On a random browse through Performance PCs, I noticed they had the OCZ XTC RAM cooler on sale for $18.99, so I decided to give it a shot and ordered it last weekend. It arrived yesterday and I was able to find time today to dissect and install it.
First, the packaging:
I absolutely
abhor this type of packaging! It always requires placing C4 charges around the perimeter to open the damned thing up...
The first thing I noticed after clearing away the debris from the explosives was that they give you two sets of mounting brackets. I am not exactly sure what the point of that is, but now I have spares...
It also comes with two white washers, a pair of thumb screws, and a pair of regular screws in case the thumb screws are too large to fit in your case. Glad to know OCZ thought ahead and I won't have to do any modding when I get my HD 2900XTs! Despite the appearance, the cooler is actually made from steel, as it is magnetic. They probably plated it with nickel to make it shiny.
I was curious as to how they have two fans powered by a single 3-pin connector, so I decided to take the XTC cooler apart.
As I had suspected, OCZ spliced the two fans together, which means no fan replacement is possible without also splicing those or using two separate fan headers on the motherboard. I should also note that only one of the fans sends RPM signals to the header.
The fans are only 10mm thick, with another 10mm or so between the mesh and the fan itself. If you were to purchase a thicker fan to replace these, the noise would increase significantly because of the turbulence created from the void now being taken up by a fan, much like the noise of a fan increases when placing a filter or mesh in front of it. These fans are rated at 21 dBA each, and they each blow 16 cfm. They are no louder than the Silenx fans (which I reviewed
here), so I would say that the sound rating is accurate. I can feel the air being pushed by these fans as well, so I would imagine the 16 cfm rating is pretty close to the truth.
After putting it back together, I installed it in my case, as the next two pictures show.
With flash:
And without flash (please excuse the foot that sneaked into the picture...):
The lights look very nice, and the off-center placement of the LEDs is a nice touch in my opinion as well. I can only imagine how sweet it would be if those were UV fans, though, as that would light up my SATA, floppy, and IDE cables nicely.
You might also notice that I have extra cables present in the case compared to my last entry. This is because my Kama Meter died on me, so until I get the new fan controller ordered (I am going with a Vantec Nexus 205B), I have to use 4-pin Molex connectors to power my 3 Silenx fans.
I did take apart the Silverstone CFP51-B bay to do a detailed analysis of it, as well as a detailed log of my fan installations, both of which will appear on my next installment. I'd do it now, but Stargate is on shortly so it must wait for a little while at least...