Gigabyte 3D Rocket Pro Cooler

Introduction

Since fitting an XP3200 to my machine, I’ve suffered cooling problems. At full load the CPU would peak at 65C with case temp hovering around 42C - which is obviously unacceptable.

After searching for an alternative, I found the Gigabyte 3D Rocket Pro Cooler in an attempt to solve my cooling problems. This particular cooler also comes with a fan speed module, allowing you to change the RPM of the fan. The cooler even comes fitted with 4 Blue LEDs which light up when in use, making this particularly attractive to case modders.


I was previously using a Thermalright SLK-800 cooler, Pabst medium-flow 80mm fan and Arctic Silver 5. If I left the side of the case off, temperatures were 62C and 40C respectively. A little better but still not good, as I wanted to fit the case side anyway.

Specifications

• Lian Li PC-61 Black aluminium Case
• Gigabyte GA700N Pro 2 Motherboard
• 2 x 512Mb Crucial PC3200, dual memory mode
• 2 x Western Digital 35Gb Raptor drives in RAID 0
• 2 x Western Digital 80Gb 8Mb cache IDE drives
• Liteon CDRW
• Samsung DVDROM
• Sony Black floppy drive
• ATI 9800 Pro 128Mb Video card
• Antec Truepower 430W PSU

The Lian Li's original fans have been replaced with 2 x 80mm Vantec Stealth fans to the front (blowing inwards) and 2 x 80mm Pabst medium-flow fans at the rear and roof of the case, exhausting.

Two Vantec Stealths blow air directly over 2 x Western Digital Raptors mounted on their sides and so contribute little to case cooling. The two Pabst fans seem to do a good job with an acceptable noise level.

Features

First, out of curiosity, I tried the stock AMD cooler that came with the XP3200 (aluminium fins and 60mm fan). I was surprised, it gave me exactly the same temperatures as the SLK-800.

It is worth pointing out that the Gigabyte motherboard does not have four mounting holes around the CPU socket, so a bolt through cooler was not an option, I was restricted to clip on devices.

Next up, I tried using 3 x 80mm Vantec Tornado fans, two at the front of the case and one on the Thermalright SLK-800 for the CPU.

That worked quite well, with case side on, CPU temp was 58C at full load and case temp was 36C. But the noise! It sounded like a power station turbine on full tilt! I managed to stand that for half an hour, then took out the Vantec Tornados and put things back as they were.

I spotted the Gigabyte 3D Rocket Pro Cooler whilst browsing different Supplier’s cooling solutions. It looked interesting, cost £30.00, which seemed reasonable, so I thought I’d give it a go.

Included Items

When it arrived, I was amazed at how huge it was, it resembled a motor cycle engine cylinder and seemed massive. But I noted it was actually quite light. It also looked quite unlike any other cooler I’ve ever seen.