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Introduction
Today
we’ll be looking at something just a little different – a duct. Ducting has
been around for computers for a while now, and some newer ones, such as the
Chimaera, are shipping with a duct system pre installed. The intent of a duct
is to funnel cooler air from outside the case directly to the hottest
components of your system, typically the CPU. On the test bench today is the
Chill Vent II, provided by PCPowerZone. The Chill Vent II is just a little
different than most of the ducts on the market today, most notably being an
active device instead of the more common passive devices on the market today.
Let’s check it out!
Packaging and Contents
Our review sample arrived undamaged. The Chill
Vent II consists of a large clear plastic shroud, a cover piece, installation
instructions, mounting hardware, and three fans.
**click to enlarge**
Design
The
plastic shroud itself is not as flimsy as it might appear, and it is made up
of a 1/7” thickness throughout. The lines that appear around the device are
v-shaped score marks, that will allow the device to be customized to fit your
particular chassis. The two small mounts are for the small fans to provide
cool air for your PCI slots and video card.
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Three
clips are provided to mount the Chill Vent II inside your case. I didn’t like
the look of these from the get go, as there is no provision for solid
connections on the Chill Vent II itself. The clips themselves can be easily
secured to the case with the provided hook & loop tape.
**click to enlarge**
These
are the three fans that ship with the Chill Vent II. One 80mm and two 40mm.
The airflow from the dual 40mm fans will not be much, but they will end up
sitting almost on top of the video card, so they will help out a little bit.
The connectors could use some different options, as the 4 pin Molex pass
through on the 40mm fans and the 3 pin connector on the 80mm fan do not match
up well. If the user does not have a good collection of adaptors around it
might be difficult to get functional. For a product aimed at being a one-stop
fix this is not a safe assumption.
**click to enlarge**
UPDATE 07/13/04: It has been
brought to our attention that there was actually a missing 3 to 4pin connector
that should have been included with our sample. Below is a picture of
all that is included with the product.
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