Dual slot coolers worthwhile?

[SenorBeef]

All GTS-512s (I think) and some GTs come with dual slot coolers. Are they worth the extra cost? I have an antec 900 so I'll have plenty of airflow so I'd cool a single slot cooler better than average.

Do they run cooler, or quieter, or both?

How do they work? It looks like it's just the one fan that pushes air through a tunnel out the PCI slot. Is there a puller fan hidden somewhere?

Do they fit well in Antec 900 cases?


I'm considering getting http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150267 this model in particular because it has good clocks, comes with CoD 4, and DFI seems to have a good rep. Good choice?

Also something I was wondering. I notice people list their fan speeds sometimes with temps. Can you manually control fans in these cards from the software? Is there an automatic mode? Is it adjustable?

Thanks.

[Shadowmonk]

Get the XFX card, you wont regret it, just use rivatuner to set your fans speeds, but the 8800GTS 512 is well worth the extra cash.

[henzo]

You should have no problems at all with fitting a GTS 512 in there. Imho, the dual slot coolers on the GTS 512 are FAR superior to the single slot coolers on the GT 512. I am about to get another 8800GT and get 2 HR-03's and I have an Antec 900 as well so I know your single dual slot will fit fine.

As for the fan spped control, use RivaTuner to control the fan speed as well as overclock the card. You can also use eVGA Precision (it is a stripped down version of RivaTuner that is easier to use) and that controls the fans speed also.

Both of these programs have options to load the fan speeds as well the overclock values at windows start up.