ARCTIC RC Pro Cooler for Ram and RC Turbo Module PWM Review
Today I’ve got a double review for you of two ARCTIC products that can work separately but work better overall when combined. The products are the ARCTIC RC Pro Cooler for Ram and RC Turbo Module PWM and they are to help keep your ram cool. The RC Pro Cooler for Ram is basically a heatsink you can apply to bare ram while the RC Turbo Module PWM is a double fan attachment that helps to further cool things off.
Product Name: ARCTIC RC Pro Cooler for Ram and RC Turbo Module PWM
Author: Kristofer Brozio
Sponsor: ARCTIC
Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:
Following the design concept of the award-winning ARCTIC RC, the ARCTIC RC PRO features even longer aluminum fins, offering maximum cooling performance. This extends the RAM service life and boosts overclocking to a new level
Excellent Heat Dissipation
The long fin design of the ARCTIC RC PRO notably increases the surface area for efficient heat dissipation. The fins are extended to 5cm which lead to a significant increase in heat transfer area and optimized natural convection. Together with the highly conductive pre-applied thermal pads, the ARCTIC RC PRO efficiently draws heat away from the RAM to the fins.
Easy Installation
Installation is easy and can be done in just two minutes. The packaging is precisely designed for positioning the RAM accurately on the ARCTIC RC PRO. After fastening three screws, users can start enjoying the improved RAM performance brought by this revolutionary cooler.
Multi-compatibility
The ARCTIC RC PRO is compatible with single or double sided DDR2 and DDR3 SDRAM modules. It is also compatible with the RC Turbo Module – an add-on cooler with two 56mm fans for those who are looking for extreme RAM overclocking.
Price: $9.95
Add-On Module for ARCTIC RC Series
Overclockers bring down the RAM temperature by installing the dual-fan RC Turbo Module PWM while minimalizing the noise level.
PWM Sharing Technology (PST)
With the patented PWM Sharing Technology (PST), the fan speed of the RC Turbo Module PWM automatically adjusts itself according to the CPU load and is manually adjustable in the BIOS. The PST System allows you to control up to five fans and assures that your entire cooling produces no more noise than absolutely necessary.
Inaudible Operation
The RC Turbo Module PWM is extremely quiet as it operates on low noise impellers and comes with rubber patented vibration absorption. It remains barely audible even when the fans are spinning at full load.
Tool-Free Installation
Simply lock the RC
Turbo Module PWM onto the ARCTIC RC or ARCTIC RC Pro, and connect the mainboard with the PWM plug. It is just as simple as that – quick and easy!
Price: $14.95
The Review
This is two products so we’ll take a look at both of them and how they work in two parts basically.
The first is the RC Pro Cooler for Ram and it comes in a plastic clamshell package that’s easy to open.
Inside you’ll find the cooler already assembled and the instructions.
Taking it apart just involves removing three screws. Once apart you’ll see the heatspreaders with a blue protective film of them on each half of the cooler.
Pretty much every set of ram I have on hand has heatspreaders on it, but I found a set that didn’t. It’s a G.Skill set of DDR PC-3200 actually that I’m, using for my kids second system.
When you open the package for the ram cooler don’t throw it away as it’s used to install the cooler on your ram to help you line it up correctly. You put one half of the cooler in the bottom half of the package and remove the blue film and you’ll see space below it for the ram to sit.
Then you need to remove the blue film from the second half of the cooler if you’re using double sided ram and then put it together and replace the screws to secure it all in place. When complete you’ve got some cool looking ram now.
Not sure why, but ARCTIC only includes one heatspreader in a pack, most ram I know comes in pairs. I guess it makes sense though to sell those separately at you might need one, two, three or even four separate pieces. This works fine for me though so now I can compare the temperatures with the cooler on and with it off on the same type of ram.
So here it is installed in my system, a few different views for you:
Next up is the RC Turbo Module PWM and it also comes packaged in a plastic clamshell.
When you unpack everything you’ll find the fans and the instruction manual.
Attached to the fans is double PWM fan header, or a pass-through actually so you can connect something else to it like your CPU Cooler fan.
The RC Turbo module PWM is made from plastic of course and it basically just one piece. It seems well made and it’s lightweight.
You can use it with the RC Pro Cooler or other ram. It attached by tension, there are clips on the sides that go into the slots on the RC Pro Cooler or they can attach to the ram slots on your board.
Here it is installed on the RC Pro Cooler in my system. It’s a bit big and it comes very close to my CPU cooler. If my cooler was larger chanced are the RC Pro Cooler wouldn’t fit.
I checked and the ram I’m using doesn’t have any temperature diodes in it or the motherboard doesn’t support it so I used an infrared thermometer to check the temperatures of the ram at idle and under load and with the RC Turbo Module and without it.
Here are some temperatures for you:
The RC Cooler for Ram only:
Idle:
With:33.6c
Without: 41.6c
Load:
With:35.5c
Without: 43.4c
So the cooler actually does help keep the temperatures down.
The RC Cooler for Ram with RC Turbo Module PWM installed:
Idle:
With:29.8c
Without: 34.5c
Load:
With:30.5c
Without: 37.4c
With the addition of the RC Turbo Module installed we see the temps drop for not only the ram with the cooler installed but for the bare ram as well. The Module helps cool all of the ram you have installed, which is a good thing of course.
Summary and Comments
Both the ARCTIC RC Pro Cooler for Ram and the RC Turbo Module PWM and help you see a decent drop in temperatures for you ram.
Using the cooler alone does work well but pairing it with the Turbo Module is the better choice as it will help keep all of the ram in your system cool.
DragonSteelMods gives the ARCTIC RC Pro Cooler for Ram and the RC Turbo Module PWM both a 4.5 out of 5 score.
Pros:
- +Easy installation for both
- +RC Pro Cooler works well
- +RC Turbo Module is quiet and cools all ram
- +RC Turbo Module is simple to install
Cons:
- -Only one included in RC Pro Cooler Pack
- -Fan might not fit with all ram
- -RC Turbo Module is rather large, must remove to do anything in case near CPU
- -RC Turbo Module might not fit depending on size of CPU cooler
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Disclosure: This product was given to DragonSteelMods for review by the company for review purposes only, and is not considered by us as payment for the review; we do not, never have, and never will, accept payment from companies to review their products.
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