Introduction
Today I�m going to be reviewing the Vantec Vortex hard drive cooling system. Their have been many different hard drive coolers recently. They are being required more and more. The faster hard drives spin/work the more energy is lost to heat and as we all know heat can shorten the life of components.
About Vantec:
Vantec Thermal Technologies Inc. was founded in 1994 with a commitment to develop and manufacture the latest PC thermal solutions. Since then the company has grown significantly, releasing products ranging from power supplies to cold cathode lights.Located in Fremont, CA, Vantec concentrates on satisfying the needs of everyone � from personal to industrial computer users.
Specifications:
� Dimensions: 210 x 148.5 x 42.5 mm
� Weight: 750 g
� Rated Voltage: 12 V
� Rated Current: 0.1 A
� Fan Speed: 2,000 ~ 3,700 RPM
� Airflow: 16 ~ 30 CFM
� Noise Level: 28 ~ 38 dBA
� Fan MTBF: 30,000 hrs
� Bearing Type: Ball Bearing
The product:
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The hard drive cooler came in a well packed box. The box comes wrapped in clear sealed plastic packaging. The box on the front has some information, the vortex logo and a picture which also denotes the colour of the cooler, the back of the box gives detailed information on the product and an �air flow� diagram. The sealed plastic is easily removed and the side of the box can be opened, out slides the cooler and instruction manual. The cooler itself is surrounded by bubble wrapping this ensures that no damage occurs to the cooler in transport etc.
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I removed the bubble wrap from the cooler and revealed the relevant screws and �sticky backed plastic� to stick the temperature sensor to the hard drive. The Vantec Vortex is available in 2 colours, black and silver, as you can see below the one I will be reviewing is silver. The cooler looks great, the brushed aluminium has a great finish and the logo looks very smart, just a shame you won�t see the logo when the cooler is installed. The vortex includes a replaceable dust filter in front of its crossflow blower which is reminiscent of the coolermaster aero and jet 7, this design removes the �dead zone� cause by traditional fans. The �dead zone� is a small circular area in front of the fans motor where the air does not move.
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The vortex has a LCD display to show the temperature of the hard drive the button below the LCD allows the user to cycle through 2 fan speeds and off when pressed or �C and �F when held down. The temperature sensor is on a small wire, this means that their will be no trailing wires when installed, the vortex also has a molex y splitter so a power connection is not lost.
Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures
Installation of the hard drive was easy, stick the sensor to the bottom of the hard drive and use 4 screws through the bottom to secure it to the cooler. The cooler has 4 rubber pads that the hard drive rests on, this stops vibrations, but I can see this reducing how well the vortex cools, the only way for the heat from the hard drive to transfer to the cooler is through the 4 screws as rubber is a very good insulator of heat.
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