Tweakmonster Rev. 4 "Standard" RAMsinks
& Thermaltake Crystal Orb

Companies: Tweakmonster / HeatsinkFactory
Products: Rev. 4 "Standard" RAMsinks / Thermaltake Crystal Orb
Street Price: 8 RAMsinks for ~$26 / Crystal Orb ~$13.99
Date Reviewed: May 6, 2002
Reviewed By: Vinny

First Impressions:

Once again we are proud to be reviewing the newest creation from the Tweakmonster, this time it is the Rev. 4 "Standard" RAMsinks. I got these in the other day and was more than eager to put them to the test. These RAMsinks are very well made and look great. Of course if I am going to replace the stock RAM cooling you know the wimpy ASUS GPU cooler had to be ditched in favor of something a little more powerful. The guys over at Heatsink Factory sent us Thermaltake's newest video cooler, the Crystal Orb, to go along with the RAMsinks, and can't forget the Arctic Alumina Adhesive. Here's a quick pic and the specs for these items:

Revision 4 "Standard" RAMsinks:

• These RAMsinks are manufactured from a solid block of copper alloy and then plated with an almost blinding chrome finish.
• The mounting surface is machined to a mirror-like finish, and is flat to within .0002 of an inch.
• The RAMsinks are not oversized and fit perfectly on top of the RAM used on GeForce 3 and earlier cards
• The RAMsinks have a hard, chrome-like finish which stops oxidation, and also enhances their beauty and durability.

Thermaltake Crystal Orb:

• Dimensions: 54mm Dia. x 25mm Tall
• Rated Voltage: 12V
• Rated Current: .16a
• Airflow: 12.4CFM
• Fan Speed: 5500RPM
• Noise Level: 26.4DBM
• Base Material: Copper Base w/ Nickel Plating
• Bearing Type: Ball Bearing
• MTBF: 50,000 Hours

Installation:

This is the third set of RAMsinks from Tweakmonster that we have had the chance to review. The previous two revisions were very high quality and performed as well as they looked. These RAMsinks use a new design that gives them 20% more surface area than the previous revisions. More surface area means better heat dissipation which means (hopefully) better overclocking! They are also plated to prevent oxidization and keep them looking nice and shiny.

The Thermaltake Crystal Orb is also an upgrade to the Blue Orb that we have reviewed in the past. It is very well constructed and weighs more than you would expect. This cooler is 100% nickel-plated copper and is also nice and shiny to go along with the RAMsinks.

Everyone knows about Arctic Alumina Adhesive. The biggest advantage over the Arctic Silver Adhesive is that AA is completely non conductive, meaning you don't have to worry if you get a little excess on the pins of your RAM chips.

I am using these items to replace the stock cooling on my ASUS V8200T5 (GeForce 3 Ti500) which I have been suspicious about since I purchased the card.

Removal of the Stock Cooling:

As you can see the stock ASUS cooling is being held on by a number of push pins. It took me a few minutes with a pair of needle nosed pliers to get the stock cooling completely removed. I should have taken a picture before I took the thermal goop off the GPU but needless to say it took one swipe with a rag to take all of it off.

<Soapbox> Now I know that this is not a review of the ASUS V8200T5 but it really bothered me when I removed the stock cooling and there was NO thermal interface tape/grease on the RAM, and a miniscule amount on the GPU. I spent a small fortune on this card and I would expect that they would at least make an attempt to put some thermal grease on there.</Soapbox>

The removal may not be so effortless with other video cards so I would still recommend using caution any time you remove the stock cooling off your video card. The second you start stripping the stock cooling off any warranty you may have had is now completely void. Fortunately we like voiding warranties at Extreme Overclocking so it wont keep me up at night.

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