Techangel.co.uk would first like to thank Sarfaraz Rydhan from Case-mod.com for sending the products for review. Be sure to check out his site as they have a good variety of computer modification items for sale there.

Thermaltake is a company known for their great cooling solutions. Whether it is their Hardcano series, Volcano series, or Orb series, they have proved worthy in both design and performance. More and more computer users are switching to be enthusiasts and we have two products from Thermaltake that will give them a start to choosing which components they might want to get for their computer.

Thermaltake has been coming up with unique products recently that not only perform their tasks, but are great looking as well. Today, I am going to review two of Thermaltake's products hands-on. The first is the controversial Active Memory Cooling Kit, and the other, their renowned Crystal Orb. The Thermaltake Active Memory Cooling Kit seems to be the most controversial item that Thermaltake has in their product line.

Package:
• Orange Heat Spreader with a Fan Attached Above
• a Blue Heat Spreader to sandwich the Orange Spreader
• a 3-pin to Molex Adapter
• 2 Metal Clips
• 2 Strips of Thermal Tape

Fan Specs:
• Fan Dimension: 40x40x20 m
• Rated Voltage: 12V
• Started Voltage: 7V
• Rated Current: 0.11A
• Power Input: 1.32W
• FAN Speed: 5000±10%
• Air Pressure: 1.50mm- H2O
• Max. Air Flow: 5.1CFM
• Noise: 23dBa
• Bearing Type: Sleeve bearing
• Lift Time: 30,000 Hours
• Connector: 3 Pin or 4 pin (with molex connector)

First of all, the kit includes a 3pin to 4pin "Y-shaped" adapter, two metal clips to hold the heat spreader onto the ram, and 2 strips of thermal tape as well. First, apply the thermal tape to sides of the ram (1 for single-sided, 2 for double-sided) if you want, or you can skip that and just use the heat spreader. The heat spreader is "sandwiched" between the ram to dissipate the heat from ram. The fan above the heat spreader is another option that you can do without and it does not need to run for the RAM to operate normally.

The blue coloured heatspreader	The orange spreader, complete with fan
The fan's details	The RAM cooler mounted on a DIMM

Testing this on Nanya PC2100 Non-ECC Cas2.5 512MB DDR Ram proved regular results. Because Nanya produces good results from stock, this was not necessarily a bad thing. They can be boosted to Cas2.0 without hassle but Nanya chips are known to over clock badly. So did the active memory cooling kit help? It did in a way, but ever so slightly. Any notion of getting the set of Nanya chips to over clock was not a good idea. With the cooling kit, it proved the same problems. The chips are not bottlenecked by heat because ram chips don’t produce a lot of heat at all.

Here’s an experiment you can conduct yourself.

You need a DDR Ram, and a SD Ram on two computers or one that can use both types of ram (not simultaneously). Run the DDR Ram for 5 loops of 3dmark 2001SE. Using a thermometer, calculate the heat after the 5 loops. Do the same for the SD Ram.

Done? Did you notice that the SD Ram was even hotter? Did you realize that both ram wasn’t even burning hot? Why then, can’t you overclock the ram until they melt? Why aren’t there watercooling kits for ram?
in actual fact this has been done, but it's not something your gonna find readily available

Those are things to ponder for many novice and experienced enthusiasts out there. There are other reviews on this kit but I don’t understand how they test their temperature scores when the heat spreader is sandwiched. I could not find a rational way to test out the kit to provide the numbers, so conduct your own experiments. Grab one from case-mod.com because it’s inexpensive and you can try it out yourself.

Using Nanya chips, I was unable to over clock my ram any better than without the cooler. Nanya was the perfect testbed because it is notorious for being a great Cas2.5 to 2.0 ram, but is a weak over clocker. This proves my point that the Thermaltake memory kit may not be the solution for performance. It’s an accurate assessment and we are, unlike other review sites, able to give our honest opinions on these products.

Don’t be upset if you came for the numbers though, especially those who just bought it. Go on, read the conclusion!

In conclusion, the cooling kit really looks nice for anyone with a window in their case. The blue and orange colours would showcase your unique ram with a fan on it. However, it is not practical, and it will use a little of your precious wattage. It's probably not for the serious overclockers, but for the casual modder, this is a good and cheap product. The quality is not compromised in any way, and it will lower your temperatures a little. The price is great, so if you want to check it out, go to case-mod.com and take a look. Nobody said getting a window on your case would improve performance, I think this is what Thermaltake is trying to target here. Again, I warn that this will not improve ram performance, but will complement a nice looking mod in your rig.

PROS:
Very simple installation
Exceptionally innovative design
Excellent quality of the construction and finish

CONS:
Not practical at all.
The thermal tape is very sticky, resulting in a permanent mod.
No performance increase.

Related:
Case-mod homepage.
ThermalTake homepage.