Are aftermarket VGA coolers less noisy than stock?

[sygyzy]

Yeah, I know they are called "NV Silencers" but I have actually not seen a review that addresses noise. They always address cooling, which the aftermarket coolers do a great job at. But are they less noisy than coolers?

 

[the cobbler]

oh yeah, and it isn't even close

my 6600GT and 7800GT stock coolers would drown out my stock AMD cooler easy. went to Zalman VF700-Cu and even at 12v setting, it's barely audible. Also slowed the crap DFI chipset cooler and swapped the AMD stock cooler for TT BigTyphoon. The difference is pretty amazing.

now i need a better case so i can chuck the 4x80mm case fans that make it sound like it's going to take flight

 

[sygyzy]

Awesome, that's what I am looking for. Too bad they take up two slots

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: sygyzy
Awesome, that's what I am looking for. Too bad they take up two slots

Worth every penny. I wish manufacturers would just sell naked cards for the same price as regular cards. They'd save me the hassle of removing the stock cooling and cleaning off the core and memory.

 

[samusaraniv]

LOL. Wouldn't that be nice.

 

[Ike0069]

Originally posted by: Golgatha

Originally posted by: sygyzy
Awesome, that's what I am looking for. Too bad they take up two slots

Worth every penny. I wish manufacturers would just sell naked cards for the same price as regular cards. They'd save me the hassle of removing the stock cooling and cleaning off the core and memory.

They could sell it just like an OEM CPU, with only the 30-day warranty though.

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: Ike0069

Originally posted by: Golgatha

Originally posted by: sygyzy
Awesome, that's what I am looking for. Too bad they take up two slots

Worth every penny. I wish manufacturers would just sell naked cards for the same price as regular cards. They'd save me the hassle of removing the stock cooling and cleaning off the core and memory.

They could sell it just like an OEM CPU, with only the 30-day warranty though.

Better than legally voiding your warranty in most cases (eVGA being the exception here) when you remove the useless stock cooling.

 

[TheRyuu]

I've had a bad experience with the vf700. I have an SLI setup so I went out and got 2 vf700's for my 7800GT's. Now I was hitting 80C load with the top card (probably due to limited airflow) so I put a nice quite 120mm fan by the cards to see what would happen. Cut down temps, but still got to about 70C under load.

So I decided, why the hell not and threw the stock coolers back on. Now my 7800GT's barly break 60 (donsn't get above 62ish). WTF? Last I looked the VF700 is a monster compared to my evga 7800GT CO copper heatsink. Maby airflow is everything with the vf700.

Doesn't matter now though, stepping up to 7900's and water cooling.

 

[samusaraniv]

You know, Wizboy, I can attest to your claim. In a single setup, the VF700 outperforms the stock HSF greatly. However, I tested RTHDRIBL out last night in SLI w/ the VF700s attached and saw my cards hit 83C (I have two 7800GTs over clocked to 488/1150)!! I use an AN8 32X motherboard and the PCI-E ports are really close together. So close, in fact, I had to remove the back nipple brace on the bottom card because it was obstructing the fan on the top card.

You have to be right, airflow is everything for the VF700. Stock HSF is single-slot solution which provides more room between the cards, leading to lower temps in SLI.

 

[moonboy403]

after getting the 7900 gtx

i now have doubt whether any aftermarket cooler can be better than the humongous heatsink of the gtx

 

[JBT]

Originally posted by: moonboy403
after getting the 7900 gtx

i now have doubt whether any aftermarket cooler can be better than the humongous heatsink of the gtx

agreed. That thing is sweet.