Thermaltake TMG ND1 GeForce GPU Cooler

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

So, pictured above is the card installed in my system. I must admit, I was surprised how much of an improvement this cooler was over the stock cooler. The video card went from the loudest component in my system to the almost the quietest. Being a noise freak, this was critical to me. I have to be honest, if this cooler gave me equal temps and was quiet I would have been happy.

When it came to installation the Thermaltake TMG ND1 was very easy to install, and even an enthusiast who has never replaced a cooler on a graphics card will have no issue whatsoever installing this cooler. I was pleasantly surprised to see how quiet this cooler was, and happy that Thermaltake came through on its promise of noise level. Now, I don’t have a tool capable of measuring noise level, but I can assure that this cooler is quiet. The only way I can even hear the cooler is if I put my ear right next to the graphics card. It is not audible over my even my Yate Loon fans. With an MSRP of $39.99 and a six year warranty, this cooling solution is awesome for the budget conscience user.

Unfortunately, like all things, this cooler isn’t perfect. I touched on all of its quirks earlier in this review, and I will touch on them again here. I’m confounded to what the logic was to have a gap between the cooling duct and the PCI bracket. It just makes no sense to me to have a place for the heat to escape. I also don’t like the use of the cheap TIM for the core and memory. I can see the reason for using the gum like material on the memory since it prevents the user from crushing the memory, but not for the Core. I understand it’s common place for manufactures to do this but I wish they would stop and either replace it or just not apply a TIM.

Legit Bottom Line: This cooler is a must have for any end user that is low on funds and wants something that is a great bang for the buck. I am shocked that this cooler has not had much press and I believe it would be a welcomed contender to any GPU cooler on the market.