The Cooler

Like previous NVIDIA coolers, the GeForce 9800 GTX+'s cooler uses a cast aluminium heatsink with a copper insert. This allows for a better thermal transfer to the heatsink and yet keeps the cost and weight low. The shroud extends beyond the heatsink so that some cool air can be redirected there to cool the power circuitry located beneath it. Removing the shroud reveals the fin array, copper heatpipes and the blower fan.

Here's a closer look at the array of 35 aluminium fins. These fins are not extruded from the base itself. Instead, they were soldered to the base which means their thermal conductivity will not be as good as it could have been, had the heatsink been made from a single aluminium block. As such, the cooler uses three copper heatpipes to quickly transfer heat from the copper insert to the fins.

The Fan

The cooler is powered by a Delta BFB1012L blower fan placed to the right side of the cooler. This is the same fan used in the GeForce 8800 Ultra. It is attached to the heatsink by three screws. Underneath it is a black heatspreader which helps to keep the outer three GDDR3 memory chips and nearby power circuitry cool.

According to Delta, the BFB1012L is a 12V fan with ball bearings and a current draw of 0.32A and a power output of 3.84W. At these specifications, it spins at at slow 2700 RPM but moves a remarkable 19.07 CFM or 0.54 CMM with a noise level of 45 dBA.

However, as you can see, the fan installed in this card actually draws 0.44A. This gives it a much higher power output of 5.28W. Although we cannot just extrapolate its performance from the increase in power output, it stands to reason that this cooler will perform much better than Delta's specifications.

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