Cold Cathode Card Cooler XT Review - Installation
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Let’s first get that bubble wrap off and see what the cooler looks like.
As you can see, the two clear fans are joined by a blue metal bracket. Those blue boxes are light controllers, and the instructions say you should fix them to your case with included Velcro. My package was missing the Velcro, but after a quick email to Card Cooler, they apologized and sent it to me the very next day. You can also see the two metal switches that fit into the slots in the back of your case, so you can save some power.
The top of each fan is branded with the Card Cooler’s penguin. The back has the logo of the fan distributors. The Card Cooler buys Logisys fans to use in this product, and they are certainly well built and designed for enthusiasts.
So let’s get to the installation. First of all, the card cooler is going to cover up a lot of the system, so I had to connect everything before installing it. I screwed in the slot switches, connected the power with two four-pin adapters, and fixed the two blue light controllers to the bottom of the case using sticky Velcro. With that stuff out of the way, I could install the Card Cooler itself.
Hmmm. It looks like my screwless case is a poor fit for the card cooler. The screwless design requires anything you plug into the PCI slots to curve towards the motherboard so the plastic piece can fit over it, as you can see. The Card Cooler can only be installed so that the bracket curves away from the motherboard (and stops the clip from closing). I thought about flipping fans around on the bracket, but that wouldn’t have helped. The Card Cooler is basically impossible to install in either of my recent systems, because they are both screwless.
I pulled up my trusty old Athlon XP in a standard screw case. It was a bit awkward holding the big fans in place with one hand while trying to screw the thing in, but it's not hard to do.
If you install and remove hardware a lot, this would add extra steps to moving expansion cards or CPU heatsinks. Depending on how frequently you move things around, it could be a little annoying. If you usually find a good setup for your system and leave it alone for quite a while, installation is not a bother.
And here’s an image of the switches on the back of the computer.
Okay. The Card Cooler is installed. I’m ready to test temperatures of the system.
Next: Card Cooler Performance >>
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