Intro

Every so often a product comes along that is superior to everything else on the market. The kind of product that hits the nail, right dead center. What we have here in the CoolingWorks.com shroud does just that. It does so in the construction and design, as well as the included hardware.

CoolingWorks.com is a company that is insistant on bringing products to market that do what they are advertised to do. Knowing that there are products offered online that appear to do the job they are intended to do, but fall short once you have them in-hand. CoolingWorks.com have made for certian that you will be quite pleased when you recieve these shrouds. It has been determined that by bringing the fan away from the surface of the radiator 1", you will effectivly reduce the dead airflow spot from beneath the hub of the fan. The larger the hub on your 120mm fan, the bigger the dead spot. This shroud is designed to reduce that dead airflow to a minimum.

Package

Upon opening the Fed-Ex box, there were two boxes inside containing the shrouds. I found the shrouds wrapped in a plastic bag and to be in perfect shape. Included was a sheet of die-cut neoprene and a small package of hardware.

Upon closer inspection I became very impressed with the quality of these injection molded ASB plastic parts. It's not everyday you run across the quality of these parts. Very sharp and crisp lines. They have the thickness to do the job they are intended to do.

The included hardware consisted of "stainless" screws, retainer caps and a top cap to finish off the mounting. very nice touch.

There is a sheet of die cut neoprene gasket matierial with a self adheasive on one side to hold the gasket to the radiator.I might add that the gasket matierial is high quality neoprene, not a cheap foamy one that will fall apart. Dusting and cleaning the shroud and radiator is a must to maintain performance. The quality of this matierial will hold up to that.

Install

Assembly was a straightfoward process. All you do is affix the gasket to the radiator. Put the retaining caps on the screws. Then it's a matter of putting the screws in the fans through the shroud, into the pre-drilled holes in the radiator. Snap the screw covers on the screw heads and you're done. It's that easy, and everything lines up perfectly.

Options

The Mini Cool Shroud is currently available in UV Blue, UV Red (pics look closer to orange), and black. Here are some pics of the colors and what they look like exposed to UV light.

Testing

To test effectiveness, I recorded temperatures of the ambient and the actual coolant itself. The same "compunurse" probe was used for each measurement. Fan speed was identical for both tests.

Without the shroud:
At an ambient temperature of 10.1C, I had a coolant temp of 13.7C

With the CoolingWorks shroud:
Having the same ambient of 10.1C, My coolant temp dropped to 11.9C.

That's a 1.8C drop in coolant temp. In a liquid cooling system, every little bit helps.

Conclusion

I would have to say these shrouds do an outstanding job. These shrouds are available for ~$10, and it's money well spent. CoolingWorks shrouds are highly recomended and recieve a 9.5 out of 10. As soon as the lineup includes a model for the 2x120mm BIX 2 I would have to give them a 10 out of 10. Great Job Erick, quality and value is evident in this product. You can get the cool shroud from FrozenCPU for $10.

Pimp
- Excellent fit.
- Complete kit including hardware.
- Lowers coolant temp.
- Cool UV reactive Blue.

Not so Pimp
- Only available in single 120mm format for now.

PimpRig Rating //
(9.5 pimp hats)

I'd like to thank Erick and CoolingWorks for bringing this fine product to market, and providing it for our review.

Well there you have it...coolin' out and shrouded, ZENNZZO style.