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ZALMAN NEW VF3000-A GPU COOLER - PERFORMANCE INFO AND BENCHMARKS

rolypolyman said:
No use to me, my Toxic temps are better.:p
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Thats odd, every review I've seen of the Toxic(and most other better cooler versions) show temps that aren't hugely better than the stock sink at all. Not seen a review that shows it at 40C load anywhere but more like Stock sink 70C and Vapour/toxic cards at 60-65C and not particularly quiet either.
 
fitted mine today - note that its a 3 pin fan header, which means I cant connect the cooler to the GPU fan pwoer socket - it has to go to the sysfan power header instead. Not ideal - and if anyone has a soloution, would be good to hear.

hmm...must be that ive cocked up the fitting too. 20 min on ati tool burn in test leaves my gfx card at 90C...thats worse than the HIS iCooler I took off to fit it.
 
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Connecting fan to mobo is a lazy and ugly design IMO, should be connected to the card, and yeah it looks like you have not got the HS seated correctly on the GPU or you put to much paste on.
 
I have to say, I don't like it at all. The shroud is proper ugly and even though that only matters in a windowed case, I would know it's there and that would make me sad. It also takes up 3 slots which IMO is an epic fail.
 
Invaliduser said:
fitted mine today - note that its a 3 pin fan header, which means I cant connect the cooler to the GPU fan pwoer socket - it has to go to the sysfan power header instead. Not ideal - and if anyone has a soloution, would be good to hear.

hmm...must be that ive cocked up the fitting too. 20 min on ati tool burn in test leaves my gfx card at 90C...thats worse than the HIS iCooler I took off to fit it.
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temps fixed now - 'grain of rice' application method works better than the 'thin film' one. Temps now at 35C idle/ 50C load :)
 
Whilst its always nice to have a 3rd party cooler,i dont see why any of the ATi 5 series card need one?

After owning one, they run so cool and quiet with the stock fan so i dont see the logic on buying one of these?.

However As a Fermi owner i could see why someone would buy one of these if released.
 
Sometimes people do crazy things...like selling a 5000 series and buying a fermi :)

Main reason for me would be noise, if I could keep the fan silent under heavy load, with low temps which seems possible, that would be a win; don't always game loud or wear headphones so the gpu noise gets on my nerves.

3 slots isn't a problem for me either, no intention of crossfiring any time soon and I <think> there is enough distance between the pci slots on the crosshair 3 for it not to be a problem if I did.
 
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The noise is loud when on full load especially on overclocked cards. Mine hits 60C @ 60% fan speed.

Remember the VRM temperatures are greatly reduced with this cooler too. (My VDDC temps got up to 110C when i upped the volts trying to clock over 1000MHz :eek: )

I don't have any problem connecting the fans to the mainboard, Once i shut the door it works like it should, I dont find the inside of a PC attractive unfortunately :D

I can still crossfire two cards if i need to although i don't plan on it, If you need the PCI slots, There are other solutions out there, I think noise to cooling performance ratio this is the better product.
 
The reason that ati 5850 users need one is because the stock coolers are garbage!

The design just doesn't work. Given the price i think this will be my next purchase along with a D2 case :) Silent overclocked system, can't wait.
 
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el Kuarlos said:
Sometimes people do crazy things...like selling a 5000 series and buying a fermi :)

Main reason for me would be noise, if I could keep the fan silent under heavy load, with low temps which seems possible, that would be a win; don't always game loud or wear headphones so the gpu noise gets on my nerves.

3 slots isn't a problem for me either, no intention of crossfiring any time soon and I <think> there is enough distance between the pci slots on the crosshair 3 for it not to be a problem if I did.
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i wont go into the reasons why i swapped my 5870 for a GTX 480 as i dont want to have the usual whats better debate, but im glad i did.:)
 
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stuartw_b said:
The reason that ati 5850 users need one is because the stock coolers are garbage!

The designe just doesn't work. Given the price i think this will be my next purchase along with a D2 case :) Silent overclocked system, can't wait.
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Rubbish, the stock coolers on the 5 series ATI cards are probably the best ive used with a video card.
 
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kmufc77 said:
Rubbish, the stock coolers on the 5 series ATI cards are probably the best ive used with a video card.
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That might be true but, They are still loud under load.

I like a silent PC when i am watching movies from it when there are quiet parts of the film, Same as when i am gaming, I would like to listen out for footsteps and things without the roar of a GPU fan in my ear.

Maybe the 480 fan is louder making your recollection of ATI's 58xx series coolers a little more favorable ?

Third party cooling on reference design cards are the norm for anyone that appreciates near silence.

The difference between VRM temps are huge too, Providing even more overclocking potential, possibly.
 
kmufc77 said:
Rubbish, the stock coolers on the 5 series ATI cards are probably the best ive used with a video card.
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They gather dust.

They don't cool very well

Anything over 40% is distractingly noisy (warm weather + overclocking = pita)

I'm looking to update my case just to help out with cooling.

But yeah apart from that they are great.... honestly how can you claim they are any good?! You must have had some dodgy cards in the past with incredibly poor fans on them to even thing these are a good design.
 
stuartw_b said:
They gather dust.

They don't cool very well

Anything over 40% is distractingly noisy (warm weather + overclocking = pita)

I'm looking to update my case just to help out with cooling.

But yeah apart from that they are great.... honestly how can you claim they are any good?! You must have had some dodgy cards in the past with incredibly poor fans on them to even thing these are a good design.
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They gather dust: Like all components in a PC case.

They Dont cool very well: Complete rubbish tbh, they cool very good especially when you compare the Nvdia GTX 4 series cards.

Anything over 40% is distractingly noisy: This was not the case when i had a ATI 5 Series card.

As for having dodgy cards in the past with incredibly poor fans: No ive never owned a card like this.
 
everything gathers dust, inc case fans.


what do you mean they don't cool very well, they stop the card for cooking itself (:P) and do a very good job of it

yeah well don't overclock than.
 
must agree - stock cooler does a very good job at cooling everything except the VRMs, but above 40% speed is very loud.

also agree that the fan header on the new zalmans should be connected to the vid card, and that fan speed should be controlled via software.

but they do look nice.

so i think ill wait til v2.0.
 
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