Vizo Armada II Memory Cooler Review

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Product: Armada II; RCL-201
Manufacturer: Vizo
Supplied by: Vizo
Price: 22USD/RM80
Launch Date: Oct 2008

Are you having stability issue of your PC? If yes then one of the hardware reasons could be overheating issue. Today we are going to take a look on a memory cooler; Armada II. Armada II is a latest memory cooler from Vizo for desktop which comes with dual blue LED fans and support all type of desktop memory like DDR, DDR2, DDR3 and etc.

Company Profile

VIZO Technology Corporation is a leading global manufacturer and designer of computer peripheral products serving customers around the world. Established in Taiwan in 1992, VIZO has expanded and now operates in the market completely reorganized and prepared to meet the demand for high quality products which are "Made in Taiwan".

We have the best team and own completely innovative technology. Our company's philosophy is simple: share results among the employees, build trust with our customers, maximize efficiency in our work and innovation in our designs. Utilizing many years of experience and a mature skill set, VIZO is able to provide PC users an incredible variety of "Do It Yourself" products and peripherals.

Features

- Unique clip design not to harm memory module and slot
- Clip has a skidproof pad to prevent sliding and provide reliable protection on memory module
- Flexible thickness for clip on memory module
- Compatible with all standard memory modules whether they have memory heatspreader with them or not
- Dual fans provide the maxima airflow and air pressure
- Excellent thermal performance and ultra silent
- Built-in cold blue LED lights
- Tool free & easy to install
- Patent Pending

Specifications

- Housing Dimensions : 120mm x 35mm x 30mm
- DC Fan Dimensions : 40mm x 40mm x 10mm ( 2 PCS )
- Bearing Type : Sleeve Bearing
- Speed : 4500 RPM
- Noise Level < 20 dBA
- Max Air flow : 13.86 CFM x 2
- Rated Voltage : DC 12 V
- Rated Current :0.35 A x 2
- Compatibility : SDR / DDR / DDR II / DDRIII
- Weight : 45 g

Package Includes

- Dual-Fan RAM Cooler
- Spacer Package

Package & Content

Vizo Armada II comes with a transparent plastic packaging with a blue background. If the blue color can be replaced by the Vizo traditional color; green and white then it will be much nicer. The plastic packaging box is not sealed and can be used to keep back the memory cooler safely.

Besides the Armada II cooler itself, there isn't anything else comes along with this product except a spacer package which is some sort of double sided tape. At the back of the packaging box, it has stated all the product information like specifications, features and package contents of Vizo Armada II.

Vizo Armada II

Vizo Armada II is a dual fan memory cooler which suitable for all type of desktop memory including upcoming latest DDR3. Vizo has launched Armada quite some time ago which is a triplet fans memory cooler but Armada II is a latest and improved version of it. One of the significant improvement of this Vizo Armada II is the clip of the memory cooler compare with the old time memory cooler is cliped on the memory slot connectors of the motherboard which can't hold it firmly.

Both of the fans of Armada and Armada II are quite similar in term of fan speed, air flow but the noise level is reduced from 28dB to 20dB. Something that Vizo has remained one common part of these two fans where it is the blue LED fans which looks cool especially install inside a transparent side panel cases. The fan cable of Vizo Armada II is with shield and transparency.

Besides the fan differences between Vizo Armada and Armada II, the clip is different as well. Previously the clips of Armada are located at both sides at the end of the memory module but the clip of Armada II is located in the middle of the memory modules and there is only single clip. We would say this new design is much better and suitable for memory that with and without heatspreaders as it will not have direct contact with the memory chips.

The spacer package of Vizo Armada II is for the memory module that doesn't come with the heatspreader to avoid the clip damage any components of the memory modules. The spacer package is one side tape where we use to stick it on the Vizo Armada II rather than on the memory modules because in such way, we can reuse it on other memory modules especially for memory upgrade.

Installation, Testing & Performance

Installation is simple where user just needs to stick the spacer package on the memory modules or Armada II memory cooler for those memory modules without heatspreader. After that clip this Armada II memory cooler on one of the memory modules of your system.

In order to get the better performance, we would suggest to install the Armada II on the middle memory module so that the rest of the memory modules will be get cool down as well. The blue LED fans are bright and charming.

Test Bed
Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo E8300 @ 2.83GHz
Motherboard : Asus P5K SE/EPU
Heatsink : CoolerMaster X Dream P775+
Memory : 4GB 800MHz DDR2 Memory
Hard Drive : 250GB 7200RPM Western Digital
Graphic Card : OEM Nvidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB
PSU : GlacialPower GP-AL650A
Optical Drive : DVD RW HLDS
Operating System : Microsoft XP Pro
Benchmark Software : Prime 95
Ambient Temperature : 28 Degree Celsius

As you can see the memory temperature are much cooler with the memory cooler; Armada II from Vizo. The differences among them are around 6° during full load and 4° during idle load. With such result, it is much better to use such memory cooler rather than those expensive heatspreader to cool down your memory modules.

Conclusion

There is nothing we can say about this Vizo Armada II because it is just perfect for everything including design, performance and etc. If you are asking us what can Vizo to improve or to enrich their memory cooler, then we would like to see something new like on/off switch for the fan light because not everyone will like it or adding few more color selection for the fan light which should attract more customers. With the price of 22USD, it is still acceptable as good thing doesn't cheap.

Pros:
* Universal design to suit all type of memory modules
* Good performance
* Comes with cool looking blue LED fans
* Tool-less installation & can be held firmly

Cons:
* None

Thanks to Vizo for providing this sample for us to review.