Introduction

I would like to thank Thermaltake for supplying me with the unit for review.

From the manufacturer Thermaltake:

Application for video card with mounting holes on the PCB only
Dual heatpipe moves the heat more efficiently
Much better heat dissipation is delivered by larger heatsink surface
Ventilation channel and blower fan improve the cooling performance
Fan speed switch control the fan at different speed and noise level
Universal clip for both nVIDIA and ATI
Eight Copper Ramsinks included, can be applied on any chipset

Specification

<table class="resulttable" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3">
<tr>
<th>Heatsink:</th>
<td colspan="3">Aluminum</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Fan Type:</th>
<th colspan="2">ReverFlow Fan</th>
<th>Blower</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Fan Dimension:</th>
<td colspan="2">60x60x10 mm</td>
<td>40x40x40 mm</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Rated Voltage:</th>
<td colspan="2">12V</td>
<td> 12V</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Startup Voltage:</th>
<td colspan="2">7V</td>
<td>7V</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Rated Current:</th>
<td colspan="2">0.35 A</td>
<td>0.35 A</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Power Input:</th>
<td colspan="2">4.20 W</td>
<td>4.20 W</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Speed Settings:</th>
<td colspan="2">High, Medium, Low</td>
<td>On, Off</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Fan Speed:</th>
<td>High: <br>
Medium: <br>
Low: </td>
<td>5300 RPM<br>
4200 RPM<br>
3000 RPM</td>
<td>9000 RPM</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Max. Air Flow:</th>
<td colspan="2">22.3 CFM<br>
</td>
<td>3.53 CFM</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Max. Air Pressure:</th>
<td colspan="2">3.68 mmH2O</td>
<td>6.56 mmH2O</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Noise:</th>
<td> High: <br>
Medium: <br>
Low: </td>
<td>38 dBA<br>
30 dBA<br>
21 dBA</td>
<td>41.6 dBA</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Bearing Type:</th>
<td colspan="2">1 Ball, 1 Sleeve </td>
<td>Sleeve</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Life Expectation:</th>
<td colspan="2">40,000 hrs</td>
<td>30,000 hrs</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Power Connector:</th>
<td colspan="2">4 Pin</td>
<td>3 Pin</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Heatpipe:</th>
<td colspan="3">Nickel-plated copper tube</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Ramsink:</th>
<td colspan="3">Copper, 20x9x6 mm</td>
</tr>
</table>

Packaging

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/T...age1_small.jpg http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/T...age2_small.jpg

Box contents:

Front Heatsink
Back Heatsink
Two Heatpipes
PCI Slot Cover with two switches
Eight Copper Ramsinks
Front Heatsink Fan
Blower Fan
Thermal Grease
Front and Back Heatsink Base with clipsets to hold them in place.
Screw Packages A, B and C.
Booklet with Installation Instructions

As you can see in the next two images, the surface of the cooler that makes contact with the core is convex towards the outside. This makes sense since GPU chips which are packaged in plastic (GeForce 2/3/4) are concave towards the center- as we will see later it does not affect contact with ATI's chips where the heatsink is mounted directly on the unpackaged core.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/T...ess1_small.jpg http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/T...ess2_small.jpg

Installation

Installation of the Giant III is relatively complex because there are many parts. The instructions are very precise - split into three chapters keeping confusion at a minimum. The installation process takes about one hour if you do it the first time.

Here is a quick summary of it:

Remove the stock cooler and clean GPU.
Put thermal paste on GPU.
Put front heatsink base on GPU.
Put clipset on front heatsink base and fix it.
I found this step a bit difficult to perform since the front heatsink easily moves around while tightening the screws. It helped a bit to just hold the screw with the screwdriver and tighten the backside screw with the other hand.
Put rear heatsink base on video card backside.
Put clipset on rear heatsink base and fix it.
While screwing down the fixing screws I heard a strange 'pop' sound. After looking I found out that the screws go through the rear heatsink base, and push the protective adhesive tape on it away from the heatsink which makes a sound. This is perfectly fine and does not create any problems.
Apply thermal grease where the heatpipes will contact the front heatsink base.
Install front heatsink.
Apply thermal grease where the heatpipes will contact the back heatsink base.
Install back heatsink.
Install fan on front heatsink.
Install blower fan.
Connect fans to speed switch.

Performance

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/T...act2_small.jpg

After mounting the clip that fixes the front side heatsink base the heatsink was removed and the contact area was inspected. As you can see the contact area is excellent, a lot of thermal paste has been squished out. I originally believed that it would require a large amount of thermal paste in order to make proper contact with the core due to the shape of the heatsink base. After the first mounting I came to find that such amounts of thermal paste are not necessary. Good job Thermaltake.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/T...act1_small.jpg

I also tried to overtighten the mounting screws to find out if something bad could happen. The above picture shows the mounting screws screwed in as far as the drilled holes allowed. The only thing that bends is the mounting clip, which is fine in my opinion, much better than a bent (which usually means dead) video card.

For the overclocking tests I used my ATITool overclocking utility version 0.0.19. ATITool has the unique ability to detect artifacts, or flaws, in a rendered image. As defined by ATITool, the maximum stable overclock on a card is the speed at which it is able to consistently (15 minutes in this test) produce no errors, or artifacts. ATITool detects ANY artifacts, even ones which will not be visible in game. Using the human eye to detect artifacts introduces subjectivity into the test, so despite the fact that an ATITool tested overclock will be characteristically lower than a human one, I will use this.

Temperature was measured with one case side open by putting a thermal probe on the backside of the Radeon 9800 Pro opposite to where the GPU is. Idle temperature was measured after letting Windows sit one hour at the desktop. Load temperature was measured after running 3DMark2001 looped for one hour. Both at the card's default clock of 380 / 340 Mhz.

Arctic Silver 5 was used as thermal interface material for the GPU core in all installations. I used Arctic Silver 3 for all other contact surfaces of the Giant III.

<table class="resulttable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3">
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row"></th>
<td>Maximum <br />
Core Clock </td>
<td>Sound level </td>
<td>Temperature <br />
Idle </td>
<td>Temperature <br />
Load </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Stock cooler </th>
<td>416 Mhz</td>
<td>Acceptable</td>
<td>45°C</td>
<td>55°C</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Giant III Low</th>
<td>427 Mhz</td>
<td>Acceptable</td>
<td>42°C</td>
<td>56°C</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Giant III Medium</th>
<td>428 Mhz</td>
<td>Noisy</td>
<td>41°C</td>
<td>52°C</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Giant III High</th>
<td>429 Mhz</td>
<td>Loud</td>
<td>40°C</td>
<td>48°C</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Giant III Low + Blower </th>
<td>430 Mhz</td>
<td>Very Loud</td>
<td>36°C</td>
<td>42°C</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Giant III Medium + Blower </th>
<td>432 Mhz </td>
<td>Very Loud</td>
<td>34°C</td>
<td>41°C</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Giant III High + Blower </th>
<td>435 Mhz </td>
<td>Very Loud</td>
<td>33°C</td>
<td>40°C</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Watercooling (Water ~33°C) </th>
<td>435 Mhz</td>
<td>Inaudible</td>
<td>35°C</td>
<td>37°C</td>
</tr>
</table>

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/T...ges/graph1.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/T...ges/graph2.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/T...ges/graph3.gif

The first thing I noticed after installation is that the Giant III is not the product for the 'silent' overclocker. Even at the 'low' setting with the blower switched off I find it is too loud. The other main fan speed settings do not really make much of a difference in performance - it just gets louder.

The extra-switchable blower has an annoying high-pitched whining sound coming with it, but when switched on it really gives you much better overclocking results. Running at maximum, the Giant III gives the same maximum overclock as a watercooling solution. I would even say it is a good thermal solution with some voltmodding.

Value and Conclusion

<table class="resulttable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3">
<tr>
<td</td>
<th>Rating</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Aesthetics</th>
<td>7.0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>I don't like the overall look of the Giant III. The blower fan looks somewhat out of place. </td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Ease of use</th>
<td>8.0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Complex installation but good instructions. Impossible to break your card. </td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Performance</th>
<td>8.5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Outstanding performance but not quiet. Eight Ramsinks included. <br>
Blower fan is useless for day to day usage because it is too loud.</td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Quality</th>
<td>8.5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Everything looks well built, no sharp edges, nice sleeved cabling.<br>
Spare parts. </td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Value</th>
<td>8.0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>With a price tag of about {$price} I think it's too expensive. <br>
Especially if you consider the available alternatives. </td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">The Bottom Line</th>
<td><strong>8.0</strong></td>
</tr>
</table>