Anyone taken fan off Zalman cooler on X800XL?

yacoub

Golden Member
May 24, 2005
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I have recently purchased a Sapphire X800XL Ultimate - that's the one that comes stock with a Zalman cooler on it. I bought it because it says it's quieter than reference cooling and have built a quiet PC system.

Problem is, the fan on it is by FAR the loudest thing in my case. In fact I'd say it's at least as loud as any other GPU fan. :(

Now I could go through the hassle of RMA for another one, etc. Or I was wondering if I could simply remove (or unplug) the fan. Would the card overheat? It does have those nice big heatsink fins on it. Maybe if I remove the fan and install a 92mm fan in the front of the case that would pass enough air over the heatsink to keep it cool?

Would appreciate some ideas as to how to actually silence the stupid thing, since it's supposed to be so QUIET but it isn't.
 

yacoub

Golden Member
May 24, 2005
1,991
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What's the best way to go about adjusting the voltage on an X800XL? Is that something I can do through a piece of software or is it something done in the BIOS under PCI-E settings?

As far as which fan, I'm not sure. I don't believe the sink is Cu (copper), because it's painted blue, but simply don't know. I can try to find out.

Thanks.

edit: This is the card: http://www.sapphiretech.com/en/products/graphics_landing.php?gpid=25
 

Doctorweir

Golden Member
Sep 20, 2000
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Ok, that's the VF700, just painted blue...
So I would recommend to unplug it from the graphics board and give it 5V or hook it up to a fan controller.
I know from my two sweeties, that @12V they are pretty loud, but @ 7-8v they are silent cooling angels :)
 

jiffylube1024

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2002
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Yup, ATItool does the job when it's connected to the GPU, and I guess that Sapphire Zalman cooler has the connector on the GPU. Good stuff :) .