Conclusions
The HR-03 Plus 8800 cooler delivers excellent performance when used with a fan. It significantly lowers the GPU temperature, even when using a relatively quiet, low speed fan. (Under certain conditions it may be used without a fan in pseudo-passive mode if there is enough case airflow around the video card to dissipate the heat.) The overall construction and build quality are excellent. And the ability to mount the HR-03 Plus heatsink on either side of the video card provides a lot of flexibility. (I still prefer mounting the heatsink on the component side so the fan can directly cool all the little component heatsinks as well.)
As I mentioned earlier, as video cards have become more complex, so has the installation of aftermarket VGA coolers. Quite a bit of disassembly and reassembly is required to remove the stock 8800 cooler and install the HR-03 Plus. Thermalright has done a very good job of making the procedure as painless as possible. However, some users may still find it intimadating, especially when working on a $500~$600 video card.
It must also be noted that the HR-03 Plus will take up considerably more room (expansion slots) than the stock/OEM cooler. And the majority of OEM coolers incorporate automatic fan speed control but you will most likely be limited to fixed or manual speed control after installing the HR-03 Plus.
Strengths:
- Outstanding cooling performance
- Very good build quality
- Relatively easy to install
- Very quiet when used with a low speed fan
- Looks cool
Weaknesses:
- Required fan not included
- Relatively large size may be an issue in some installations
I would like to thank our friends at Thermalright for sending us their new HR-03 Plus heatsink to review — thank you! Be sure to use our price checking engine to find the best price on the HR-03 Plus or anything else you may want to buy!
