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Installation:
The XTC Memory Cooler comes with the cooling fans, four brackets, and four screws. The four screws consist of two thumb screws and two flat screws. This allows for some flexibility in installation.
Here is a close-up of the underside of the XTC Cooler. Here we can see the clear fans with the OCZ sticker, as well as the four LEDs on each fan. The aluminum bracket itself is very sturdy and just screams "sex appeal", that is, if any component of a computer could do such a thing.
Installation of the XTC Memory Cooler is very straightforward, place the brackets over the DIMM clips, and screw it into the cooler. Very easy. The only issue you may come across is clearance with the video card. In some cases, this can be remedied by using the flat screws; in other cases it cannot be overcome, so make sure you get a good idea of your motherboard's layout before you buy one. In the case of the DFI P35-T2R, it would not fit with an 8800GTX in the first slot, so all testing was done with it moved down into the second slot. Not ideal for performance, but good enough to get temp readings.
Finally, here is what it looks like when the unit is installed. It looks very nice, and keeps very well with the XTC theme, as the grill closely resembles the XTC heatspreaders on OCZ memory. Performance:
To test the performance of the XTC Memory Cooler, I first checked the temperature of the first memory stick at idle and load conditions without the XTC installed using the above test setup. I then repeated the testing after installation of the XTC. To load the memory, I used Prime95 v25.4 with "Blend" mode. Under load I measured in five minute increments and logged my findings. Temperatures were measured with a standard infrared thermometer.
Surprisingly, the heatspreader of the Ballistix reached up to 60C even when under a load for 15 minutes, which is more than I expected. Not surprising, the XTC RAM cooler did an excellent job of cooling the RAM to reasonable levels, idling at 32.9C and loading at a mere 36.1C, with a delta of nearly 24C. Even better, the XTC was barely audible when running.
Conclusion: While this review is unlikely to do much to resolve the debate around cooling RAM, it is nice to know that there are companies out there willing to pacify those of us that are truly concerned about the potential dangers heat poses to our RAM. The OCZ XTC memory cooler provides the peace of mind we are looking for, in a package that is both attractive and easy to install, and at the same time costs less than many 120mm fans. There is really only a single complaint about the XTC: it will not work in every system. Pros:
Cons:
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