A Closer Look
The first impression of the SilenX IXG-80HA2 is BIG. The cooler is nearly as large as a full-sized video card. There are lots of fins, providing a thermal transfer area of 434 square inches. But to be so large, SilenX’s use of aluminum makes the cooler surprisingly light, weighing only 12 ounces, and the fan kit adds a negligible amount of weight.
When used passively, the IXG-80HA2 is a 2-PCI slot cooling solution, when using the optional fan kit, the cooler takes up three slots.
The IXG-80HA2 has five large heatpipes utilizing direct touch technology. Direct touching heatpipes provide for drastic weight reduction in a cooler base, allowing effective use of aluminum while still utilizing the superior thermal transfer properties of copper. The aluminum merely holds the copper pipes in place.
The base is quite large, to accommodate mounting on a wide variety of video cards.
Looking closely at the base, I find that SilenX has done the cleanest job that I have seen with a direct touch base. I’ve had five CPU coolers using this technology, and all five had significant gaps between the aluminum base and the edge of the copper pipes. I felt that the gaps gave less efficient heat transfer. The gaps here are nearly non-existent, showing a great attention to detail, something I appreciate in any PC hardware.
Looking closely at the fins, we see that SilenX has added additional measures to make heat transfer more efficient. The fins are dimpled to increase the surface area, and also to create turbulence between the fins when used with the optional fans. Also, SilenX adds “pin-fin” technology to the edges of the fins. This should aid in getting the maximum airflow from the case fans when using the IXG-80HA2 in passive mode.
Hardware is included to allow for installation on most recent single-GPU video cards, including geForce GTX, geForce “9” series, most geForce “8” series, ATI Radeon HD 48xx, ATI Radeon HD 38xx, and most any other video card that has mounting screw or pin holes around the GPU with the distance of 53mm, 51mm, or 43mm between the holes. This includes most reference cards built in the last three or four years. Keep in mind that the cooler is larger than many mid-range gaming cards.
Also included are ramsinks, and additional heatsinks for the MOSFETs on geForce GTX series cards.
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