CoolIT 4870 VGA Liquid Cooler

Product: CoolIT Systems 4870 VGA LC
Provided By: CoolIT Systems
Price: MSRP $129.99

Introduction:

CoolIT is a local company that has a special place in many hearts as they offer great products and excellent support.  One of their latest big-name products is of course the CoolIT Domino A.L.C.  This cooler only chills your CPU, but what if the hottest part of your system is your toasty graphics card?  CoolIT has a solution for Radeon HD 4870s as well and today we are looking at the 4870 VGA LC kit that features a complete water-cooling kit for a single 4870.

While some people state that this is pretty much overkill for a single card, it really depends on what you want to do with your card and how much you hate noise.  I've measured the sound pressure level over 60dB with stock cooling on Radeon HD 4870 cards, and the CoolIT 4870 VGA LC is almost dead-silent in comparison.  It cools much better than stock cooling, is super quiet but it is bulky.  Keep on reading for more details as we continue.

First Look:

While we were visiting with Geoff and others at CoolIT Systems back in March we managed to snag a "white-box" version of this setup and have had it around the shop here for about a month.  The only major issue I had was finding a reference card that would work with the water-block.  Once that was accomplished, I happily took it out of the box and proceeded to enjoy the benefits of this cooler.

In The Box

Bundle

Geoff told us when we picked up this cooler, that it is based heavily on the PURE cooler which was one of their first low-cost kits.  The design appears to be quite sound and it definitely has enough cooling prowess for a single graphics card.

Fan Side

Specs & Features:

• Dimensions:  259 x 186 x 121mm (as shipped)
• Weight :  1.27kg (2.8lb)

CoolIT 120mm Radiator

• Description 120mm Class Liquid Cooling Radiator
• Construction/materials: Louvered aluminum fins, tubes and body
• Performance/Design:  Optimized for high performance at low fan speed for low noise operations.
• Fittings style:   CoolIT 6mm FEP barb system compatible fittings.
• Dimensions  156 mm tall x 116 mm wide x 29 mm thick

CoolIT Coolant Pump

• Motor:   Electronically commutated, brushless DC.
• Nominal Voltage:  12 VDC
• Nominal current:  0.75A
• MTBF  50,000 Hours
• Maximum Head:  200 cm H2O.
• Maximum Flow Rate:   4.0 L/minute
• Maximum Temp.: 55 Celsius
• Fittings Style:   CoolIT 6mm FEP barb system fittings.
• Dimensions: 76mm x 71mm x 57mm
• Weight:  206g

Fan (full settings shown below)

• Features 120mm x 25 mm class fan, with RPM sensor.
• Construction:  Low noise ball bearing.
• Current: 0.23A
• Speed:   500 - 1,500 RPM (low to high regulation)
• Static Pressure:  2.00 mmH20
• Volume:  56.7 CFM (max)
• Audible Noise  21 dBA

Tubing

• Description/Features:   Norprene A-60-G Tubing, 1/4" ID, 7/16" OD
• Water Vapor Transmission   =1.1 g*mils/100sqin/day @ 25oC (77Fo)

Coolant

• Description/Features:   Low toxicity Propylene Glycol/Water mixture with anticorrosion/antifungal additives.

Temperature Control Module

• Description Microcontroller based temperature sensor and fan regulator.  Provides power to other components.  User configurable slide switch for performance vs. noise tradeoff.
• Power Connector   Molex 15-24-4041, 4-pin ATX drive power

Thermal Interface Material

• GPU Thermal Grease   Arctic Silver Ceramique
• Colplate Gap Pad  Bergquist VOUS, Laird T-pli 225

Features:

4870 VGA Liquid Cooler
Extremely Quiet VGA Cooling.

What do you get when you take the base of a PURE CPU Cooler and replace the CPU block with a HD4870 Waterblock?  An effective quiet way to provide superior cooling for your Radeon HD4870 Graphics Card.

The 4870 VGA LC is a CoolIT Systems Inc. patented product that removes heat from individual components and transfers the heat outside the computer case.It combines facets of air-cooling and liquid cooling through purpose-designed internally installed components. It can aggressively remove heat from a computer quietly, efficiently, and reliably. This system is highly effective and is easy to install.

To provide concentrated cooling of a small surface area, 4870 VGA Liquid Cooler uses environmentally friendly liquid coolant as the primary dissipating medium, which absorbs heat much more efficiently than air.

In addition to keeping the GPU cool, the 4870 VGA Liquid Cooler actually provides cooling for other vital components while improving system level acoustics. By removing heat from the source and transferring it outside of the chassis, internal PC temperatures are held low. This removes the need for multiple case fans, which eliminates unwanted noise and improves the reliability of other peripheral hardware such as the hard drive.

The 4870 VGA Liquid Cooler includes: a Radiator / Pump Module, and a GPU Fluid Heat Exchanger (FHE) for the HD4870 Graphics Card. This universal sealed closed-loop maintenance free system is pre-plumbed and charged for simple bolt-in installation.

With that in mind, we'll jump over to the next page and take a closer look at the 4870 VGA LC.