Thermalright HR-03 Plus

Frederik S · Sep 23, 2007

The Thermalright HR-03 Plus performance VGA card cooler has been on the market for a while now, but is it still the king of the VGA coolers if you believe some people. In this review we put it up against the newest offering from Zalman and see which is the best cooler for your GeForce 8800 Series card at the moment.

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Weer · Oct 6, 2007

Yeh, it's really something, isn't it?

mab1376 · Oct 7, 2007

can you upload the pic with the 120mm fan mounted?

cdawall · Oct 7, 2007

good little cooler wonder if i could rig one to fit my 7800GS?

Weer · Oct 7, 2007

cdawall said:
good little cooler wonder if i could rig one to fit my 7800GS?

No, the HR-03 PLUS is only for the 8800 series.
The regular HR-03 is for cards like the one you have.

Judas · Oct 7, 2007

Got one of these, its a great cooler

Morgoth · Oct 7, 2007

cant wait til i have that on my x1950pro

WarEagleAU · Oct 7, 2007

Will it work on ATI Cards?

I love the construction, the detail and craftsmanship. But Im a little bit disappointed with no fan being included, especially at the price point, which isnt too high, but high enough to warrant a fan.

Tatty_Two · Oct 7, 2007

WarEagleAU said:
Will it work on ATI Cards?

I love the construction, the detail and craftsmanship. But Im a little bit disappointed with no fan being included, especially at the price point, which isnt too high, but high enough to warrant a fan.

There are 2 similar models available for ATi cards, one for the 2600 series (and some older models, check the compatibility list, that one is here:

http://www.thermalright.com/default.htm

And one specifically for the 2900XT/Pro which is here:

http://www.thermalright.com/default.htm

Tatty_Two · Oct 7, 2007

Links dont really work there, both take you to the same place, so the Rev A is for the 2600XT and some others, the R600 one is for the 2900's....sorry bout that.

mab1376 · Oct 7, 2007

definitely gonna pick one up to see if i can push my 8800gts further.

Tatty_Two · Oct 7, 2007

mab1376 said:
definitely gonna pick one up to see if i can push my 8800gts further.

Why...... are temps an issue with yours? I have mine voltmodded on stock cooling and I have no heat issues, with the 8800GTS it is not so much the heat holding them back....rather the voltage....the VGPU is set at only 1.3V.

cdawall · Oct 7, 2007

Weer said:
No, the HR-03 PLUS is only for the 8800 series.
The regular HR-03 is for cards like the one you have.

nothing fits the 7800GS it has an oddball mounting pattern so the plus is just as likely as the standard to fit

Mediocre · Oct 9, 2007

FYI, the R600 version is a WONDERFUL cooler, it dropped my temps 10C from stock...
BUT, with the other assembly method, the heatsink/fan takes 3 slots, and the fan is touching the 4th. So for even halfway decent cooling you need 4 open slots beneath your gfx card (no waaay I could x-fire this cooler)....say bye bye to the x-fi platinum...

I also couldn't mount it as was reviewed, the northbridge block (and heatpipes to Vreg) were in the way

Tatty_Two · Oct 9, 2007

Mediocre said:
FYI, the R600 version is a WONDERFUL cooler, it dropped my temps 10C from stock...
BUT, with the other assembly method, the heatsink/fan takes 3 slots, and the fan is touching the 4th. So for even halfway decent cooling you need 4 open slots beneath your gfx card (no waaay I could x-fire this cooler)....say bye bye to the x-fi platinum...

I also couldn't mount it as was reviewed, the northbridge block (and heatpipes to Vreg) were in the way

So a very good cooler but not for some setups?

Mediocre · Oct 9, 2007

Yeah, always confirm your motherboard layout. Everything I read said 3 slots so I thought I was ok. Its actually 4 slots if you want any airflow whatsoever...

Oh and the R600 version has a raised square to make up for the recessed core. The only problem is the milling marks are relatively deep. Actually, deeper than any HSF i've ever seen. I didn't want to sand it down, I figured it would mess up the recess dimension :wtf:

But, even with no airflow my temps were still ~5C lower than stock. By no airflow I mean the 92mm fan was COMPLETELY touching my x-fi card. I jammed a sata cable in there to get ~1/8" clearance...

Imma go home after bowling, rip the x-fi out, enable the onboard, and give it a try. I have no clue what the onboard is gonna sound like...

KennyT772 · Oct 9, 2007

WarEagleAU said:
Will it work on ATI Cards?

I love the construction, the detail and craftsmanship. But Im a little bit disappointed with no fan being included, especially at the price point, which isnt too high, but high enough to warrant a fan.

You are complaining about the thermalright motto. Any place that sells their heatsinks, cpu or vga, also carrys fans that will work on the unit. I would much rather have the option to place a huge delta 92mm fan on my xp-90 instead of a boxed fan. I may even want to go the other way and get a silent arctic cooling unit. Everything is cheaper when you personally do more work.

Tatty_Two · Oct 9, 2007

Mediocre said:
Yeah, always confirm your motherboard layout. Everything I read said 3 slots so I thought I was ok. Its actually 4 slots if you want any airflow whatsoever...

Oh and the R600 version has a raised square to make up for the recessed core. The only problem is the milling marks are relatively deep. Actually, deeper than any HSF i've ever seen. I didn't want to sand it down, I figured it would mess up the recess dimension

But, even with no airflow my temps were still ~5C lower than stock. By no airflow I mean the 92mm fan was COMPLETELY touching my x-fi card. I jammed a sata cable in there to get ~1/8" clearance...

Imma go home after bowling, rip the x-fi out, enable the onboard, and give it a try. I have no clue what the onboard is gonna sound like...

Make sure you download the latest drivers for your on board.

trt740 · Oct 9, 2007

WarEagleAU said:
Will it work on ATI Cards?

I love the construction, the detail and craftsmanship. But Im a little bit disappointed with no fan being included, especially at the price point, which isnt too high, but high enough to warrant a fan.

there is a link to the thermalright H03/R600 and a rather bad resolution photo of it on my 2900xt 1gig card. http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=31121&page=18

trt740 · Oct 9, 2007

trt740 said:
this is the ati version

here is a link to where you can buy it. http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/thhr2.html

With this cooler I can run my 2900 xt at 875/ 2400 and it is almost as good as a water cooler for this card, almost. I have had both the 8800 gtx version and the 2900 xt version . The heatsinks on the ram chips for the 8800 gtx fall off and need an adhesive with the 2900 xt version they have an improved adhesive on them and stick better besides that the cooler are almost identical.

Here is a link to the post I posted about my 8800 gtx Thermalright h03 http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=34062

trt740 · Oct 9, 2007

trt740 said:
you can see how similar they are. sorry about the crappy quality my treo's not that good of a camera

found a old photo of my 8800 gtx with the Thermalright heatsink on it.

System Name	//////////////////////////////////////Crunching/Folding Builds\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Processor	Q8400@ 4.0Ghz \| Q6600 @ 3.6Ghz \| E7300 @ 3.8Ghz \| E5300 @ 4.3Ghz \| E5300 @ 3.9Ghz \| E2180 @ 2.0Ghz \|
Motherboard	ASUS P5Q-E \| Asus P5Q Pro \| Gigabyte EG45-DS2H \| Gigabyte EP35-DS3H \| Gigabyte NV73 \| E-Sonic P35-G
Cooling	TRUE [Lapped] \| TRUE \| Thermalright SI-128 \| Stock \| Stock \| Stock
Memory	G.Skill 8192MB @ 1066Mhz \| G.Skill 4096MB \| OCZ 2048MB \| G.Skill 2048MB \| PNY 2048MB \| OCZ 1024MB
Video Card(s)	GTX 280 + 8800 GTS 512 \| 9800 GX2 + 8800 GTS 512 \| 6600 GT \| 8800 GS \| 9600 GSO 512
Storage	G.Skill 64GB SSD (OS) \| Segate 750GB [Downloads] \| 5TB JBOD [Movies] \| 3TB JBOD [Else] \| 1.5TB [Ex]
Display(s)	QUAD Monitors: Dell 2007FP [20"] + Dell 3007WFP-HC [30"] + Dell 2007FP [20"] \| Dell 2407WFP-HC [24"]
Case	Antec P190 \| Antec Three-Hundred \| Antec NSK2400 \| Thermaltake Strike MX \| HEC 6T10 \| HEC 8K01
Audio Device(s)	Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer PCI + [Audiophile HD600] + [Creative G500 + Logitech X-530 = 10 speakers]
Power Supply	OCZ 750w [62A] \| OCZ 750w [62A] \| Antec 380w [31A] \| Antec 650w [54A] \| OCZ 400w [33A] \| GeN [20A]
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit + Windows XP 64-bit \| Windows Vista SP2 64-bit \| Windows 7 RTM 64-bit
Benchmark Scores	////////////////////////////////66,666 [Crunching] + 45,455 [Folding]\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

System Name	My Current Desktop
Processor	i9 12900KF
Motherboard	Asus ROG STRIX Z690-E GAMING WIFI
Cooling	ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 360
Memory	G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR5 6400 F5-6400J3239G16GA2-TZ5RS
Video Card(s)	RTX 3090 FE
Storage	SAMSUNG 980 PRO SSD 1TB
Display(s)	Dell S2716DGR 27" TN 1440p
Case	Fractal Design Torrent White
Audio Device(s)	Schiit Bifrost2
Power Supply	Corsair HX850
Mouse	Razer Basilisk
Keyboard	Keychron Q6 (brown)
Software	Win 11 Pro

System Name	All the cores
Processor	2990WX
Motherboard	Asrock X399M
Cooling	CPU-XSPC RayStorm Neo, 2x240mm+360mm, D5PWM+140mL, GPU-2x360mm, 2xbyski, D4+D5+100mL
Memory	4x16GB G.Skill 3600
Video Card(s)	(2) EVGA SC BLACK 1080Ti's
Storage	2x Samsung SM951 512GB, Samsung PM961 512GB
Display(s)	Dell UP2414Q 3840X2160@60hz
Case	Caselabs Mercury S5+pedestal
Audio Device(s)	Fischer HA-02->Fischer FA-002W High edition/FA-003/Jubilate/FA-011 depending on my mood
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime 1200w
Mouse	Thermaltake Theron, Steam controller
Keyboard	Keychron K8
Software	W10P

System Name	//////////////////////////////////////Crunching/Folding Builds\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Processor	Q8400@ 4.0Ghz \| Q6600 @ 3.6Ghz \| E7300 @ 3.8Ghz \| E5300 @ 4.3Ghz \| E5300 @ 3.9Ghz \| E2180 @ 2.0Ghz \|
Motherboard	ASUS P5Q-E \| Asus P5Q Pro \| Gigabyte EG45-DS2H \| Gigabyte EP35-DS3H \| Gigabyte NV73 \| E-Sonic P35-G
Cooling	TRUE [Lapped] \| TRUE \| Thermalright SI-128 \| Stock \| Stock \| Stock
Memory	G.Skill 8192MB @ 1066Mhz \| G.Skill 4096MB \| OCZ 2048MB \| G.Skill 2048MB \| PNY 2048MB \| OCZ 1024MB
Video Card(s)	GTX 280 + 8800 GTS 512 \| 9800 GX2 + 8800 GTS 512 \| 6600 GT \| 8800 GS \| 9600 GSO 512
Storage	G.Skill 64GB SSD (OS) \| Segate 750GB [Downloads] \| 5TB JBOD [Movies] \| 3TB JBOD [Else] \| 1.5TB [Ex]
Display(s)	QUAD Monitors: Dell 2007FP [20"] + Dell 3007WFP-HC [30"] + Dell 2007FP [20"] \| Dell 2407WFP-HC [24"]
Case	Antec P190 \| Antec Three-Hundred \| Antec NSK2400 \| Thermaltake Strike MX \| HEC 6T10 \| HEC 8K01
Audio Device(s)	Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer PCI + [Audiophile HD600] + [Creative G500 + Logitech X-530 = 10 speakers]
Power Supply	OCZ 750w [62A] \| OCZ 750w [62A] \| Antec 380w [31A] \| Antec 650w [54A] \| OCZ 400w [33A] \| GeN [20A]
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit + Windows XP 64-bit \| Windows Vista SP2 64-bit \| Windows 7 RTM 64-bit
Benchmark Scores	////////////////////////////////66,666 [Crunching] + 45,455 [Folding]\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

System Name	Beatle _ Juice
Processor	Ryzen 5 3600 X (oc 4,2 ghz) 1.325v
Motherboard	Asus Rog Strix B450 F
Cooling	Noctua NH-U14S (twin fans)
Memory	16 gb 3200 Mhz Kingston Hyper X (CL15-18-18)
Video Card(s)	ASUS Nvidia Cerberus Gtx 1070ti
Storage	Samsung 860 EVO 250 GB / Samsung F3 1TB / Kingston A400 240 GB
Display(s)	Asus 27 " MG279Q ips 140hz
Case	Cooler Master ATCS. 840
Audio Device(s)	On Board
Power Supply	Seasonic 650W Focus
Software	Windows10 Home Premium 64bit

Thermalright HR-03 Plus

Frederik S

Weer

New Member

mab1376

cdawall

where the hell are my stars

Weer

New Member

Judas

Morgoth

Fueled by Sapphire

WarEagleAU

Bird of Prey

Tatty_Two

Gone Fishing

Tatty_Two

Gone Fishing

mab1376

Tatty_Two

Gone Fishing

cdawall

where the hell are my stars

Mediocre

New Member

Tatty_Two

Gone Fishing

Mediocre

New Member

KennyT772

New Member

Tatty_Two

Gone Fishing

trt740

trt740

trt740

System Name	Wopr "War Operation Plan Response"
Processor	5900x ryzen 9 12 cores 24 threads
Motherboard	aorus x570 pro
Cooling	air (GPU Liquid graphene) rad outside case mounted 120mm 68mm thick
Memory	kingston 32gb ddr4 3200mhz ecc 2x16gb
Video Card(s)	sapphire RX 6950 xt Nitro+ 16gb
Storage	300gb hdd OS backup. Crucial 500gb ssd OS. 6tb raid 1 hdd. 1.8tb pci-e nytro warp drive LSI
Display(s)	AOC display 1080p
Case	SilverStone SST-CS380 V2
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Corsair 850MX watt
Mouse	corsair gaming mouse
Keyboard	Microsoft brand
Software	Windows 10 pro 64bit, Luxion Keyshot 7, fusion 360, steam
Benchmark Scores	timespy 19 104

System Name	Pandemic 2020
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 "Gen 2" 2600X
Motherboard	AsRock X470 Killer Promontory
Cooling	CoolerMaster 240 RGB Master Cooler (Newegg Eggxpert)
Memory	32 GB Geil EVO Portenza DDR4 3200 MHz
Video Card(s)	ASUS Radeon RX 580 DirectX 12 DUAL-RX580-O8G 8GB 256-Bit GDDR5 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video C
Storage	WD 250 M.2, Corsair P500 M.2, OCZ Trion 500, WD Black 1TB, Assorted others.
Display(s)	ASUS MG24UQ Gaming Monitor - 23.6" 4K UHD (3840x2160) , IPS, Adaptive Sync, DisplayWidget
Case	Fractal Define R6 C
Audio Device(s)	Realtek 5.1 Onboard
Power Supply	Corsair RMX 850 Platinum PSU (Newegg Eggxpert)
Mouse	Razer Death Adder
Keyboard	Corsair K95 Mechanical & Corsair K65 Wired, Wireless, Bluetooth)
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64

Processor	Rocket Lake Core i5 11600K @ 5 Ghz with PL tweaks
Motherboard	MSI MAG Z490 TOMAHAWK
Cooling	Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120SE + 4 Phanteks 140mm case fans
Memory	32GB (4 x 8GB SR) Patriot Viper Steel 4133Mhz DDR4 @ 3600Mhz CL14@1.45v Gear 1
Video Card(s)	Asus Dual RTX 4070 OC
Storage	WD Blue SN550 1TB M.2 NVME//Crucial MX500 500GB SSD (OS)
Display(s)	AOC Q2781PQ 27 inch Ultra Slim 2560 x 1440 IPS
Case	Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Windowed - Gunmetal
Audio Device(s)	Onboard Realtek ALC1200/SPDIF to Sony AVR @ 5.1
Power Supply	Seasonic CORE GM650w Gold Semi modular
Mouse	Coolermaster Storm Octane wired
Keyboard	Element Gaming Carbon Mk2 Tournament Mech
Software	Win 10 Home x64

Processor	C2D E8400 @ 3.60GHz
Motherboard	ASUS P5Q-Pro w/ extra Vreg HS
Cooling	Apogee GTX, 2x120mm DD, MCP-1000P Res/Pump, all 3/8" 7x80mm (4x push/pull, 2x exhaust, 1x side)
Memory	2 x 1GB Corsair Dominator DDR2 1066 @ 800 (4-3-3-6)
Video Card(s)	EVGA 9800GTX+
Storage	3 x 80 GB WD SATA300 (2x RAID 0)
Display(s)	Scepter x37 1080p 37" LCD & Samsung 204B
Case	CoolerMaster HAF932
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Mushkin HP-580AP (C/O TPU!)
Software	Vista Ultimate (32-bit)

System Name	Raptor
Processor	Intel E8400 Wolfdale @3600
Motherboard	Asus P5Q-Pro LGA775
Cooling	Zalman CNPS9700
Memory	1024mbx2 Crucial Ballistix DDR800
Video Card(s)	XFX 9600GT
Storage	Seagate 7200.11 500GB
Display(s)	Acer AL2216Wbd and Acer AL1717
Case	Gigabyte 3DAurora Black
Audio Device(s)	Creative X-Fi Extreme Gamer Faitality
Power Supply	OCZ GameXStream 500w

System Name	Apple Bite
Processor	Intel I5
Motherboard	Apple
Memory	40gb of DDR 4 2700
Video Card(s)	ATI Radeon 500
Storage	Fusion Drive 1 TB
Display(s)	27 Inch IMac late 2017