Graphics Card Heatsink

[satan]

I'm thinking of getting a new heatsink and fan for my 6600GT. The Zalman VF700-AlCu looks pretty good.

(http://www.zalmanusa.com/usa/product...x=150&code=013)

Is there anything better or quieter I can get with decent cooling performance? I know Zalman have fanless ones but they're a bit heavy and I don't think they cool as well.

Thanks in advance.

[iMc]

The only other decent recomendation I could make is a compatable one from Arctic Cooling

I had the VGA Silencer Rev 3 on my previous 9600Pro. Did the job well.

[Scarlet Infidel]

Id agree with those suggestions. Often you canl find the all copper version of the VF700 (the VF700-Cu) at about the same price. This should cool a bit better or be a bit quieter at the same temps depending on yor preference.

The arctic cooling solutions are also very good and easier on the wallet.

[satan]

How about the ZM80D-HP?

http://www.zalmanusa.com/usa/product...x=138&code=013

If I were to use that with a fan would it cool better?

[Starburn]

I have the pure copper version of that cooler on my 9800pro since I thought it was overheating.. it's not that loud (more of a whooshing sound than the normal fan whirr) - also has different voltage options for the fan..
Decided on this one as it came with ram sinks too

Anyway; was nice & easy to install and as far as I can tell it cools it quite nicely.. (might try OC'ing tonight infact).

edit: the one thing I would say is if you do get it - don't use the paste that comes with it, I read it's pretty rubbish stuff I used some ASV.

[SilentDeath]

All the zalman gpu heatpipe coolers are crap. They would not perform as well as a stock x850xtpe cooler.

ACS ones are good - probably the best commercial ones.
The VF700 is resonable-good but never used one myself. Im told the fan in it is crap.

[scotty6435]

SilentDeath, WTF are you on about? The VF700 is probably the best graphics card heatsink out there! The only contender is the arctic cooler which, although louder exhausts all air out of the case. The X850XTPE cooler is quieter as it's dual slot but certainly not a revolution in design

Also, the zalman heatpipe coolers are the best passive systems you can get, it's just not really possible to cool a high-end card with it for obvious reasons.

If you can get the VF700 and mod a hexus low-speed fan to it. This is hard work but makes the card inaudiable.

[BenW]

Deffinatly the VF700Cu

If you want to make it quieter the guys on silent pc review forums cut out the fan and stick a nexus fan in there, makes it even quieter.

If you want to take a look at the thermaltake schooner it would be a good fanless

[satan]

SilentDeath, WTF are you on about? The VF700 is probably the best graphics card heatsink out there!

Well that's very good to know, I just ordered the VF700-CU, all-copper version.

[Scarlet Infidel]

The zalman fans use ball bearings (for longevity and reliability) so arent as quiet as they could be. However i hear they are pretty quiet at lower voltages.

[Starburn]

With the VF700-CU & ASV I've just managed to get 440/360 (stock: 378/337.5) out of a 9800pro looking at games benchies has given it about another ~10% overall performance.. fan at 12v, stock voltages on card.

not bad

[SilentDeath]

SilentDeath, WTF are you on about? The VF700 is probably the best graphics card heatsink out there! The only contender is the arctic cooler which, although louder exhausts all air out of the case. The X850XTPE cooler is quieter as it's dual slot but certainly not a revolution in design

Also, the zalman heatpipe coolers are the best passive systems you can get, it's just not really possible to cool a high-end card with it for obvious reasons.

If you can get the VF700 and mod a hexus low-speed fan to it. This is hard work but makes the card inaudiable.

Many people would disagree. Firstly many cpu coolers with simple modddage perform better, quieter, take up little more space and do a bloody good job. If you look at some of viperjohns work - he has proved cpu coolers can *almost* equal gpu watercooling where as one of these vf700 thingys wouldnt even come close.

In that respect, gfx card cooling is more a marketing craze, where ACS seem to be the only company with innovation. Zalman seem happyer to have big words ona box and maybe some blue leds.. (although only a few of they're products do).

I dont know the specifics of the fan however im told it is niosy for the amount of air it pushes. I have nothin which I could quote atm but like you say people have modded theirs which means theres a reson.

As for the passive heatsink I can name a number of performance degrading flaws to the design - namely a 1/2" lump of aluminuim seperating the fins to the core. There are better ways to aviod SMC components which are in the way.
It hardly amazing either - more just a cheaply-as-possible designed peice of extruded aluminuim with a couple of off-the-shelf-heatpipes and lots of marketing slapped on top. It probably costs under £5 to make yet they charge £20-35 for them and whats worse is every 2 months they bring out a new version thats jut a different colour, and maybe a fan in the hope people will upgrade and make them richer.
Anyway I think a child could do better. One day I will get off my arse and prove it, if you would excuse the fact Im not really a child anymore.

And it is easly possible to passivly cool a high end gfx card passivly but it would take a lot of space. Much morerealistic is cooling high end with silent fans - IE under 14dB or less (no idea what people call silent). A tiny bit of airflow will do a hell of a lot more than none at all.

With the VF700-CU & ASV I've just managed to get 440/360 (stock: 378/337.5) out of a 9800pro looking at games benchies has given it about another ~10% overall performance.. fan at 12v, stock voltages on card.

not bad

Stock voltage (1.7v) is more than enough on a 9800pro for ~450+
That really doesnt say much considering the low-ish heat output of a r3xx core..

[scotty6435]

Firstly many cpu coolers with simple modddage perform better, quieter, take up little more space and do a bloody good job.

Yes, and if you don't want to lose 2-3 PCI slots I'm sure that's fine. My shuttle needs modding for anything more than a single slot cooler and I don't want some big-ass CPU cooler sticking out the side.

In that respect, gfx card cooling is more a marketing craze, where ACS seem to be the only company with innovation.

Yeah, same product with different revisions for 5 years now? Innovation kings there!

I dont know the specifics of the fan however im told it is niosy for the amount of air it pushes. I have nothin which I could quote atm but like you say people have modded theirs which means theres a reson.

It's the zalman slim fan so it's not going to push as much air as a 25mm thickness one by definition. It's very quiet with no bearing noise (I run it at 2% in speedfan). I know this because I own one. This was a direct replacement for the arctic cooler rev 5 and it's taken 20 degrees off temps while being even quieter and have allowed another few MHz on the RAM (read the thousands of complaints about PWM ticking and fan clicking/bearing noise on the ACS - which I personally experienced).

As for the passive heatsink I can name a number of performance degrading flaws to the design - namely a 1/2" lump of aluminuim seperating the fins to the core. There are better ways to aviod SMC components which are in the way.
It hardly amazing either - more just a cheaply-as-possible designed peice of extruded aluminuim with a couple of off-the-shelf-heatpipes and lots of marketing slapped on top. It probably costs under £5 to make yet they charge £20-35 for them and whats worse is every 2 months they bring out a new version thats jut a different colour, and maybe a fan in the hope people will upgrade and make them richer.
Anyway I think a child could do better. One day I will get off my arse and prove it, if you would excuse the fact Im not really a child anymore.

You're being rather childish there mate. I'm sure many, many products cost far less than they're sold for; you really think a dual core pentium costs £700 to make? I've only seen 2 versions of the passive heatsink, I think you're getting confused with thermaltake. It's not an amazing design but it's compatable with a huge number of cards because of the way it's designed. If it was more streamlines with less alu between heatpipe and core then it may not allow some cards to work with it (capacitors are a common problem). It's intended to cool low-powered cards such as the 9600, it doesn't need to get awesome temps.

And it is easly possible to passivly cool a high end gfx card passivly but it would take a lot of space. Much morerealistic is cooling high end with silent fans - IE under 14dB or less (no idea what people call silent). A tiny bit of airflow will do a hell of a lot more than none at all.

Yeah, but the zalman is passive so there's NO noise. Don't say, you own SilenX fans..... (nuff said)

Sorry for the rant but the VF700 is just awesome.

[SilentDeath]

Yes, and if you don't want to lose 2-3 PCI slots I'm sure that's fine. My shuttle needs modding for anything more than a single slot cooler and I don't want some big-ass CPU cooler sticking out the side.

And the vf700 is single slot?
There are cpu coolers which take up less space.

As for the passive cooler, It would not need to affect compatability.

And no I do not own any silent fans atall with the closest being that of a 172mm fan @ 50dB.

[Starburn]

I'm just going to hide behind scotty6435's rant and stick with the VF700 being pretty good.. or at least; I'm happy with it anyway.

[scotty6435]

It's about 1.5 slot thickness. I've taken a portion of the case off but as it looks cool, I really don't mind

I'm sure Zalman will make another completely passive system sometime.

There are indeed coolers that take up less space but they tend to be noisier and less efficient (evercool VC-RE is the best single slot cooler but only has a 60mm fan so is noisier). The zalman also comes with VERY effective blue RAMsinks.