Thermalright HR11 VGA Backside Cooler Review

Kelainefes · #1 24-05-2008, 04:27

Thermalright HR11 VGA Backside Cooler Review

Introduction and package

When i installed the Thermalright V2 on my Sapphire HD3870, i wanted to lower my GPU temps and reduce the noise coming from the video card and i was fully satisfied: stock cooler lets the GPU get to 92 C before accelerating and cooling it a bit, and forcing it to spin at full speed resulted 65 C under load, but also in F1 car noise levels.. With the V2, instead, load temps where between 55 and 60 (depending on the room's air temp) and noise was gone.

While it solved both problems, the V2 also introduced a new one, severe bending of the video card's PCB due to the mounting pressure; as soon as i noticed, i reseated the cooler being way more conservative when tightening the screws.
Even if i was very careful to seat it flat, load temperatures went up to 65-69 C (again depending on amb. temp)

So, now that summer is approaching and my room temp is going to go up to at least 30-35 C, i decided it was time to do something about it and ordered the HR11.
Couple of days later the delivery guy buzzs, and here is the usual, enviroment friendly plain cardboard box as per Thermalright tradition.

Let's open it..

..and see what's inside:

Not much, the cooler itself, 2 sets of 4 screws each (no washers, but you don't need them anyway), and instructions (just a quick look and you're good to go) but you don't really need more than a small pointed star screwdriver.
The black stripes you see inside the bag, are some washers i made with electric tape in case i needed them, but with the HD3870 you don't.

Now let's take the cooler out:

The packaging is excellent as usual, the foam is sturdy and would protect the cooler from impacts, improper handling and other things that may happen during shipping, unless the delivery guy puts an anvil on top of it.

The cooler is also covered by a plastic bag, to keep it nice and shiny till you open it.

Notice how the base is made, the mounting square feels like it's made of steel, but it doesn't really matter since the only part that will make contact is the little square made of nickel plated copper in the centre, wich is also soldered to the heatpipes on the other side.
The contact area is covered by a soft and adesive thermal pad and it's the only way to go, since you obviously can't use thermal goo or tape: the pressure would almost certainly crush the small SMCs on the back of the GPU.

Kelainefes · #2 24-05-2008, 05:10

Fitting

Ok, let's see how difficult it is to install this on my VGA.
Operating table is ready!

As you can see, it looks like it will be a breeze, unscrew the nuts, place the cooler, screw nuts back in place.
No, it wasn't gonna be that simple: the screws where just about 1 mm too short and wouldn't come out from the holes

So i removed the V2 completely and found out that i had to use the longer screws that came with the HR11, wich were to large for the nuts. Since i intended to use only what i found in the HR11 package, i had to put the V2 with the surface contact facing up, seat the card on top of it, put the HR11 in place and finally screw everything together. Sounds easy, but lining up the V2 with the screws and the HR11 is not easy if you are alone, unless you are an octopus.

Fresh thermal goo applied, ready to go:

No goo is needed for the HR11, i will remove the plastic sheet that covers the pad at the last moment.

Here it is after all the screws go in:

Note, you can install the HR 11 in 3 ways, one is with the fins ending up in front of where you usually find an exhaust fan in the back of the case, the other is with the fins between the CPU socket and the DDR slots, but this is the only way i could install it, since i got cards on the slots before the VGA, and an HR05 IFX SLI over the first PEG slot.
As we will see later, the HR11 will stay close to the HR05, but will not touch it.
Plus, installing it this way the fins stay right in front of my 25 cm side panel fan, wich will help in dissipating the heat.

So, can i finally apply proper pressure without bending my VGA's PCB?
Looks like the answer is yes, now it's the HR11 that does the bending, the card is fine.

I think that it is quite easy to have even pressure, let's say that screws are called 1, 2, 3 and 4 in clockwise order: now tighten 1 and 3 by one screwdriver turn, then 2 and 4, and repeat till you see the HR11 starts to bend. Then you need to tighten in smaller steps, say 1/4 or 1/3 of a turn, looking at the card like this:

This way you see how much of the screw is coming out from the other side, and how much is the HR11 bending. Of course you need to look at the other 3 sides too

Now i just need to put the ugly "thing" that helps me keep my vga stable in overclocked mode (dunno why, maybe forces more air onto the memory chips?)...

...and see if it fits alright into my crowded case.

It does.

Kelainefes · #3 24-05-2008, 05:11

Testing and results

Ok, the test machine is the one described in the system specs in my profile, but here it is anyway

DFI LT X48 T2R
Intel C2D E6750 @3150 MHz (450x7)
2x1GB Kingston HiperX 9200 @1200 DDR
Sapphire Radeon HD3870 512 GDDR4 823/1197 MHz
M-Audio Delta 44 sound card
Enermax Liberty 500W PSU
2x 500 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
1x 400 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.8
LG Dual Layer DVD+-RW writer
Thermalright SI 128 SE + SilenX 120x120x38mm fan@1250 rpm
Thermalright HR05 IFX SLI + SilenX 80x80x15 fan @2100 rpm(on NB)
Enzotech CNB-S1L (on SB)
Thermalright V2 + SilenX 80x80x25 fan@12V, unmonitored
Sharkoon Rebel 9 case with 25 cm side fan (100cfm@650 RPM), rear exhaust Scythe S-Flex 120x120x25 fan@1000 rpm, front exhaust Enermax 120x120x25 fan@1100 rpm
Windows XP Professional SP3

Testing method:

For each test, the pc was left idling on the windows desktop after booting, and monitoring and logging was started with RivaTuner 2.06.
When the temps stabilized for a few minutes, AtiTool was started and the "spinnng furry cube" test was run for approximatively 20 minutes.
Now this may seem a short period of time, some reviews out there run the stress test for even an hour, but i know my system and i've seen proof that there is no heat build-up after the first 10 minutes: i've run hour(s) long tests in the past months and as i said, there really is no point in test longer than the said 20 minutes.
After this period of time, atitool was closed and the gpu left to cool down to idle temp again; after a few minutes of idling logging was stopped.

So for each tested setup you will get:
-Average load temperature: after 10 minutes of load, the temps from time 10:00 to 15:00 minutes (from the start of the "furry cube") were averaged to get this;
-Max load temperature: quite simply the highest temp peak reached by the GPU.
-Time to -20 C: the time it took for the GPU to go cool down 20 C below the average load temp after the "furry cube" was stopped;
-5 minute temperature: this is a readout of how many degrees C the temp did go up in 5 minutes of "furry cube", relative to to the idle temp.

I tested 3 configurations:
A)V2 and no backside cooler;
B)V2 with HR11 backside cooler;
C)V2 with HR11 backside cooler with fins covered by a cardboard sleeve;

Picture of C configuration:

Why C you ask? Well I wanted to see if the benefits i was seeing in B compared to A where due to the increased mounting pressure or if drawing heat away from the backside of the VGA was really going to make a measurable difference in temperatures. Are those heatpipes and fins just for show or they really serve a purpouse?

Let the numbers speak, i say!

Time to -20C

A: 60 seconds;
B: 1:18;
C: 1:36;

Temp after 5 minutes of load:

A: +29 (60 C);
B: +26 (55 C);
C: +26 (55 C);

Kelainefes · #4 24-05-2008, 05:11

Conclusions

So, what does the bars and the numbers say?
The temps clearly state that this is a good product, -6.27 C average and - 7 C Max temps, that's 10% less than V2 only! And it is better than just a normal backplate with no heatpipes and fins, as we can see comparing B and C.
The temps after 5 mins test tells us that the heatpipes and the fins start to make a difference only over 50 C, so there is probably no point in purchasing this if you are liquidcooling your VGA, but other than that it looks like it's an excellent way to spend your money if you want to lower your temps, expecially if you have a passively cooled VGA.
It looks like the HR11 loses the time to -20 C test, but i think it's exactly the opposite: you gotta take into account that, the lower the GPU temp, the less the difference in temp with the air that's passing through the fins will be, and therefore it takes more time to lose 20 C if you are at 62C (A), than if you are at 55.7 (B); also, A is still at 42 C, while B is at 36, wich is almost idle temp.
All of this, plus the fact that the room temp went from 19.1 C during the A test up to 21.2 C in the B test, we clearly have an excellent product in the HR11.
It is compatible with a lot of cards from both the red and the green corner, coupled with either the stock cooler or Thermalright's V2 or HR03, but i'm pretty sure that it works with loads of other air coolers, you just need to buy a set of screws that will fit your configuration.
Although i was not able to test this, you can also use the HR11 to lower the temp of the air inside your case, installing it so the fins end up in front of the back exhaust fan so that the heat coming of the back of the card will be expelled without raising the air temp: CPU and NB will likely benefit from this.
It's also easy to fit a 80 mm fan on it, but no clips are provided; there is alot of space bewtween the fins, so attaching it will be a no brainer.

Summing it up:

Pros:

-lowered my load temps by 10%;
-the PCB is not bent anymore;
-allows for mounting the main cooler with proper pressure;
-increased my maximum stable overclock by 20 MHz (823->843);
-easy and quick installation, only a screwdriver required;
-can be mounted in 3 different ways to fit your system;
-lightweight, it won't by any means put a strain on your card;
-can lower the air temp inside the case;
-reasonably priced, i paid 23 euros for it;
-compatible with a lot of cards (full list here)
-it's good in the looks department too.

Cons:

-there is only one thermal pad included, if you ruin it you'll have to find a replacement or the cooler is worthless;
-no fan clips included (although you are not really supposed to install a fan on it and it is easy anyway);
-if you tighten too much you may damage your VGA permanently, the screws do not bottom out; little bit of common sense is required.

Note: the Cons are really marginal, since i don't see how you could damage the pad, installing a fan is not really a priority, and you really need to go medieval on the screws to damage the card.

I'd give it a 9 out of 10 score, since i don't give out 10's easily: it is an excellent product, and it would bring benefits to most people, but if you don't already have a "main" GPU cooler, you would be better off investing your money on one first, the HR11 can be purchased later, if you need further cooling.
In the end i'm really happy to own a HR11 since it does all i expected and even more.