Thermalright's Shaman VGA Cooler: The Quiet Giant?
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Cooling
- VGA
- Thermalright
Last response: in Reviews comments
Thermalright's Shaman is the largest VGA cooler we've ever seen. Having recently reviewed three competing aftermarket graphics cooling solutions, we're eager to find out if size really matters when it comes to overclocking the ultra-hot GeForce GTX 480.
Thermalright's Shaman VGA Cooler: The Quiet Giant? : Read more
Thermalright's Shaman VGA Cooler: The Quiet Giant? : Read more
More about : thermalright shaman vga cooler quiet giant
Anonymous
December 28, 2010 3:26:54 AM
dstln
December 28, 2010 3:28:26 AM
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tomskent
December 28, 2010 3:50:50 AM
tomskent
December 28, 2010 3:58:07 AM
nebun
December 28, 2010 4:02:37 AM
duk3
December 28, 2010 4:18:44 AM
Tamz_msc
December 28, 2010 4:29:46 AM
mx2138
December 28, 2010 5:06:44 AM
fatkid35
December 28, 2010 5:25:28 AM
zodiacfml
December 28, 2010 6:04:31 AM
dEAne
December 28, 2010 8:18:47 AM
akula2
December 28, 2010 8:46:05 AM
Score
0
dmcfc
December 28, 2010 11:09:58 AM
akula2Prolimatech and Thermalright are the best CPU coolers in most of the solutions. Personally I use them and very much satisfied with their performance on my Workstations. But, if one is looking for a cost effective solution then Cooler Master Hyper212 plus is still the best bet. Choice if yours
the cm 212+ is a cpu cooler, this article is about a vga cooler, there is no way both of those can be compared...
Ok I just don't see the point of this other than trying to make the pc quieter, it takes a lot of space, my guess is that it's not possible to crossfire or sli any cards if both of the cards are using this cooler! If one of the cards is not using it the pc is going to be just as loud so there is no point of having it on not even in one of the cards! So this cooler is just for people that want a quieter pc with a single card with just one gpu (as they don't work with dual-gpu like the 5970..)
Score
1
Yuka
December 28, 2010 11:44:32 AM
bullit7
December 28, 2010 12:55:21 PM
The whole point of this test was to see how well the Shaman compared to the other products and you invalidated the test when you added the additional VRM cooler. What you SHOULD have done was to get the better thermal tape and tested it with the cooling parts in the box, not go and add an additional part that screwed the whole test. Yes, it's only the VRM, but it still counts because Thermalright put their own parts in the box for a reason. I call for a retest.
Score
4
geofelt
December 28, 2010 1:05:46 PM
The results are impressive for a cooler on a test bed. But... most of us will have the card and cooler installed in a case. Where does the hot vga air go? Right back into the case where it heats up both the air used to cool the graphics card AND the air used to cool the cpu. That is why A direct exhaust type cooler will be more effective. Let's see a test of these coolers installed in a case.
Score
1
Anonymous
December 28, 2010 1:13:30 PM
Disappointed that TH did this review with an additional component rather than the out-of-box cooler only. It is completely misleading no matter how much it is disclosed, that the added vrm cooler is not part of the product being reviewed. If the card were to fail due to the vrm chips cooking, that needs to be part of the review. Instead you are effectively covering a manufacturer deficiency by adding another product.
Score
5
jaquith
December 28, 2010 1:49:48 PM
rolli59
December 28, 2010 1:55:04 PM
bildo123
December 28, 2010 2:03:41 PM
dstlnIt looks like a good option for enthusiasts who want a quiet system. Besides that, I fail to see the point.
I find this as the biggest attraction to after market cooling; that is silence. Most of the stock HSF setups are very loud in gaming mode, at least that's how both my 4870 and 8800GT cards have been.
Score
1
killerclick
December 28, 2010 2:09:37 PM
redgarl
December 28, 2010 2:14:38 PM
redgarl
December 28, 2010 2:16:05 PM
killerclick
December 28, 2010 2:21:11 PM
akula2
December 28, 2010 2:25:47 PM
freggo
December 28, 2010 3:26:18 PM
Interesting how the Temperature bar graph starts a "0"; and still shows impressive improvements while you had to 'cheat' on the noice bar graph starting at "47" to make the improvement show up as a significant step when in reality it is relatively modest.
Do we really need little presentation 'tricks' like this or is it just me?
Do we really need little presentation 'tricks' like this or is it just me?
Score
1
bildo123
December 28, 2010 3:44:28 PM
killerclickDepends on what kind of games you play, not every game involves shooting and explosions every two seconds. Besides GPUs are also used for other things nowadays.
Exactly. Also, "silence" is quite loosely used here. I mean my 4870 sounded like an off brand hair dryer on low (IMO). Also I play games like L4D and Killing Floor where a faint noise here and there can make a difference. Also, I don't want to just turn up the volume to compensate because everything else becomes too loud.
Score
0
DT12
December 28, 2010 5:09:01 PM
lradunovic77
December 28, 2010 5:25:15 PM
cjmcgee
December 28, 2010 6:28:34 PM
killerclick
December 28, 2010 6:40:26 PM
freggoInteresting how the Temperature bar graph starts a "0"; and still shows impressive improvements while you had to 'cheat' on the noice bar graph starting at "47" to make the improvement show up as a significant step when in reality it is relatively modest.Do we really need little presentation 'tricks' like this or is it just me?
Actually it makes sense when sound is concerned. A normal conversation is 60 dB while a gunshot at close range is 140 dB. Would you say a gunshot is only 2.5 times louder than a normal conversation? See, even a few decibels difference is very noticable especially when relatively quiet sounds are measured.
Score
-1
cjmcgee
December 28, 2010 6:51:55 PM
killerclickActually it makes sense when sound is concerned. A normal conversation is 60 dB while a gunshot at close range is 140 dB. Would you say a gunshot is only 2.5 times louder than a normal conversation? See, even a few decibels difference is very noticable especially when relatively quiet sounds are measured.
I seems like that is an argument for a logarithmic graph; a linear graph with a non-zero origin does not really do a good approximation of that.
Score
1
Kileak
December 28, 2010 7:19:21 PM
veahDisappointed that TH did this review with an additional component rather than the out-of-box cooler only. It is completely misleading no matter how much it is disclosed, that the added vrm cooler is not part of the product being reviewed. If the card were to fail due to the vrm chips cooking, that needs to be part of the review. Instead you are effectively covering a manufacturer deficiency by adding another product.
What he said.
Score
0
stm1185
December 28, 2010 7:27:07 PM
Quote:
Real cooling -> Koolance!Koolance is the bottom of the barrel in most watercooling circles...not sure which one you are in. They make decent waterblocks, but the rest of their kits are trash.
How can Tom's take this product to review and do an actual 'review' when you had to piece it together with another cooling solution? In my mind, this is a failure...not being able to fully utilize the cooler you paid money for, but giving it 'good reviews' in conjunction with a separate cooler installed.
A very poor review...very unscientific and unrealistic. The fact that you needed to use a 2nd cooler alone is enough to recommend this product not to get installed. You are propping this card up even though it suffers a broken leg due to poor VRM cooling/failed install of cooler.
Test the soltuion as-is...even if there are failed components. Don't advertise the review for the single cooler when it was obvious that TWO were used and needed. FAIL.
Score
0
apache_lives
December 28, 2010 8:13:18 PM
BulkZerker
December 28, 2010 9:01:42 PM
youssef 2010
December 28, 2010 9:26:24 PM
insightdriver
December 28, 2010 9:26:38 PM
cjmcgeeI hate it whenever they use a non-zero origin for their graphs; it's confusing and always feels kind of dishonest to me.
I agree in almost all cases *EXCEPT* when it comes to deciibels. The ambient noise from the system we used with NO graphics cooler is the starting point, I probably should have stressed that in the article but I hope it makes more sense to you now.
Score
0
Darkerson
December 29, 2010 2:36:12 AM
bumrush
December 29, 2010 3:06:18 AM
Just picked this up a few weeks ago. For those who still don't see the point, please consider the following: using MSI Afterburner I OCed my Asus EAH5850, with 1.3v, to 1010MHz core clock, 1245MHz memory clock, and I now run at 60 degrees Celsius at 100% load for 1 hour with MSI Kombustor. Obviously, not every card can OC like this, but if you do your homework and get lucky with your silicon, the investment can be pretty exciting as long as you are content to never run SLI/CrossFireX (unless you have one of the very few motherboards that could conceivably support it with this cooler in place).
Score
0
dertechie
December 29, 2010 3:07:06 AM
It seems that at $85 (and especially $115 with the second VRM sink) that you're reaching the price of adding a GPU block to an already-established watercooling loop. How's this monster compare with that? Seems to me that the kind of people that buy $85 VGA coolers are the same kind of people who might just already have a water loop.
Score
0
liveonc
December 29, 2010 12:45:07 PM
cobra5000
December 29, 2010 1:56:11 PM
el_bastardo74
December 29, 2010 7:52:25 PM
cobra5000What the? A full page ad pops up EVERY time you turn a page, even for members!? This had better not be the way Tom's is heading..
+1...i find it very aggravating as well. like every page being full of ads wasn't enough. this is the reason i don't come here every weekday to see news updates.
Score
0
latbonchimsi
December 29, 2010 11:31:44 PM
pinkfloydminnesota
December 31, 2010 8:26:39 AM
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