VGA Coolers...

[Wex]

I have an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro

Zalamn Heatpipe: http://www.newegg.com/app/view...=35-118-216&DEPA=0
Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer Rev 3: http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=35-186-110&depa=0

I have my eyes on the Arctic Cooling right now, because ive read many good reviews about it, but havn't found/read much about the Zalman...

 

[AsiLuc]

I have had good experiences with the artic cooling. The high/low switch also works well. This Zalman is for silence, not for cooling.

 

[Sonic587]

If you'll be OCing, I'd choose the VGA Silencer. However, if you're a true silence freak, the only way to go is the Zalman.

 

[Wex]

But how well does the zalman cool? Like how much does the temp drop on average?

 

[kayaksurfer]

The Zalman may be a couple/few degrees cooler than a stock GPU cooler, but its main function is to be silent without compromising cooling. I ran one on my 9700 AIW for a couple of years, using a Reserator + GPU block on my 6800 Ultra now.

 

[Davegod]

because it's passive, the effectiveness of the zalman is going to depend on the airflow in your case.

unless you've gone the whole hog for a really quiet pc, my suggestion is go for the artic silencer. i'm more than happy with mine, even on the slow/quiet setting it seems to cool better than stock, is definately a lot quieter and as a bonus it puts it's hot air out the back of the case (you might be surprised just how warm that air is). Frankly, after using one i find it weird similar designs arent used as stock coolers - my only guesses are either video card companies think they cost too much or people would take one look and be reminded of the racket made by the nvidia 5800 leafblower.

if you change your mind later and decide to go for better cooling for overclock (e.g. when the card is getting a bit old), you can flick the fan to speed mode which cools a awful lot better than the stock 9800pro cooler - for roughly the same amount of noise as the stock cooler (i'd say a little more, but at a much less annoying pitch).

 

[akira34]

I just installed one of the Silencer 3's onto my 9800 Pro and it's a lot better than the stock cooler. For one thing, the stock cooler has, at most, 1/4 the amount of aluminum that the Arctic Cooling Silencer 3 uses. It was easy to install, just as removing the stock cooler was a snap. The most difficult part was putting the provided thermal compound on properly (follow the instructions and take your time to do it right). Right off the bat (set it to the high fan speed) my system temp went to (and stayed at) the low to mid 30's. The processor still heats up some, but not as much as before.

My next step will be to replace the stock AMD heatsink and fan that came with my Athlon64 and go to something that will do a better job. Right now, I'm seeing a 10-12C increase from idle to load temps. It's starting at about 33C-35C and I've seen it peak at 49C since installing the new cooler. That's at least 5C lower than before installing the VGA cooler.

Considering the price of the AC item, I'd say it's well worth the expense. If anything, you're getting a solid cooler for cheap money.

 

[ScinteX]

im using the Zalman on my 9800XT and its great. Yes ok it is for silence but you HAVE to get the optional fan for the hih end cards. Its still quiet just not silent. At the moment it is running at 60c ish in doom3... which is cooler than stock (that was 70c idle).
Anyhow just sayin what happened on my rig.

Regarding fitting well it isnt hard but u do need patience. You have to make sure everything is 100% in line. It dont half look sweet now its fitted mind!

 

[MegaWorks]

Arctic Cooling is much better in my experience. With it my Radeon 9500 Pro is at 380 core/600 mem

 

[Wex]

Hmmm, so i guess ill go with the Arctic Cooling then. Thanks alot guys. Also can i use Arctic silver? Has anyone tried it? Also how do I check the temps for graphics card? All i know is when I put my hand near the stock cooler its uncomfortably warm/hot...

 

[thuper]

I used arctic silver on my Silencer. I had to apply it to the core a couple of times because its hard to keep from going beyond the edges of that tiny thing, but that would have been a problem with any compound. So, AS is excellent.

 

[akira34]

I just used the compound provided with the AC cooler... It comes in the same type of dispenser as the Arctic Silver stuff does. If I was to do it again, I'd try the stuff that ships with it before something else.

I'm happy enough with this cooler that I'd install it onto any video card that didn't ship with something similar as a stock cooler.

 

[Wex]

And to see GPU Temps?

 

[Davegod]

Originally posted by: Wex
Hmmm, so i guess ill go with the Arctic Cooling then. Thanks alot guys. Also can i use Arctic silver?

not my opinion but theirs:

Which Paste is best? Silicon- Silver- Copper
The question which paste is best depends on the circumstances. For heatsink surfaces 100% flat and smooth, the silicon paste achieves the best results, since this type of paste can create the thinnest film between CPU and heatsink. This advantage cannot be compensated by the better heat conductivity of copper or silver based thermal compounds. For rough or uneven heatsink surfaces the silver or copper pastes are better. For our coolers the silicon paste is by far the optimal choice.

i used artic alumina though, and didnt see what was meant to be 100% flat about the base of the rev2 version either.