So you bought an expensive cooler for your expensive CPU, another one for your high-end video card and added a few heatsinks and fans in order to keep the components of your PC cool. But what if one of these components fails? Funds permitting you will be down only until you get a replacement but generally no long term damage is done. True damage comes from the loss of your all important data. Many people tend to be very lax concerning hard drive cooling. Of course cooling is not going to make any hard disk drive invulnerable, but can dramatically lengthen its lifespan and increase its reliability. Vantec is a company with tradition on cooling, which also has several products concerning hard disk drive cooling in their line-up. There are many types of hard disk drive coolers; today we will have a look at the latest and greatest from Vantec, the Vortex 2.

Manufacturer specifications and features:

• High output blower cools even the hottest hard drives,
• Prolonging life and ensuring reliability and performance.
• Elevated drive mounts allow for cooling on all sides of the drive.
• Easy to remove and clean air filter keeps your drive dust-free.
• Analog knob provides a wide range of fan speeds.
• Vibration dampeners reduce drive noise.
• Fits a 3.5" drive into a 5.25" bay.

Packaging and bundle

The packaging of the Vortex 2 cooler is simplistic, as the cooler is simply covered by a hard plastic wrapping. Of course the cooler is really hard to damage during shipping, being nothing more than a lightweight piece of metal, so this kind of packaging feels sufficient. The cooler is clearly visible through the packaging, for those that are shelf browsing in a store and want to check it up close. The bundle which comes with the cooler is pretty basic, merely the needed parts and screws for its assembly, a spare filter and an assembly/installation manual.

The Vortex 2 is following the most effective hard disk drive cooler design, although not the most space-conscious one. It will cool your disk with fresh air from the outside of the case, but it requires a whole 5.25” bay for itself alone. We received the black version of the cooler; however Vantec also has a silver one. The cooler is using a cross blower fan, which is far more efficient than the tiny fans which older coolers used. The fan is adjustable from the large knob at the front of the cooler. The fan is not annoying but it is neither entirely silent, even at the lowest possible speed. You can turn the fan off though, by turning the knob to the left. The intake is covered by a mesh air filter, which you can remove and clean/replace easily yourself, a very nice feature for people who live in very dusty environments or just like the interior of their case tidy.

Assembling the Vortex 2 is extremely easy, and certainly does not require a manual. All you have to do is screw the brackets on the main unit, place the anti-vibration pads at the four edges of the brackets and then screw your hard disk drive on it. You will have to assemble the cooler and install the disk prior to installing it inside your case. The anti-vibration pads will reduce the noise from your hard disk drive, as well as reducing the shock to them while transferring the case. While the Vortex 2 is powered, there will be a blue LED ring around the fan speed knob, a quite strong one too. While the blue lighting may be quite appealing for many people, it will not be as nice if the case is directly in front of you, since the blue light is very distracting.