What is the best air cooler for a gfx card?

harris1986 · 24 Feb 2006 at 12:56

Hi guys looking to squeeze the most out of my on route x1800xt 512mb, and while water i know is the best solution i currently can't afford a kick ass rig (which when i go WC i'm not going to mess about

), i know the zalmann vf700 is a very good cooler, just wandering if there are any other solutions about?

Xez · 24 Feb 2006 at 13:09

The v700 is good but the v900 should be out in about 1 or 2 weeks time if you can wait or you can get a artic cooler.

mightynimrod · 24 Feb 2006 at 13:12

Xez said:
The v700 is good but the v900 should be out in about 1 or 2 weeks time if you can wait or you can get a artic cooler.

Deffo the Zalman - wouldnt touch the arctics tbh - crap build quality and when theyre cooling an expensive card - that counts.

Street · 24 Feb 2006 at 13:15

The Zalman VF900 should be about soon, should be even better than the VF700!

Xez · 24 Feb 2006 at 13:59

mightynimrod said:
Deffo the Zalman - wouldnt touch the arctics tbh - crap build quality and when theyre cooling an expensive card - that counts.

I was going to say that but.. people have there opinions and i dont want to cause anything :cool:

Mark A · 24 Feb 2006 at 14:16

Xez said:
I was going to say that but.. people have there opinions and i dont want to cause anything

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I have an arctic cooler on my 6800GT and havn't had any problems for a year now. Ive clocked my card to ultra speeds with riva tuner to 401/1100 and the arctic rev 2 keeps it very cool, 39oc idle 50oc load at the moment. Im sure the Zalman is good also but there isnt anything wrong with the arctic IMO.

Mark

mightynimrod · 24 Feb 2006 at 14:25

Mark A said:
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I have an arctic cooler on my 6800GT and havn't had any problems for a year now. Ive clocked my card to ultra speeds with riva tuner to 401/1100 and the arctic rev 2 keeps it very cool, 39oc idle 50oc load at the moment. Im sure the Zalman is good also but there isnt anything wrong with the arctic IMO.

Mark

Then your quite lucky.

The NV silencers came with memory blocks that were too high preventingt the core touching the main sink thus resulting in overheating cards.

Why release something for such an expensive item without doing quality checks?

Ive had 3 of them and they were all the same, it's also been well documented.

Take the guesswork out of it and go Zalman, lets face it - you invalidate the warranty removing stock cooler - the last thing you want is a knackered card to go with it.

Street · 24 Feb 2006 at 14:26

mightynimrod said:
Deffo the Zalman - wouldnt touch the arctics tbh - crap build quality and when theyre cooling an expensive card - that counts.

Yeh I'd agree with that... Have owned a few Arctics in the past and they just don't seem the same build quality as the Zalmans. I had 2 of them die on my old 9800, the fans packed in... changed to Zalman when I bought my X850

Amidar · 24 Feb 2006 at 14:55

My Artic cooler came with no blocks to the base(base was totaly flat) instead it had thermal pads fitted.My card which is a 7800GTX Extreme Edition 490/1300 used to idle at 48c and load was 80c+ with the stock cooler,now its 39c idle and never go's above 62c under load with the Artic cooler fitted.

Mark A · 24 Feb 2006 at 23:57

Then your quite lucky.

Not really, the rev 2 doesnt have any copper blocks and makes 100% contact with the core hence the exellent temps im getting. The Zalman might be better i dont know but ive had exellent results with the Arctic Rev 2.

Take the guesswork out of it and go Zalman, lets face it - you invalidate the warranty removing stock cooler - the last thing you want is a knackered card to go with it.

Most gfx cards shut down when they reach a dangerous temp dont they?, i know mine does.

Mark

pegasus1 · 25 Feb 2006 at 13:37

On my 7800GTX i unplugged the Std fan, removed the plastic HSF cover (just the plastic lid type thing) and attached the Fan that came with my 3700SD AMD HS. Its screwed onto the GFX HS and runs at full speed but cant be heard unless you put your ear next to it which i dont when gaming. Temps never above 50C and idles around the mid 30s. Cost me diddly squat as well. Happy days

harris1986 · 25 Feb 2006 at 14:12

how did you attach it to your card pegasus1? could you email me some pics or post? would be interested in doing this

pegasus1 · 25 Feb 2006 at 14:13

harris1986 said:
how did you attach it to your card pegasus1? could you email me some pics or post? would be interested in doing this

Just 4 x self tapping screws, i'l email a few pics later today or tomorrow.

PaperAngel · 25 Feb 2006 at 23:35

I just boguht the Zally with my X1800XT, im really nervous about fitting it. Has anyone else done it and can someone lend me some friendly advice on how not to wreck my brand new £235 card?

PA.

p4radox · 25 Feb 2006 at 23:47

PaperAngel said:
I just boguht the Zally with my X1800XT, im really nervous about fitting it. Has anyone else done it and can someone lend me some friendly advice on how not to wreck my brand new £235 card?

PA.

Take it slowly. Double check everything before you do it. It's not that hard really.

And keep the stock Heatsink

Jokester · 25 Feb 2006 at 23:53

Has anyone got any links to VF900 reviews?

Jokester

PaperAngel · 26 Feb 2006 at 00:05

Does it come with instuctions?

sablabra · 26 Feb 2006 at 00:24

I'm looking for a good cooler to my x1800xt, and that exhaust the hot air out in the back. Currently I haven't found any. Any good tips?
And btw, I do currently own a vf700-cu, but I haven't fitted it...

ajgoodfellow · 26 Feb 2006 at 00:30

sablabra said:
I'm looking for a good cooler to my x1800xt, and that exhaust the hot air out in the back. Currently I haven't found any. Any good tips?
And btw, I do currently own a vf700-cu, but I haven't fitted it...

You're out of luck really. AFAIK there isn't an Artic Cooler for the X1800 series at the moment and the new Artic Coolers don't exhaust the air out of the back

PaperAngel said:
Does it come with instuctions?

Yep

sablabra · 26 Feb 2006 at 00:35

ajgoodfellow said:
You're out of luck really. AFAIK there isn't an Artic Cooler for the X1800 series at the moment and the new Artic Coolers don't exhaust the air out of the back

Too bad. You guys have to tell me if it ever comes out then