First impression: Zalman VF700-CU + 6800GT

nbac · Post by **nbac** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 1:53 am

I just bought the brand new Zalman VF700-CU GPU cooler for my
LeadTek 6800GT. While the stock cooler is much quieter than Nvidia's
reference cooler it still sounds like a CD spinning at x20. Quiet? NO!

Installed the Zalman, and at 12V it still sounds like the stock cooler
(but much smoother). GPU temps dropped a few (maybe 5) degrees.
Turned the fanmate (which isn't included) down to 5V and its inaudible
in my system

. I would say it sounds less than the Zalman 7000 at 5V.

GPU temperature stays on the safe side: 58-63'C (20'C in the room)

I know that a lot of you simply wouldn't buy this cooler because it
dumps the heat in the case, but I think it's more relevant to see the whole
picture: If your PSU, CPU and HDD can handle the extra amount of
heat, without adding more noise, why bother? Anyway, the case temp as
reported by the MB sensor didn't rise at all, strange? It's still hovering
around 30'C.

My case is suspended under my desk, and I have cut out a 120mm
hole in the bottom. I guess this hole help to cool the GPU as well.
AC Power consumption peaks at 193W, or 150-160W DC (ST-400 revA3).

What PSU did Nvidia recommend? 480W

I will post updated temp readings later.

falcon26 · Post by **falcon26** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 6:35 pm

Where did you buy the cooler at????

Thanks, falcon26

nbac · Post by **nbac** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 12:04 am

They are widely available here in Sweden. It's a nice exception, since
I can't buy a decent 80mm fan here.

BTW I OC'd to Ultra levels and after an hour of intense
3D gaming (with 4xAA and AF) it's still below 68 degrees C.

xxkrnxstylezxx · Post by **xxkrnxstylezxx** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 6:51 pm

I'm trying to get this in the US but its hard to find. Only 2 places sell it. 1 place has bad reviews, other overcharges.

I guess I have to wait a week or two.

daba · Post by **daba** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 3:53 pm

It says on the Zalman site that you can operate it on "Silent Mode." What effect does that have?

nbac · Post by **nbac** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 2:35 am

Silent mode means that you run the fan at 5 V instead of 12V, and that is
the only way most of us would use this HSF.

I've noticed a faint bearing sound from the fan (no vibrations though).
It seems like Zalman simply cannot produce fans that match the quietest
manufactures.

But I'm not unhappy with the VF700-CU. Maybe I will swap the fan later
like I did with my Zalman 7000.

Edward Ng · Post by **Edward Ng** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 6:38 am

How big is the fan, 70x15mm?

nbac · Post by **nbac** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 8:03 am

It's very close to 80x15. But I can't see why a 80x25 fan wouldn't fit.

Edward Ng · Post by **Edward Ng** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 8:12 am

This review indicates that ZM80D-HP, in combination with a fan, still outperforms VF700-AlCu.

I guess VF700-(Al)Cu is really only a good choice if the ZM80D-HP won't fit your card; I wonder how it compares against VM-101...

-Ed

daba · Post by **daba** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 10:13 am

He states that it is "inaudible" at 5V and that "you can only hear it if you put year ear next to it."

I wonder how this cooler would perform on cases where its passive cousin fails to perform to its full potential, i.e. the V-series case line by Lian Li. The cooler sitting on top of the GPU instead of hanging below it may make some difference.

In addition, the reviewed sample was the AlCu, not the Cu version. Who knows, maybe the Cu version will give better results. All in all, they are lighter than the NV Silencers, no? (~400g compared to 270g/180g)

nbac · Post by **nbac** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 2:43 pm

Sounds a bit strange, but maybe they are right?
I think at least they should have used a GPU with a build-in
thermal diode. We will have to wait for Jan Kivar to test it.

A ZM80 will not fit my card so I can't repeat the test, but I
have no doubt that the HS together with a low speed fan
work very efficient. But what I don’t like about the ZM80
is that it takes an hour to install and it’s weight.

Most of us will have no trouble hearing the VF700 @5V, but it’s
quiet enough for me.

tay · Post by **tay** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 6:54 pm

nbac : thanks for the mini review. Had I known about this cooler before I bought a zm80 last month I wouldve gotten this instead. I spent half an hour installing the zm80 but its somehow skewed and bent. Temps are great but I'm gonna have to reinstall it to fix it.

Why is the zm80 incompatible with your gfx card? Zalman mentions nothing on their product page.

SiliconSoul · Post by **SiliconSoul** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 10:02 pm

it does mention that if the holes are not in the correct place that it will not work. it is compatible with all cards that have holes in the correct places.

nbac · Post by **nbac** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 12:49 am

From http://www.ZalmanUsa.com :
This product is not installable on an nVidia GeForce 6800 GT, 6800 Ultra because they do not have 3mm holes around the GPU.

I just measured the screws on the stock HSF, and they are 2mm.

Interitus · Post by **Interitus** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 9:19 pm

This might not be a bad cooler if you can swap the fan for an 80x25. Anybody confirm this yet? If so I might be selling my ZM80D for one of these

falcon26 · Post by **falcon26** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 7:57 am

My zalman vf700 shipped yesterday so I'll be putting it on my x800 xt in the next few days. I hope I can run the thing at 5v or even 7v and still have my card cooled well. I play COD for hours on end sometimes......

Falcon26

chiahaochang · Post by **chiahaochang** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 7:10 pm

nbac wrote:I just bought the brand new Zalman VF700-CU GPU cooler for my
LeadTek 6800GT. While the stock cooler is much quieter than Nvidia's
reference cooler it still sounds like a CD spinning at x20. Quiet? NO!

Is your 6800GT PCI-e or AGP?

Reason I'm curious is that I was looking into a 6600GT for a HTPC I'm building. I noticed the pics of the AGP 6600GTs all have a heatsink on the PCI-e to AGP bridge that looks like it may interfere with both various Zalman GPU heatsinks.

Edward Ng · Post by **Edward Ng** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 9:59 pm

Yes but neither the PCI nor the AGP 6800/6800GT/6800 Ultra cards have the large PCI-Express to AGP bridge chips, because those are all native AGP chips, and the components that allow them to work on PCI-Express are built right into the GPU packages, being quite small. The 6600GT is a native PCI-Express chip, and the bridge chip necessary to run them on AGP is quite a bit larger, thus occupying its own space on the PCB and warm enough to necessitate its own heatsink. You won't have the same problem there with 6800/6800GT/6800 Ultra.

-Ed

Mike_Metro · Post by **Mike_Metro** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 10:56 pm

What are your impressions of the VF700 vs the Arctic Cooling VGA silencer?

Does the VF700 block the first PCI slot like other VGA coolers?

EDIT:
Happy New Year!

Edward Ng · Post by **Edward Ng** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 7:52 am

One comparison I saw pitted a VF700 against a ZM80D-HP with a fan, and the ZM80D-HP came out on top. I don't see what's wrong with running a ZM80D-HP with, say, a Nexus 120 at ~650rpm; it's going to be quieter than the VF700's fan, and should perform at least as well, if not better. As I said, the VF700 is more of an option in situations where ZM80D-HP and VM-101 won't fit on the card or in the system. Speaking of VM-101, it also is an excellent performer.

I don't know if VF700 uses up the next slot over, but it looks like it does. I might be wrong on that, though.

-Ed

Jan Kivar · Post by **Jan Kivar** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 8:07 am

nbac wrote:Sounds a bit strange, but maybe they are right?
I think at least they should have used a GPU with a build-in
thermal diode. We will have to wait for Jan Kivar to test it.
...

I take it You liked my little fan comparison?

Jan

falcon26 · Post by **falcon26** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 8:19 am

Yeah from what I have heard the vf700 doesn't cool as well as the artic cooler but it also doesn't have that annoying clicking sound of the artic cooler either. And if you run the vf700 at 5v its quieter than the artic cooler, so I guess it depends on what you want, the zalman will be the most quiet solution and the
artic cooler will offer the best performance. For me I want quiet, my temps are already pretty good at 40C idle and about 52C load. I get the zalman on monday so I'll report back than on how my temps were after I installed it...

Falcon26

nbac · Post by **nbac** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 10:48 am

Jan Kivar wrote:
nbac wrote:Sounds a bit strange, but maybe they are right?
I think at least they should have used a GPU with a build-in
thermal diode. We will have to wait for Jan Kivar to test it.
...
I take it You liked my little fan comparison?

Jan

I did, but that wasn't the reason for referring to you:

I thought I read that you would review it (in a post by MikeC(I think..) I can't find).
Could also have been another Jan???
But it doesn't matter if it wasn't true. Must have been hallucinating…

A bit more about the VF700: I OC'd even further, ending up at 420/1150.
GPU temp rose to 72 C if I a loop the 3DMark test 'Ragtroll', but only to 67 C
after running FarCry for an hour.

A real 6800 Ultra would run even hotter due to its higher core voltage.
It could be a problem during the summer?

chiahaochang · Post by **chiahaochang** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 2:15 pm

Edward Ng wrote:Yes but neither the PCI nor the AGP 6800/6800GT/6800 Ultra cards have the large PCI-Express to AGP bridge chips, because those are all native AGP chips, and the components that allow them to work on PCI-Express are built right into the GPU packages, being quite small. The 6600GT is a native PCI-Express chip, and the bridge chip necessary to run them on AGP is quite a bit larger, thus occupying its own space on the PCB and warm enough to necessitate its own heatsink. You won't have the same problem there with 6800/6800GT/6800 Ultra.

-Ed

Thanks for the info. I've seen pics of 6800GTs AGP and PCIe, but as they all have enormous heatsinks on them, I couldn't tell if they were hiding a large bridge chip beneath them. I haven't been following the GPU market lately so I'm sort of in the dark about all this now.

Mike_Metro · Post by **Mike_Metro** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 7:03 pm

Edward Ng wrote:As I said, the VF700 is more of an option in situations where ZM80D-HP and VM-101 won't fit on the card or in the system

Or your a wuss like me and the heatpipe installation looks a little too complicated and prone to technical problems due to my install errors.

falcon26 wrote:...so I guess it depends on what you want, the zalman will be the most quiet solution and the
artic cooler will offer the best performance.

Sounds good to me. I was looking at getting a vga silencer, this looks like a better option.

falcon26 · Post by **falcon26** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 7:12 pm

I have the artic cooler right now on my x800 xt. I would keep it, but that dam clicking noise is driving me nuts. The old artic cooler with the switch on the back was way better in my opinion. That's the only reason I am going to get the zalman vf700. I know my temps will go up slightly but I just can't stand that clicking noise coming from the artic cooler. My system would be dead silent if it wasn't for that.......

falcon26

falcon26 · Post by **falcon26** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 5:44 pm

Ok got the zalman vf700 on my x800 xt. The clicking noise is now gone

And at 5v and 7v the zalman is dead silent. 12v you can hear it silghtly. The funny thing is, my temps actually went down. My temps with the artic cooler were CPU: 42 CASE: 30 now with the zalman its CPU: 40 CASE: 28 go figure but I like

So to me the zalman vf700 beats the artic cooler both in noise and in performance....

falcon26

Mike_Metro · Post by **Mike_Metro** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 7:45 pm

Sounds great falcon26. I'll be ordering one soon.

daba · Post by **daba** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 7:58 pm

Did you have your Arctic Cooling Silencer on some sort of resistor? Also, what are your new GPU temps?

falcon26 · Post by **falcon26** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 6:07 am

GPU temps are
Core: 34
Memory: 30

First impression: Zalman VF700-CU + 6800GT

First impression: Zalman VF700-CU + 6800GT

Re: First impression: Zalman VF700-CU + 6800GT