We got a chance to try out GELID Solutions’ ICY VISION, a new contender in the heatsink market. This preview will show our first impressions and some preliminary test results.
We used the ICY VISION aftermarket GPU cooler on Nvidia’s GTX 480 and as all you know, GTX 480 is the hottest and loudest card on the market. So, if ICY VISION can cope with this graphics card, it will be ready to cool down any other single GPU graphics card.
ICY VISION uses a total of five 6mm heatpipes. Three of these heatpipes go to the left side from the copper base and two to the right side. Two individual fin arrays are used to help keep GPU cool.
Unfortunately the ICY VISION heatsink takes up three slots, as it measures (mm):216 L x 95 W x 52 H.
ICY VISION is equipped with two 9215 S-Shape UV blue fans. We don’t like the fact that these fans will run at full speed all the time (max. 26 dBA). The BIOS does not control the fan speeds, so the only way to control them is to use fan regulator. Working at about 2000 RPM ICY VISION fans are much quieter than GTX 480 reference fan when GPU is under load, but they are audible while in idle mode.
The most important thing is cooling performance, and that is where ICY VISION shines compared to reference GTX 480 cooler. With ICY VISION we measured 79°C on the GPU under full load during FurMarkt test, while with reference cooler the GPU temperature is about 13-14°C higher. The ICY VISION has a MSRP of USD 55 or Euro 46.
Compatibility: HD 4850/ HD 4870 / HD 4890 / HD 5850 / HD 5870 / 9800GT / 9800GTX / GTS250 / GTX260 / GTX275 / GTX280 / GTX285 / GTX465 / GTX470 & GTX480. Gelid is also preparing a new revision which will be compatible with Nvidia's new GTX460.
Stay tuned for more details.