Is Artic Silencer-style ducting effective?

Green Shoes · Post by **Green Shoes** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 8:24 pm

I've seen a lot of people complain about these because they click, etc., but the basic premise seems very good to me. I know that GPUs are designed to take temperatures in excess of 70C, but that heat has to go somewhere, and it seems that into the case up to the PSU is not great. But it seems that so few people use them; most are using the Zalman 700-series.

OTOH, since (excepting the Lian-Li) video cards always have to be mounted upside-down, how much heat are these things actually removing? I realize the GPU itself is on the bottom of the card in that case, but convection is working against you. So to make a short post long

, what are your experiences with these? Did you case temperatures drop/rise significantly when you added/removed GPU ducting devices? Did your PSU fan slow down/speed up? Inquiring minds want to know!

(Mods, if this answered somewhere else, kindly re-direct me and lock the post. I searched in vain.)

Lawrence Lee · Post by **Lawrence Lee** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 10:26 pm

I traded in my VGA Silencer Rev2 for a Zalman VF700-CU on my 9800 Pro. Case temp went up by only 1-2C. I used to run the Silencer on low and I run the VF700 at 5V (both inaudible to me). VF700 cools the GPU much better though - barely warm after stress testing.

Splinter · Post by **Splinter** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 1:52 am

I'm running a Zalman dual heatpipe fanless cooler on my 5900Ultra (one of the hottest cards out there) and it's just spiffy. I usually run a 70mm fan at 5v just to keep a slight breeze over the bottom edge, but apart from that...

I think having two many exit-paths takes away from overall performance.

As long as the air is cooler than the component it passes, it's helping.

scotty6435 · Post by **scotty6435** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 1:24 pm

arctic coolers have a massive effect in SFF cases, this is reduced in full sized cases but still makes a difference. The increased exhaust draws even more air through the case, cooling components more and because the hot air isn't recirculated case temps drop further. This is a very good thing however the VF700 has a much quieter fan. In silence terms this is more important. Let's hope the next generation of arctic coolers come with an 80 or 120mm fan!

Edirol · Post by **Edirol** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 3:57 pm

So which solution is best? Zalman or AC in terms of heat/noise ratio?

ddrueding1 · Post by **ddrueding1** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 4:03 pm

A Zalman with a custom duct out the nearby PCI slots and Nexus 120mm @ 5v of course

Kwiet · Post by **Kwiet** » Wed May 11, 2005 2:14 pm

I have personal experience with this one.

Used to run a Sapphire Toxic X700 Pro and it has the Artic Cooler on it stock. Well, it failed after a few weeks so I went with an Asus X700 Pro 256MB card with rather large heat sink and fan control. Nice and quiet but in my desktop MicroATX Cooler Master case, the temps have increased.

CPU has increased 3C due to it's configuration (blowing up out of a 120mm vent in the top of the case) My TV tuner runs hotter also so I plan on throwing an Artic Cooler on the card. With the TV tuner sitting right next to the AC fan, the good air flow keeps the (added) heatsinks from burning my fingers. Those Theater 550 cards run HOT!

For smaller M-ATX and SFF cases, the Artic Cooler makes everything run cooler and quiet.

aidanjm2004 · Post by **aidanjm2004** » Fri May 13, 2005 2:33 pm

scotty6435 wrote:arctic coolers have a massive effect in SFF cases, this is reduced in full sized cases but still makes a difference. The increased exhaust draws even more air through the case, cooling components more and because the hot air isn't recirculated case temps drop further. This is a very good thing however the VF700 has a much quieter fan. In silence terms this is more important. Let's hope the next generation of arctic coolers come with an 80 or 120mm fan!

120mm fan on a graphics card cooler? that's crazy talk

andyb · Post by **andyb** » Tue May 17, 2005 11:01 am

I have an original HIS Excalibur 9800 PRO with a REV 3 (Guessing), I have never heard it, very smooth noise, no clicking, I can only hear it if I stop all the other fans.

I must have had it for about a year now, still going strong. I have never had to run it on fast, never cared about the GPU temp at all, as I have never had a glitch.

I have since ducted it to 3 spare slots below, no idea if it has made any difference at all, I might check one day.

Andy