Conclusion:
The list of features and specifications for these two
CoolIT Systems products make claims that testing has proven to be on the money (for the most part). Both the RAM Fan and the PCI Cooling Booster provide effective cooling for the components they were designed for, cooling these components can lead to better overclocking, and other system features in the area will benefit from the additional air flow washing over them.
Both items also claim to offer a simple installation, and while this is quite true with a fully compatible system, I found it difficult to find such a system. Motherboards with memory slots too close to the CPU socket and case features such as tool-less expansion card slots are just two examples of things I found that prevented the use of these coolers.
Both coolers have attractive styling highlighted by an aluminum frame with an integrated fan guard that protects a clear plastic fan with blue LEDs. My only concern with the whole design is that the fans are held to the frames by an adhesive, and mechanical fasteners would give me a better feeling about their reliability for years to come.
On the down side, neither cooler offered a speed sensing lead on their power cable, and the length of the lead on the PCI Cooling Booster proved to be too short to reach an fan headers on the test system. While the RAM Fan isn't silent, it is quiet enough to not be easily noticed inside a closed system. However, the PCI Cooling Booster was rather loud, and it would be recommended that a fan speed controller be used to knock the noise down a little.
A search of
PriceGrabber turns up nothing on the RAM Fan, but the CoolIt Systems product page lists a suggested price of $19.99. Digging through the links to some of their featured merchants reveals that it can be had for as little as $14.99. A search of
PriceGrabber for the PCI Cooling Booster returns four retailers carrying it for as low as $15.12 (US). The price is decent, and much less than the suggested price of $24.99 found on the CoolIT Systems product page.
Pros:
» Provide effective cooling to intended components
» Attractive styling
» Would compliment a system with a CoolIT CPU cooler installed
» Well made
Cons:
» Compatibility issues possible with a wide variety of systems
» PCI Cooling Booster power lead was a bit short
» PCI Cooling Booster was fairly loud at full speed
» Neither cooler had a speed sensing lead on the power connector
» Fans for both coolers held on by double sided tape
Special thanks to
CoolIT Systems for providing the CoolIT Systems RAM Fan and PCI Cooling Booster to Bigbruin.com for review!
