Zalman VF700-AlCu

[W1zzard]

Show full review

 

[storkman]

Thanks for the review.

Could you give some comparisons between the VF700-Alcu and the ATI Silencer 4 that you last reviewed? I always see reviews of these 2 separately, and they are both always good reviews, but I never get a relative comparison... I would be nice to see some relative graphs on heat and noise levels. And of course the VF700-Cu as well when you review it.

Actually I'm particularly curious about the difference in memory cooling.

Stork

 

[JALOOS]

I currently use the VF700-ALCU on an XFX 6600GT at clocks of 570/1100 (stock 500/1000).
Since I put it on the temps have dropped 8 to 10 degrees idle and 6 to 8 degrees loaded. This is with it being clocked farther than I had it with stock setup.
I have also noticed the recover back to idle temp from load is excellent and sure drops alot faster than stock.
As I have a XFX 6600 GT AGP the board layout is different and I opted to go with the lighter of the 2 models as it will be sitting closer to the outside edge of the card. In fact it hangs over the side of the card about 3 cm. The 90 gram difference might make a difference or not. Why risk it.

Sorry bout the pic size.
And as room had to be made for the HSI chip on the board the ram is much closer to the GPU leaving not enough clearence at base of HS to accomodate the ramsinks. Mind you the jury is still out on wheather the ramsinks help or not. Either way with the setup as is the fan is moving alot of air past the ram and keeping plenty cool I am sure.

All things aside it performs excellent and from what I have managed to find one of the only aftermarket HSF a person can get to fit the 6600GT AGP. Well worth it.

Here is some links to the Zalman:


Card compatible list
http://www.zalman.co.kr/product/cooler/VF700_compatiblelist_eng.html

Card incompatible list
http://www.zalman.co.kr/product/cooler/VF700_incompatiblelist_eng.html

6600GT AGP compatability
http://www.zalman.co.kr/product/cooler/VF700_6600GT_eng.html

 

[SPOOKYSHOGUN]

Connecting the fan

I saw a review by a gentleman who connected the fan directly to the card by modifying the connector. Smart move or no?

 

[SPOOKYSHOGUN]

link

The review I mentioned can be found here:

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/Graphics/mac_6800_ZalmanVF700.html

It's from a Mac site mind you but I don't see what the difference would be for this simple mod. What setting would the fan be running on then? 12V?

 

[W1zzard]

the high end cards have fan outputs which are controlled dynamically varying on gpu temperature.

one thing i would be careful about is that the big zalman fan could draw too much current for the fan output circuitry of the card. this shouldnt be an issue, just food for thought if someone wants to be absolutely safe.

 

[SPOOKYSHOGUN]

Thanks for the info. Is there any way to find out about the circuitry capabilities for different cards? This seems like it might be a good solution if one doesn't want to dangle any more wires on the inside of their machine. I wonder what the RPM rating would be, coming from the card?

 

[JALOOS]

I wonder what the RPM rating would be, coming from the card?

Only if the card supports it in the first place. Why don't you route the wire along the motherboard and plug it in one of the motherboard fan headers. You will not draw all that extra juice from your video card and will more than likely also let you monitor the rpm.

 

[SPOOKYSHOGUN]

Good point on running it off the motherboard. Maybe I'll give that a shot.

 

[DudesBoss]

i reently just got this graphics fan

1 word

AMAZING

my system is a lot quieter, seeming the x700 stock fan is noisy, so 1st its quieter and i have it running at max speed. and the overclocing. wow. i got 40 mhz more in core then the previous overclock i obtained with the stock fan. memory only overclocked by 26 mhz more, but hey every mhz counts

a very good graphics fan. completly recomend this to anyone in need of a fan, make sure its compatible first