Model:  VTX-COI-SL

Manufacturer:  Vantec

Provider:  Xoxide

Reviewed By:  Miguel

Review Date:  11/13/03

   Most of the hard drives that are being released nowadays are running much hotter than they used to a few years back.   This is why we are starting to see quite a few hard drive coolers on the market.   None, however, have been able to match the beauty and performance of the Coolermaster CoolDrive…until now that is!  The Vortex is one of Vantec’s latest products.  It’s a highly attractive hard drive cooler with a rather unique and effective cooling system.

Contents

Included with the Vortex cooler is an illustrated install guide, extra fan filters and mounting screws.  The Vantec Vortex comes in two colors, black and silver.  We will be looking at the silver one in this review.

Design

The Vortex is quite stunning to look at.  Like the Coolermaster CoolDrive, it has an attractive aluminum outer shell.  Remove the shell, and you'll reveal the power connector, temp sensor and the unique yet highly impressive blower. 

The front of the unit is just as attractive.  It features a pullout door that gives you access to the filter.  The door itself has a rather nice looking grill that resembles a speaker grill in design.  It is a bit flimsy, but works as intended.  This is not really an issue since you probably won't be opening and closing it much except when cleaning or changing the filter.   On the right side, you have the LED display which will show you the temperature in either Celsius or Fahrenheit.  There is a single button below it that will allow you to control the blower unit.   You can run it at high or low speed but also gives you the option to turn it completely off.   It's definitely nice to have the ability to turn the blower unit off in situations where you just don't want the added noise.  I would also like to note that the LED display is actually yellowish-orange in color rather than red, which is what you see in most pictures of the product.

The back of the unit is exposed to let the air exhaust back out of the casing.  The sides have the drive cage mounting holes and the four screws that are used to secure the outer shell.

**click to enlarge**

Finally, we have a close-up shot of the crossflow blower unit.  It is quite cleverly designed.  When powered, it blows air directly over the hard drive and exhausts through the back end.  Also worth mentioning are the four light blue rubber drive mounts which act as shock absorbers.  They are designed to securely hold the drive in place which will result in minimal vibration. 

Specs

Next: Performance & Conclusion