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Product: PowerColor Heat Buster Keeping components cool inside your computer is crucial to having good performance. When things get hot, a PCI slot cooler can help the air flow and keep temperatures where they belong. The Heat Buster from PowerColor is a PCI slot cooler, with a little more to offer. It has the standard exhaust fan, as well as a second, adjustable fan to help facilitate air movement in your case. Not only is designed to reduce the temperatures of your case, but it can help chill a component such as a video card that has the focus of the extra fan. Specs-
Features-
Packaging- The Heat Buster is packaged in a simple clear plastic container along with the simple instruction booklet.
Installation- Installation was as easy as it gets: it installs like any other PCI card. The plastic tabs slide into the PCI slot and the unit is secured with the standard screw. A Molex power connector will provide all the power for the two fans. Heat Buster- The unit itself is a rather large piece of opaque blue plastic showcasing two fans. The fan towards the exterior of your case is the blower, whereas the interior fan provides additional air flow in your case. Both are simultaneously adjusted by the knob on the exterior face of the unit next to the exhaust port. One nicer feature is that the blower fan is designed to pull air from both sides of the unit. As for the interior fan, it rotates to direct the air where you want it. The Molex power connector is sheathed in a silver plastic.
Test Beds -
Performance- Before taking the plunge and buying a Heat Buster, you might want to evaluate the airflow of your case. When I first installed the Heat Buster in one of my cases, I was shocked to see that my temperatures went up. To make matters worse, repositioning the second fan failed to improve things. However, after spending a few days of working with PowerColor, I discovered that disappointing results may be due to the case already having efficient airflow. Following their suggestions, I was pleased to see some encouraging results in another case. With the new configuration, I was able to lower my temperatures by two to three degrees Celsius. What I came to notice about the Heat Buster was that each application required different fan positioning. Each case had its own “sweet spot” for the fan, and in some cases took a while to find. In each of the four cases I started by using PowerColor’s instructions as a starting point, and fine tuned the fan until I received the best results. No matter what the performance results, the Heat Buster has a few undesirable traits. While the speed (and noise) is adjustable, it will be a loud addition to your system when running on high. Should you turn it down, the noise will subside to a reasonable level, but you will loose precious airflow. Turning to an aesthetic perspective, the LED light effect of the Heat Buster is a bit disappointing and consists of one lone LED. In my opinion the Heat Buster would look better without the LED.
Conclusion- Given the right environment, PowerColor’s Heat Buster is an exceptional performer. However, this product is not for everyone and can take some fine tuning to gain the desired effects. In the cases with poor airflow I was able to shave a couple of degrees off of all my temperatures after finding the optimal position of the secondary fan. The most effective configuration was not always the one listed on PowerColor’s site. The Heat Buster does have a few disadvantages such as noise and a disappointing LED light effect but these by no means come close to canceling out advantages of the Heat Buster. I would recommend this product to anyone who is looking to better their case’s poor airflow. Pros- + Easy installation Cons- - LED light effect is lack-luster
”Specifications” taken from the product web site ”Features” taken from packaging |
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