looking at another product from VIZO geared toward cooling the RAM inside your computer - the Armada II Dual-Fan RAM Cooler. Everyone knows how important it is to keep your processor cool, but many people don't realize that keeping the RAM cool can also increase your computer's performance. By keeping the RAM cool you also reduce the amount of ambient heat inside the computer case, as long as you have case fans set up to blow the air out of the case, which means everything else stays cooler as well.
Package and Installation
The device is packaged in a plastic display casing that was very easy to open using only my hands without any scissors or cutting required. Inside the package there is simply the ram cooler and two padded spacers with adhesive backing. The cooler is made of clear and frosted plastic with two 40mm fans. Each fan has three blue LEDs and the cooler uses a three prong power connection.
Specifications
- Dimensions: 116mm x 40mm x 35mm
- DC Fan Dimensions: 40mm x 40mm x 10mm x2 (2 fans)
- Bearing type: Sleeve bearing
- Speed: 4500RPM
- Noise Level: <20dBA
- Max Air Flow: 13.86CFM x2
- Rated Voltage: 12V
- Rated Current: 0.35 A x2
- Compatibility: SDR/DDR/DDR2/DDR3 DIMMS
- Weight: 45g
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| VIZO Armada II Box | Armada II Top View | Armada II Clip-on Side |
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| Armada II Front | Installed - lights on | Installed - lights off |
Usage and Performance
The fans do a decent job of cooling the DIMMS with a fan speed of 4500 RPM. I used the temperature gauge for my graphics card to measure the temperature of the RAM before installing the cooler and it was fluctuating between 40º C and 58º C idle as various background activities were occurring. Under full load the temperature floated between 64º C and 70º C. The RAM I am using is OCZ SLI certified DDR2 800MHz or PC2-6400. This particular OCZ RAM comes with a heat spreader and an SLI badge in the center on each side. The RAM cooler would not fit exactly on the center of the DIMM because of the SLI badge on the RAM but it fit just fine a little to the side of it.
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After installing the cooler I found the temperature to be fairly lower as it fluctuated between 36º C and 46º C idle and under load between 58º C and 66º C, which is a significant difference and well worth the cost of the cooler in the neighborhood of about $15 - $20.
I also ran a benchmark from Sisoft Sandra before and after the installation of the cooler but I am not including it in the review because there was no difference in the performance of the RAM with or without the cooler installed. However, the fact that it does cool the RAM makes it possible for overclockers to pump up the bus speed for their RAM without fear of overheating the modules. I overclocked the RAM modules just to try it out and set the bus speed (which is normally 800MHz) to 900MHz without any instability at all. The overall temperature only raised about 3 degrees C average. So the cooler certainly does add some benefit for overclocking.
VIZO Armada II Dual-Fan Ram Cooler
If you want to keep the interior of your computer nice and cool, the VIZO Armada II RAM cooler is a great addition to any case with installed case fans. It is also a great tool for overclockers to help get the most speed out of your computer.
Pros: Cools RAM effectively, aesthetically pleasing, allows better overclocking.
Cons: No direct performance enhancement.
Rating: 4.0 out of 5
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