Item Packaging

When I opened the magical brown box I found myself checking out the Iceberq package for a couple of minutes. The box shows the features, what is included inside, specifications, and even a crude installation guide. When I finally forced myself to stop looking at the package and open it I found the fan, heatsinks, thermal tape, 3-4 pin adapter, and thermal grease all waiting for me.


HSF Installation

First lets install the HSF (heatsink/fan) on the graphics card. A word of warning, if you have a Geforce4 or Geforce3 then this product is not for you. I own both of these cards and the HSF did not fit. The Geforce4 requires a larger HSF and the Geforce3 requires a smaller HSF. The 3rd time was a charm however, when I tried on my 3rd and last card, a Nvidia TNT2. Now for some details about how I finally installed the HSF on the TNT2...

Before you start, you should have the following (or an equivalent) next to you:
Small screwdriver
Tweezers
Razor blade
Soft tissue

Now that you have all the necessary tools, take your graphics card out of your case and take it to your preferred workspace. If you don't know how to remove a graphics card, it is very simple. All you have to do is open up the case, disconnect your monitor, and unscrew the card from its PCI slot. If it has a HSF on it already, you will need to follow the wire coming from it, and unplug it where it is connected (probably on the motherboard somewhere). During and after removal of the card be very careful not to transfer static electricity to your card, as this may cause damage. In other words, don't carry it while dragging your feet on the carpet unless you are looking for an excuse to upgrade...

If your graphics card doesn't already have a HSF you can skip this paragraph. If your card does have a HSF, read on. Removing an existing HSF is very simple. The first thing you will need to do is use the tweezers to squeeze each of the pins holding the HSF on back through the holes on the backside of the card. Once the pins are loose all you have to do is twist and pull off the HSF. The next step is cleanup and this is where the razor blade and tissue come in. After you take off the HSF you should see a white pastey substance left behind, this is thermal paste. To clean it off you need to use the razor blade and scrape it off. The best way to do this is to place the razor blade on the edge of the chipset angled slightly towards you and pull it in your direction while applying a small amount of force. Wipe off the blade and repeat. Once the chipset is mainly black and you can see very little thermal paste left, it is clean. On to the next step!

This next step is where the included syringe of thermal paste comes in. You will need to put some thermal paste on the card's chipset and spread it around a little with the tip of the syringe. Do not put too much paste, anything more than about 4 dots of it will just overflow when you put on the HSF. Once you have got the thermal paste on the chipset, grab the Iceberq HSF and the little white clips that are in the small ziploc bag. Now all you have to do is align the holes in the HSF with the holes in the graphics card on either seid of the chipset and push the pins through to secure it in place. With that done, put the graphics card back in the case, screw it in, and plug in the fan with the provided connectors.


Hunger Setting In?

If you don't know what you are doing and this is taking longer than you think it should, take this oppurtunity to go make a sandwich and get a drink. Just kidding, there is no time for sandwiches, not on my clock!

Heatsink Installation

You may be a little confused right now as I was, these heatsinks are not for the video card's ram, they are for the motherboard chipsets. If you look on your motherboard there is probably already a heatsink near your processor sitting on top of a chipset, at least this was the case for me. You may replace this heatsink with one of the ones provided but I chose not to because I didn't want to remove my whole metherboard to unclip the heatsink from the back. The other chipset is the ATA chipset (should be marked ATA 133), this probably does not already have a heatsink on it. To install the heatsink on the chipset, all you have to do is put some thermal paste on the chipset, then apply the thermal tape to the flat side of the heatsink, and then push it onto the chipset so that it gets nice solid contact. If you did not have a heatsink on your other chipset already, just do the same thing to it as you did the ATA chipset, the only difference is that you will use a larger heatsink.


Performance

Below you will see a graph detailing performance specs on the HSF. It only shows the graphics card with and without the HSF while both idle and with load. Tests reflect card temperature while @ 1024x768 standard resolution. "Load" for this test was the temperature after 15 minutes of counter-strike. Without the HSF on the card the results were 31.8°Celsius @ IDLE and 33.2°Celsius @ LOAD. With the HSF the temperatures were 26.7°Celsius @ IDLE and 29.1°Celsius @ LOAD.

ATA133 Chipset

With Heatsink

Without Heatsink

33.2

35.2

0

Temperature ( °C )

56

 

 

The cooling this kit provided is obviously doing its job since the card is cooler at load with the HSF than it is at idle without the HSF. The 2°Celsius drop on the ATA133 chipset is also notable.

Conclusion

Overall this is a good cooling solution. The only problems I had with this product is that it seemed almost misleading that it wasn't clearly specified anywhere exactly which video cards this kit would work on. I would have been very disappointed had I ordered this kit for my GF4 TI4200 and then found out it doesnt fit correctly. For that reason I had to take a couple of points off. However, if this kit is right for you, it should help improve the performance if you plan to overclock, and it should definitely lengthen the life of your video card and chipsets.

Pros

Quiet HSF with good airflow
Looks nice
Everything you need to install included in kit
Lengthens life of components

Cons

Will not fit with many configurations
Pins could have been designed better
No mention of compatibility issues