Zalman VF3000F

Craig321 · 17 Sep 2011 at 15:15

Hi,

I'm about to buy the Zalman VF3000F to shut my GTX480 up a bit!

Does anybody have any comments on it before I go ahead? How much quieter is it?

I'm not too bothered about the temps really, I know it's going to improve them, but my main goal is making it quieter.

The Zalman seems to get good reviews and also doesn't use any permanent adhesive, so old cooler can be put back on if necessary.

Thanks

logi-cat · 17 Sep 2011 at 15:43

the reviews for that cooler is very good, it runs much quieter and cooler than the original HSF. For that price you can't go wrong. I'll go for it.

Craig321 · 17 Sep 2011 at 15:47

I hear the Gelid Icy Vision is even better?

Guitarman0 · 17 Sep 2011 at 16:26

Well, I had one on my 5850 (slightly different but hey) and it was great. I found the idle noise was a little louder than the stock cooler on my 5850 (but that is a pretty quiet idle card) but as soon as I launched any game I noticed a massive difference. Temps went down by 15-20 degrees and I never needed to take the fans off the lowest setting. However, removing the cooler from my card (to watercool) broke the card so if you are planning on taking off the cooler in the future I would advise against it.

All in all though, I really liked it

Craig321 · 17 Sep 2011 at 17:25

Guitarman0 said:
Well, I had one on my 5850 (slightly different but hey) and it was great. I found the idle noise was a little louder than the stock cooler on my 5850 (but that is a pretty quiet idle card) but as soon as I launched any game I noticed a massive difference. Temps went down by 15-20 degrees and I never needed to take the fans off the lowest setting. However, removing the cooler from my card (to watercool) broke the card so if you are planning on taking off the cooler in the future I would advise against it.

All in all though, I really liked it

Is that the Gelid, or the Zalman you had?

Guitarman0 · 18 Sep 2011 at 12:13

The zalman

skid34 · 19 Sep 2011 at 07:30

had one on my old 5850, great cooler, cools well, only problem i had was the shroud started to rattle so used it with the shroud off.

the thermalright shaman in my view is worth the extra pennies

pcpietrek · 19 Sep 2011 at 12:22

Craig321 said:
I hear the Gelid Icy Vision is even better?

You will need fan controler with it because if I remember correctly it run at constant 2000rpm (being still quiter than reference fan)

kevbiss1 · 20 Sep 2011 at 08:51

zalman, suprb with my noisy 470,had t since xmas cant recommend enough!

Craig321 · 20 Sep 2011 at 19:28

skid34 said:
had one on my old 5850, great cooler, cools well, only problem i had was the shroud started to rattle so used it with the shroud off.

the thermalright shaman in my view is worth the extra pennies

That ends up being something like £60 when you add the VRM cooler, doesn't it?

I'm still undecided!

Craig321 · 20 Sep 2011 at 19:42

Right, I think it's the VF3000F. The reviews are consistently good, whereas the Gelid is getting mixed reviews.

skid34 · 21 Sep 2011 at 06:45

Craig321 said:
That ends up being something like £60 when you add the VRM cooler, doesn't it?

I'm still undecided!

not now, check the price drop, great price for the shaman £39.98 inc VAT

Tealc · 21 Sep 2011 at 08:50

Fan Speed: 1400 ~ 3000 rpm

This is what would put me off the Zalman, plus I've had several supposed quiet coolers from them that weren't even remotely quiet.

You don't really need the VRM cooler for the GTX480. There are quite a few examples of people using the Shaman without it. If you have the room in your case and don't want to mess with SLI then the Shaman is the best graphics cooler available.

AgedIdiot · 21 Sep 2011 at 15:52

I have the Zalman cooling a 470 - Silent (i.e. I do not notice it)at minimum/up to a third fan speed - above that gets a bit noisy for me (i.e I hear it).
Excellent at cooling and a hell of a lot better (both cooling and noise levels) than a standard fan set up.
I found the standard fan far too LOUD - partic. when stressing the card at all. No problem with the Zalman - Strong recommendation here.

If you decide to have a go with the Zalman just double check that it will fit on your card - does not fit all!!

Craig321 · 21 Sep 2011 at 17:56

AgedIdiot said:
I have the Zalman cooling a 470 - Silent (i.e. I do not notice it)at minimum/up to a third fan speed - above that gets a bit noisy for me (i.e I hear it).
Excellent at cooling and a hell of a lot better (both cooling and noise levels) than a standard fan set up.
I found the standard fan far too LOUD - partic. when stressing the card at all. No problem with the Zalman - Strong recommendation here.

If you decide to have a go with the Zalman just double check that it will fit on your card - does not fit all!!

Does the Zalman cool the card suitably under load when set to minimum fan speed?

I'm not too bothered if it stills reaches 80-90°C, as long as it's quiet. Kinda ruins the atmosphere in Dead Island (and I'm sure will do the same in Skyrim) when there's a hoover in my PC

Mr. May · 21 Sep 2011 at 19:31

i have had the same cooler on both a 470 and 480 and its truley amzing even with high overclocks and high voltages i never seen temps above 75 on 480 and 70 on the 470 all whilst remaining really quite

the only down side is it dumps all the heat in your case which there will be a lot off but the heat has gotta go some where right ?

kevbiss1 · 21 Sep 2011 at 23:22

mine doesnt go above 60*c,even after hours of gaming,and set on about 25%