Zalman VF3000F GFX Cooler

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Mine finally arrived this morning and I'm very pleased with it. I've been having problems with heat in my system. I had an Antec 1200, Titan Fenrir CPU cooler on an i7-920 at stock and an MSI GTX 470. The 470 was topping 80C at times (not OC'ed).

I decided to revamp the lot - I put in Thermaltake Frio CPU cooler (£35 including two fans - push and pull), a Silverstone FT02B-W case and the VF3000F for the 470.

I had the case and the CPU cooler a few weeks already. Temps improved with the Silverstone case quite a bit - the 470 came down to around 50C idle and 70C at 100% load. OC'ed the CPU to 3.8Ghz and temps rarely get above 50C.

The VF3000F was the icing on the cake - it knocked around 20C off my GPU temperatures. It now sits idle at 28C and 53C at 100% load. OCing the 470 added 2C to the idle temp and 8C to the 100% load temp.


I think that needs underlining - GTX470 53C at constant 100% load on air.

And it is almost silent.



The way the Zalman works with this case is just beautiful. The VF3000F blows the hot air out into the case. But the Silverman mounts the motherboard at 90 degrees, with the interface at the top of the case, so the Zalman is blowing the hot air into the empty top drive bay. Three 120mm Air Penetrator fans the full length of the bottom of the case suck air in through the base and blow it vertically, so all the hot air from the GPU goes straight out the top of the case and doesn't go anywhere near the CPU.

Then you have the pull and push fans through the CPU cooler on the Frio, again vertical and straight out through the top of the case. The whole thing gives stunning air cooled performance even for inexperienced OC'ers like myself.





Here's the back of the stock MSI cooler. You can see the heatsink only touches the card at the main VGA chipset, with a number of pads sitting between the plastic body of the cooler and the rest of the VGA RAM etc. The face of the heatsink is an awful ribbed affair and had masses of TIM on and around it - I think someone was trying to use the tube up :

The Zalman comes with a big heatsink for the RAM chipset, separate from the main VGA chipset cooler and fan unit. This is the back of it - it sits against all the RAM etc, where the stock cooler just has pads :

 

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Applying TIM to the RAM and FET chipset :

and the fitted RAM/FET heatsink :

 

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Fitting the main VGA chipset heatsink and fan unit is very easy. Screww in 4 risers to the 4 legs of the heatsink, which will fit straight through to the back of the card :

Put the four legs through the card and secure them around the back using fixing nuts and springs. The following picture is side on, showing the full unit fitted, with the old stock cooler length ways so you can judge the difference in thickness :

And the card in the Silverstone :

As you can see, it's quite a thick card taking up 3 slots, with the Zalman fitted. I'm using an ASUS P6T-D motherboard and it makes two of the six SATA slots unusable, so consider if that might be an issue for you.


edit to add : Raven mentions below that the cooler isn't as big as he was expecting and I'd agree with that, but take into account the Frio cooler on the CPU is bloody enormous and the FT02B-W is a big case, to put the Zalman into perspective. eg Thats a Coolermaster 850W PSU sitting behind the Frio.



TL : DR on the VF3000F It's not cheap at around £50, but you get what you pay for and I'm chuffed to bits with it. The instructions that come with it are clear and precise, unlike other gear I've bought in the past. 10/10

While I'm at it the FT02B-W is worth every penny of its sizable price and the Thermaltake Frio CPU cooler is a steal. 10/10 on all counts.




Zalman for NVidia range on Youtube, including the VF3000F for 470/480, underlining hidden screws on said The MSI version I had didn't cover up any of the screws, but I did have to remove the screw that connects the PCB to the silver metal slot that fixes to the back of the PC, which the guy in the vid says you don't need to do. Finally, be aware that the naming convention is confusing in that the VF3000F has two versions for the 465/470 and 480, but both have exactly the same name, so be careful not to order the 480 version if you want the 470 or visa versa (Obviously the VGA RAM heatsink and fittings are different in the two versions).

 

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Looks great and not as big as I thought it was, may get one for my 480.

Are you using the fanmate to control fan speed or your mobo?

I tried it with the fanmate and it worked well. I guess it's just a potentiometer ? I don't like things sticking out of my case, though, so I just removed it from the loop and plugged the Zalman straight into the motherboard.

Be aware, once you have put the splitter inline and plugged one end into the motherboard you have to have the fanmate 'control box' plugged into the cable to make the circuit or the fan won't work.


Disappointed that MSI Afterburner can no longer control the speed of the fan. The stock cooler has a 4 pin plug that fits into the GFX card, where the Zalman just has a stock 3 pin power plug. Is there any way I can adapt the Zalman to plug into the GFX card or what are the alternate apps I can use to control the fan speed via the motherboard ?

 

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Try speedfan I have found that some mobo headers to not allow fan speed control via speedfan so try a few.

Thanks for that mate, I appreciate it. WIll give it a go.

 

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Just a thought - I suspect Speedfan monitors your GPU temperature, if I'm reading it right.

You aren't supposed to use more than one app to monitor temps at the same time are you (or is that just for CPU ?) ? Would it be dangerous to run Speedfan and MSI Afterburner at the same time ?

 

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Cool, thankyou.

 

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Bump now this is available from OcUK to underline the following :

This product for the 470 and the 480 are both called VF3000-F even though they aren't compatible with each other. They have different RAM/FET heatsink plates. Be careful to understand this when you order so you don't get the wrong thing.


And edited to add that OcUK have them in at an unbelievable price - nearly £20 cheaper than I paid for mine a few weeks back.

 

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Nice one Raven.

Just been reading a thread on here saying something about the original screws. They were a bit of a worry when I took them out and the thread started going on one or two of them.


1. Obvious advice, but make sure the bit you use is an exact fit for the head of the screws. Just DON'T try until you have it spot on.

2. Put the 480 down on something firm when you are taking them out. Made the mistake of initially putting it on some foam with a little 'give' in it and it's the worst thing I could have done.

Flat on a hard table surface, good fitting bit and press down firmly when you're starting them off.