Arctic Vs Zalman

dokko · 29 Sep 2006 at 14:55

The clear winner is obviously Zalman (in terms of quality), especially in comparison to these products, but im wondering if going Zalman is worth the extra bucks?

Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro £11.74

&

Arctic Cooling Accelero X1 £16.39

= £28.13

or

Zalman CNPS9500 £35.24

&

Zalman VF900-CU £24.62

= £59.86

This time last year my systme would have been worth spending Zalman money on, but now i think it maybe a little OTT considering the price you can pick up my parts for now.

I know you get what you pay for, but is it worth double for a 3700 64 & 7800GT?

Another note is in the future i may want to SLI and upgrade to a 64 X2 Dual Core 4800 so will the AC fans be ok for the job (able to fit the cooler between gfx cards & be powerful enough to cool the CPU)?

So what's the general opinion on this one, worth getting the best air, or cut back due to whats in the rig?

wizardmaxx · 29 Sep 2006 at 15:01

IMO - no. Its nice to have the best, but not always necessary unless u overclocking to the max.

V|per · 29 Sep 2006 at 15:18

i was literally about to post a thread about how amazing the Zalman VF900CU-LED Quiet Copper vga cooler was.

Installed it about 2 hours ago on my 76gt @ 660/1680, temps on stock cooler were 46 idle and 64 load.. They are now on 36 idle and 52 load.. and thats on the quietest setting, ie, inaudible. I am exceedingly pleased with this, as it has also allowed me to clock it to 675/1700, and i haven't actually tested any higher settings yet... so could probably go further.

As for the Zalman cpu cooler (again i have the led version) Mine is cooling an 805@4ghz, stock cooler temps were 48 idle and 66 load (at which tt had kicked in) With the zalman its 35/39 idle, 59/64 load (max/min fan speed)

I would definately say they were worth the money

Sadly i cant comment on the accelero, having never owned one, but i did have an ac silencer on an old ti4200, and that did the trick nicely, plus has the added bonus of removing the hot air from the case, managed 350/530 on the card if memory serves (it did allow me to clock a lot higher than stock cooler)

Also sadly i dont have a direct comparison on the freezer 64 pro, but i have on on my 3500+ @ 305x8.5, the temps were much reduced from stock cooler (sorry i cant remember stock coolers temps) but now the temps are 32 idle, 45 load. It isn't the quietest cooler in the world, but it is most certainly not the loudest either.

Hope this helps..

Day03 · 29 Sep 2006 at 15:32

I'm using the Zalman 9500 which is excellent, it's one of the best.
For the VGA i'm using NV Silencer from Arctic cooling. I chose it instead of the Zalman because it pushes the hot air out of the case while the Zalman does not at this raises the temps inside your case. The NV Silencer is very quiet.

dokko · 29 Sep 2006 at 16:01

Thanks for you input.

I've never overclocked before, but would like to have a pop. My main aim it to get rid of the noise, then gets the temps down, then have a play with Oc'ing my rig.

I thought since my CPU is only worth £60 new, it wont matter so much if i knack it!

So you think its worth doubling the money, even though the components arn't worth much (two fans equals my CPU new!)?

The X1 doesn't push air out of the case unlike the silencer, which is a shame.