The price for this cooler was $30. That is the second highest price out of all the hard drive coolers that I have reviewed. A little high, but as always you get what you pay for. What do I mean? This hard drive cooler is the only one that I have reviewed that comes with a heatsink. That will definitely help it cool your hard drive better. A heatsink is one thing that can’t malfunction or not effectively cool. 3dfxcool definitely knew what they were doing when they decided to include a heatsink on this hard drive cooler.

Besides that it comes with 2 20mm thick fans. That provide us with some serious horse-power to cool your entire hard drive effectively. After getting all that for $30 some people would call it a “bargain.” Now I get to talk about how this cooler performed, which is what really matters. By using a heatsink to take the heat off the top of the drive and 2 fans to blow the hard drive’s hot air out of the case, it has put it self in a good position. This cooler cools the whole hard drive effectively. The first that I have come across that can lay claim to that. Reducing the entire temperature of the whole hard drive, that is. With no cooling at all the hard drive was hot to the touch after I ran several benchmarks on it for 30 minutes. When I installed the 3dfx hddHO cooler it was almost “cool” if you will, to the touch. When I say this I am talking about the whole hard drive, top, bottom, and sides. That is definitely a solid reduction in temperature, but as always no actual measurements will be released until the HDD Cooler Roundup.

Now onto the ratings for this hard drive cooler. For Price its getting an 8.5 because while $30 is a lot to pay for a hard drive cooler, it is definitely worth your money. For Performance its getting a 9.7 because this thing was a great hdd cooler but as always, could have been better. I don’t honestly think I’ll ever give a 10 out to a Hard Drive Cooler. It would probably have to be a Peltier hdd cooler, and those things cost a fortune anyway. Overall I’m dishing this cooler an 9. It would have earned a higher score in price and overall if it had been easier to install or included instructions. It would have been the first hdd cooler to earn above a 9 on the final rating. All I ask 3dfxcool to do is either include instructions or a small note saying that instructions are on the web page. I know that when you order this cooler you will see that, but you could always forget. Especially if you were excited to turn off the computer and install the cooler. If you have a 7200rpm drive or above then the 3dfx hddHO cooler is for you. For a 5400 it might be overkill, but then again, you can never have too much cooling. Anyone out there with an un-cooled SCSI hard drive, head on over to 3dfxcool and pick one of these puppies up.

by Kevin Perko

Price - 8.5 Performance - 9.7 Overall - 9.0

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