Zalman VF900 @ CES 2006

Goldmember · Post by **Goldmember** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 10:11 am

A VF900 review from tweaknews using a 7800gt.

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 10:12 am

Another review:
http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/vf900/

This time they compare it to the Fatality VS-F7.

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 10:33 am

Goldmember wrote:A VF900 review from tweaknews using a 7800gt.

"Even more impressive is the fact that the VF900-Cu performed at this level while remaining virtually silent, even at its highest fan speed."

A virtually silent fan spinning around 2400 rpm is quite amazing!

Anyway, kind of odd the 7600GT isn't listed among the compatible video cards.

qviri · Post by **qviri** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 10:39 am

JVM wrote:"Even more impressive is the fact that the VF900-Cu performed at this level while remaining virtually silent, even at its highest fan speed."

A virtually silent fan spinning around 2400 rpm is quite amazing!

Either that, or the reviewer has a different definition of "virtually silent" than we do.

Looking at the pictures, he has a ~40mm fan on his northbridge, and god only knows what kind of case/CPU/PSU fans.

Die_Allianz · Post by **Die_Allianz** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 11:42 am

http://forumdeluxx.de/forum/showthread.php?t=216478

Test with a X1800XT from a private guy. It's german but the interessting parts (charts) needn't to be translated!

temp chip
temp ambient
temp voltage converter
noise (higher is louder)

it rocks!

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 11:46 am

Die_Allianz wrote:http://forumdeluxx.de/forum/showthread.php?t=216478

Looks like an interesting review, but can I see it in English?

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 1:12 pm

Die_Allianz wrote:http://forumdeluxx.de/forum/showthread.php?t=216478

Test with a X1800XT from a private guy. It's german but the interessting parts (charts) needn't to be translated!

temp chip
temp ambient
temp voltage converter
noise (higher is louder)

it rocks!

If I understand that review correctly, the VF700 at 2300 rpm was quieter than the VF900 at 1900 rpm while other noise comparisons between these units were identical.

Shadowknight · Post by **Shadowknight** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 2:37 pm

qviri wrote:
JVM wrote:"Even more impressive is the fact that the VF900-Cu performed at this level while remaining virtually silent, even at its highest fan speed."

A virtually silent fan spinning around 2400 rpm is quite amazing!
Either that, or the reviewer has a different definition of "virtually silent" than we do.

Looking at the pictures, he has a ~40mm fan on his northbridge, and god only knows what kind of case/CPU/PSU fans.

True about relative "silence". I've been on forums where users have claimed that the Zalman 9500 at full blast is quiet/silent

There's one guy on Anandtech who keeps obsessing over SPCR not calling it a quiet heatsink, it's the quietest he's ever used, blah blah blah. No matter how many people have tried to bring him around, he just refuses to acknowledge the possibility that it isn't that quiet, as least compared to other heatsinks, if nothing else.

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 4:11 pm

I wonder how it's performance is compared to CPU coolers. It's probably difficult to make it fit a mobo due to its low profile, but if you have enough clearence then it might work with some modding. Maybe a good choice for a lidless PM or T64? Or for 1U servers (maybe too high)?

Goldmember · Post by **Goldmember** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 8:05 am

JVM wrote:Anyway, kind of odd the 7600GT isn't listed among the compatible video cards.

Yeah it's not on the list, but according to Zalman the 7600GT is compatible.

Take care.

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 11:44 am

Goldmember wrote:
JVM wrote:Anyway, kind of odd the 7600GT isn't listed among the compatible video cards.
Yeah it's not on the list, but according to Zalman the 7600GT is compatible.

Take care.

Next question is 7600GT and VF700?

green · Post by **green** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 12:45 pm

V1 vs V1-Ultra vs VF700-Cu vs VF900-Cu vs Accelero X1 vs NV5 Rev 3
they use a 7800GTX
unfortunately no sound measurements or different speed settings

http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=525

Copper · Post by **Copper** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 1:27 pm

Hey, I like that review.

I just put on a V1 Ultra looking for a quiet solution. Didn't expect it would also rate so well in cooling against the competition.

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 1:52 pm

green wrote:V1 vs V1-Ultra vs VF700-Cu vs VF900-Cu vs Accelero X1 vs NV5 Rev 3
they use a 7800GTX
unfortunately no sound measurements or different speed settings

http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=525

The V1-ultra is that good?? I didn't gather that much from other reviews of it...Not only in terms of performance, but noise, and ease of installation. Isn't the V1-Ultra rather loud?

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 2:01 pm

ryboto wrote:The V1-ultra is that good?? I didn't gather that much from other reviews of it...Not only in terms of performance, but noise, and ease of installation. Isn't the V1-Ultra rather loud?

Replace the fan

Goldmember · Post by **Goldmember** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 2:27 pm

JVM wrote:Next question is 7600GT and VF700?

Yes, ask and ye shall receive. Evidently, the 7600 series run relatively cool.

Take care.

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 4:11 pm

Goldmember wrote:
JVM wrote:Next question is 7600GT and VF700?
Yes, ask and ye shall receive. Evidently, the 7600 series run relatively cool.

Take care.

I sent Zalman the question of compatibility concerning VF700 & VF900 with the 7600GT and never received a reply. I'm certainly glad to know they are compatible. Now I have to decide on which Zalman

Thanks for posting that link to the answer

Copper · Post by **Copper** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 6:56 pm

green wrote:http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=525

Either my watt numbers or wrong or the review is bogus.

My X850XT PE is supposed to produce about 70 watts and the 7800GTX is supposed to produce about 80 watts, yet when I hook not one, but two fans, and run them both at 12 volts my V1 Ultra only cools my 850 to 49C. They claim 41C on the 7800 - with just one fan?

Come to think of it, they only show a 4C difference between idle and load. That seems suspicious all by itself.

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:34 pm

Copper wrote:
Either my watt numbers or wrong or the review is bogus.

My X850XT PE is supposed to produce about 70 watts and the 7800GTX is supposed to produce about 80 watts, yet when I hook not one, but two fans, and run them both at 12 volts my V1 Ultra only cools my 850 to 49C. They claim 41C on the 7800 - with just one fan?

Come to think of it, they only show a 4C difference between idle and load. That seems suspicious all by itself.

Hence my post. We'll have to wait and see if other reviews actually discuss acoustic characteristics

Copper · Post by **Copper** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:44 pm

ryboto wrote:We'll have to wait and see if other reviews actually discuss acoustic characteristics

I don't know about the other coolers listed in the review, but the V1-Ultra is made right for modding. You can run any fan you want on it. The stock fan is loud - ball bearing. Mine has a Nexus 80mm at 7v. Pretty darn quiet. A Panaflo that will actually start at 5v may be an even better option. I bet the temps would be pretty close.

My 850 runs at a peak of 74C with ATITool's 3D window running. Knocking 24C off the temp isn't anywhere near worth the added noise.

Weldingheart · Post by **Weldingheart** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 8:46 am

another review at Virtual Hideout compare VF-900 to Accelero on 7800GT, however due to their method comparing 2 different coolers simultaneusly on SLI configuration, this time VF900 wins over Accelero, I guess upper VGA cooler(AC)would suck hot air from lower card. weird method....

EDIT:
Another review at Sudhian Media, including VF-700,VF-900,and AcceleroX2 on X1800XT, no high praised Lord king of all hill TR V1-Ultra though.

the low and silent mode is at 5V/lowest fanmate setting I guess

looks like swapping the fan on VF-900 is pain since it has different mounting technique compared to VF-700 or 000/7700

this one from tweaker4u.de on GeForce 6800 GT

EDIT:add VGA type

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 12:25 pm

Copper wrote:
ryboto wrote:We'll have to wait and see if other reviews actually discuss acoustic characteristics
I don't know about the other coolers listed in the review, but the V1-Ultra is made right for modding. You can run any fan you want on it. The stock fan is loud - ball bearing. Mine has a Nexus 80mm at 7v. Pretty darn quiet. A Panaflo that will actually start at 5v may be an even better option. I bet the temps would be pretty close.

My 850 runs at a peak of 74C with ATITool's 3D window running. Knocking 24C off the temp isn't anywhere near worth the added noise.

I understand you can swap the fan, but does swapping out the fan for a lower speed variant reduce the performance?? And how so? I'd like to see a comparrison of the v1 with a slow fan, versus the vf900 at 5v.

Slaugh · Post by **Slaugh** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 2:42 am

There's another review of the VF900-Cu on Matbe (Translated).

Temperatures:

Noise levels:

halcyon · Post by **halcyon** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 7:01 am

Thanks for all the reviews & links. If you summarize, could you also post the gfx card it was tested on (so it's possible to know if it's starts to reach its limit with X1900XTX for example).

I don't think the 6800GT used by many is hard enough load for the cooler. It'll be interesting to see how V900 performs at higher thermal loads (I think X1900XTX draws more than twice the power of 6800GT).

VF900 at 5V looks quite tempting though.

I wonder how the IceQ III cards from HIS will fair (It's basically Arctic Cooling v6 or similar, but with full X1900XTX compatibility). They just need to become for sale first :)

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 7:10 am

halcyon wrote:I wonder how the IceQ III cards from HIS will fair (It's basically Arctic Cooling v6 or similar, but with full X1900XTX compatibility). They just need to become for sale first

And a heatpipe

jmke · Post by **jmke** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 12:23 am

the HIS IceQ III is not developed by Arctic Cooling but by HIS in-house; just FYI.

My test results for upcoming GPU roundup place the VF900 well ahead of the VF700; the results seen here from the reviews linked are pretty consistent

VF900@5V ~= VF700@12V performance wise

the VF900 at 12V is slightly louder than VF700@12V in my tests, but once you drop the voltage to 7v you get a good balance of performance/noise with the VF900.

halcyon · Post by **halcyon** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 10:59 am

Thanks, I didn't know HIS developed their own coolers.

Usually corporations concentrate on what they do well, and HIS is not in the business of coolers.

But more the makers, the merrier the landscape :)

BTW, jmke, did you test VF900 on a higher thermal load (like X1900 series)?

Most have tested it at paltry 50-60W load (6800GT) which is half of the draw of X1900XTX.

jmke · Post by **jmke** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 11:04 am

I have bought myself 7800GT back in February with sole purpose testing these GPU Coolers... in my own system I have 6800GT with stock cooling installed.

btw this is the message Arctic Cooling send me (and other reviewers) about the HIS IceQ

Dear Reviewer

Hightech Information System (HIS ) has launched the IceQ 3 cooling solution on the newest ATI graphic card series. The similarity to our ATI Silencer leads to the assumption, that this design could originate from the company ARCTIC COOLING.

We would like to clarify, hereby that this is not the case. ARCTIC COOLING was not involved with either the development nor the production of the IceQ 3 cooling solution.

We ask for your kind attention to this matter to prevent any confusion.

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 3:43 pm

jmke wrote:I have bought myself 7800GT back in February with sole purpose testing these GPU Coolers... in my own system I have 6800GT with stock cooling installed.

Do you mean that you bought it just to get a more hot running card for testing, or did you buy it because you didn't want to use the card in your system for testing? I'm guessing the latter, since the difference in power usage between a 7800GT and a 6800GT is about 1.3 W according to X-bit Labs. I wonder if they are that similar when it comes to cooling.

jmke · Post by **jmke** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 10:22 pm

bought one for testing; and as a rule of thumb I never screw around inside the PC I work on; less risk of destroying something

first 7800gt burned up because of a faulty VGA cooler sample