Introduction

Graphics cards are becoming much more advanced lately, and all the extra power is creating loads of heat. This can be a big problem with the size, the noise, and the efficiency of the heatsink and fan. This is most noticeable on the latest Geforce FX series which takes up a PCI slot in addition to an AGP slot due to the heatsink's massive size. Thankfully third parties, such as Vantec, are producing alternative coolers for these oh-so-hot cards. Today we will be taking a look at the Vantec Iceberq 4 and Iceberq 4 Pro, and see if they have improved upon some of the problems the Iceberq series has had in the past.

The Iceberqs

Vantec has produced two versions of the Iceberq for different cards due to mounting differences. The Iceberq 4 is meant to be used on NVidia Geforce cards up to the GF4 cards and all the ATI Radeon cards. The Iceberq 4 Pro is meant to be mounted on the Geforce 4 Ti and FX series cards.

Each Iceberq 4 cooler comes with the heatsink / fan itself, 4 RAMsinks, thermal tape to apply the RAMsinks, a tube of thermal paste for the heatsink / fan, mounting clips and a 3 to 4 pin adapter.


One problem I immediately noticed was with the RAMsinks. Most graphics cards that these coolers are meant for have 8 memory chips located on the board, yet there are only 4 RAMsinks included in the package.

One thing that I find interesting is how Vantec put a lot of effort into making these coolers look good. With the stylish shape, the clear blue cover, and the blue LED to light it up, it looks better than most other VGA coolers. My question is, why did they do all this when no one will see it anyway? Even if you have a window in your case, you will only be able to see the side of the cooler. You can "Ooo" and Ahhh" at the thin copper fins.

Installation

We will be installing and testing the Iceberq 4 on a Geforce 3 Ti 200 and the Iceberq 4 Pro on a Geforce 4 Ti 4200. You may remember the previous Iceberq we reviewed and how it wouldn't mount on the Geforce 3 Ti 200. Let's see if Vantec has fixed this problem.


As you can see, the Iceberq 4 is not able to mount on the Ti 200. Once again, the heatsink is too large and extends over the RAM. Due to this incompatibility, we will not be able to test the Iceberq 4.


There aren't enough RAMsinks to cover all the chips. They are too big to cover each chip side by side and they are too small to fit one RAMsink over two chips.


The Iceberq 4 Pro Mounts great on the Ti 4200, but we still have problems with the RAMsinks. The four RAMsinks included with the Iceberq 4 Pro is only half of what we need. There are 8 RAM chips on this board (4 on the front, 4 on the back), like most others. Since the Iceberq 4 would not mount on the Ti 200, I took those RAMsinks and mounted all eight on the Ti 4200.


Another thing to note is the height of the Iceberq 4's. They are slimmer than most of the stock Geforce FX cards and do not take up a PCI slot. Although you are able to install a card next to the AGP slot, it will leave a very narrow path of air to actuall reach the fan.


Testing

To test the performance of the cooler, I will be reading idle and load temperatures from the Iceberq 4 Pro and the Thermaltake GF-VGA cooler. Idle conditions will be sitting in Windows XP, while load temps will be from running Battlefield 1942 for an hour on high settings. Since the Geforce 4 Ti 4200 doesn't have an onboard temperature sensor, I used some thermal tape and applied an external diode to the back of the PCB where the GPU is located. While this method isn't too accurate, it will give you a good idea of how the cooler compares to Thermaltake's.

PCMark02
(Show All Graphs) (Collapse Graphs)

Idle

Load

Iceberq 4 Pro

Thermaltake GF-VGA

45.6

46.8

0

Temperature ( °C )

100

 

 

Idle

Load

Iceberq 4 Pro

Thermaltake GF-VGA

48.6

50.9

0

Temperature ( °C )

100

 

 

The idle temperature with the Iceberq 4 Pro was at 45.6*C, which is a 1.2*C drop from the Thermaltake's 46.8*C. The Iceberq 4 Pro's load temperature was at 48.6*C, which is a 2.3*C drop from the Thermaltake's 50.9*C. The case temperature was around 35.2 *C during testing.

Conclusion

If the RAMsinks and cooler will fit your video card, then this kit is a must buy. Sadly, most cards will not benefit from the RAMsinks, and some cards will not work with the Iceberq 4. Aside from the incompatibilities, Vantec has created another winner with style and performance. The fan was much quieter than the Crystal Orb I am used to (on my Geforce 3 Ti 200). I hope Vantec fixes the RAMsink problem and includes 8 smaller RAMsinks rather than 4 large ones that hang over the RAM chips.

Pros

Good cooling performance
Stylish
Two models to support many cards
Does not take up a PCI slot
All in one graphics cooling package

Cons

Ramsinks are pointless unless your card has only 4 RAM chips
Iceberq 4 incompatible with some cards