Written By:
Date Posted: June 28, 2002

Overclocking

Cooler temperatures are always good, especially for video cards, as the source of many visual artifacts is usually the result of a card being pushed too hard. With the GeForce4 Copper Cooler, I was hoping for some better overclocking results than I've had in the past. Here's how we did&

To be honest, I was hoping for the same type of success as we've had with the GeForce 3/Crystal Orb, but it appears that our Visiontek just wouldn't do it. It's also probable that the GeForce 4 architecture is already being pushed hard as it is, and it just won't go any higher with this revision. What makes me think this? Core temps with the GeForce4 Copper Cooler only went up by 1C during the overclocking tests.

Final Words

Following up on the success of their previous GPU coolers, Thermaltake has done it again with their GeForce4 Copper Cooler. Considering the lack of decent aftermarket GeForce 4 coolers, they've cornered themselves a nice little niche here. Temps were lower, in some cases, quite dramatically, and they've designed the cooler well enough that is shouldn't interfere with your other components.

Overclocking is a question mark, as the range of overclocking will also be dependent on the yields of the GeForce 4 GPU. We did improve on our previous overclocking results, but nothing too dramatic. Ti4400 owners, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this may be the cooler for you, as most Ti4400 overclocking results have been much better than the Ti4600s, price/performance wise. For a mere 20$ US, this might be the cooler to get if you're still short of the Ti4600 speeds.

If there's one other knock, it's that the cooler is a GeForce 4 only part. We're not going to penalize the cooler for it, but it's something you'll need to be aware of. Anyone without a GeForce 4, you'll have to look elsewhere if you want to replace the stock cooling on your card.

Pros: Excellent cooling performance, easy to install, looks nice!

Cons: May not increase video card's overclocking potential.

Bottom Line: There is no guarantee your card will overclock better with the Thermaltake GeForce4 Copper Cooler, but you will definitely improve upon the cooling the stock cooler provided, and therefore increase your chances of overclocking. Lower temperatures will prolong the life of the card, and may even help eliminate the visual artifacts that are the result of a hot card.

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