Besides water blocks there haven't been alternative cooling solutions for Nvidia's Geforce GTX 200 cards so far. The Thermalright HR-03 GTX and the Silenx Noiseless GPU Cooler are two devices able to replace the stock cooler. We checked their performance on an overclocked GTX 280.
Thermalright HR-03 GTX and Silenx Noiseless GPU Cooler (picture: PCGH) [Source: view picture gallery]
Geforce GTX 280 coolers reviewed: Introduction Nvidia's Geforce GTX 280 is still the fastest single GPU graphics card on the market. But the performance crown comes with a lot of heat and an accordingly loud cooling solution. Until the 55 nanometer version is launched, a noticeable reduction of temperatures and loudness is only possible by replacing the stock cooler. Therefore we test the Thermalright HR-03 and the Silenx Noiseless GPU Cooler, two coolers compatible with Nvidia's currently biggest card. For comparison we also checked the stock cooler which is produced by Coolermaster.
Attention: If you demount the stock cooler, you will lose the warranty of your graphics card. Furthermore all manipulations are done at one's own risk!