Cooling for an EVGA 7900 GT, any suggestions?

[starwars7]

Hey all, I've got the rig in my sig, and I'm looking for some cooling for my 7900GT so that I can OC it.

I noticed some people like the vf900, seems expensive, but if it gets the job done then I'd consider it. I don't care how loud it is, since my other components are already loud

Any suggestions?

Also, would I be able to use it on future cards including possible ATI cards?

I've also never OCed a video card before and was wondering if anyone has a guide or link so that I could read up on how to do it?

EDIT: Looks like this is one tutorial, but it seems risky, didn't know if there is another way: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...adid=1847758&STARTPAGE=1&enterthread=y

 

[BoboKatt]

Aye I have been wondering the same about my new Leadtek 7900GT. The current fan refuses to speed down, RivaTurner since it doesn't properly recognize the card wont let me adjust the fan speed, so I am forced to get an aftermarket solution. I heard you need or should get RAM sinks... does the V900 offer that? Which would be better... the V900 or the NV silencer? Again I just want it quiet! LOL.

 

[Art Vandaleigh]

Zalman vf900 all the way. I have two of them and they are worlds better than stock in terms of performance and sound. Yes they come with ram heat sinks too.

 

[kyparrish]

I wholeheartedly recommend getting an NV Silencer 5 and slightly modding it (cutting off like an inch of the plastic exhaust part. They are $19.99 @ svc.com (I think, I know they were last week), and it exhausts the warm air out of your case. It's QUIET. All of my ram chips are touched by pads on the cooler as well.

I brought my Silencer over from my 6800GS, and with the slight mod, it is great. The Zalman coolers kind of just swirl the warm air around in the case, you really need great intake/exhaust fans in the rest of your case for the Zalman to be effective.

 

[starwars7]

Originally posted by: kyparrish
I wholeheartedly recommend getting an NV Silencer 5 and slightly modding it (cutting off like an inch of the plastic exhaust part. They are $19.99 @ svc.com (I think, I know they were last week), and it exhausts the warm air out of your case. It's QUIET. All of my ram chips are touched by pads on the cooler as well.

I brought my Silencer over from my 6800GS, and with the slight mod, it is great. The Zalman coolers kind of just swirl the warm air around in the case, you really need great intake/exhaust fans in the rest of your case for the Zalman to be effective.

Thanks for the info guys. So does the NV Silencer 5 come with RAM HS's? Also, how do the two compare as far as temps etc.... is there some sort of benchmark?

EDIT: would it be REV 3?

 

[kyparrish]

Originally posted by: starwars7

Originally posted by: kyparrish
I wholeheartedly recommend getting an NV Silencer 5 and slightly modding it (cutting off like an inch of the plastic exhaust part. They are $19.99 @ svc.com (I think, I know they were last week), and it exhausts the warm air out of your case. It's QUIET. All of my ram chips are touched by pads on the cooler as well.

I brought my Silencer over from my 6800GS, and with the slight mod, it is great. The Zalman coolers kind of just swirl the warm air around in the case, you really need great intake/exhaust fans in the rest of your case for the Zalman to be effective.

Thanks for the info guys. So does the NV Silencer 5 come with RAM HS's? Also, how do the two compare as far as temps etc.... is there some sort of benchmark?

EDIT: would it be REV 3?

Yeah, would be Rev. 3. NV Silencer 5 Rev. 3 is the full name.

Instead of ramsinks, there is one giant assembly, with part that touches your actual GPU, and then there are 8 individual ram pads that touch the ram to transfer heat to the cooler. The whole assembly is cooled by a quiet fan that exhausts fan out of the rear. Keep in mind, the ram pads don't make PERFECT contact, but they do make some contact, and do help to cool the ram.

I haven't seen a direct comparison between the 2, but I'd imagine (speculating) that with fantastic airflow (think more loud case fans), the VF900 might have lower temps. Just slightly.

Remember you will have to chop off about an inch or so of the plastic exhaust part or it will stick out of your case. You will probably need a $5 hacksaw if you don't already have on, and you'll get a workout for about 10 minutes

For price/performance, I strongly believe in the NV silencer. I love the DHES (direct heat exhaust system). Don't for

 

[Bobthelost]

Both the vf900 and the AS 5 rev 3 are good coolers, much better and much quieter than the stock ones.

The zalman does not exhaust the heat from the case, which i like, and costs more than the AC one. However there have been complaints that the AC fan starts clicking after a time, it is possible to swap it out for a new one, but it's a hastle.

Temps? A few degrees either way, not really enough to make any practical difference for overclocking. The 7900GT seems to need more volts than it needs lower temperatures.

 

[Arkane13131]

well, you can see the cooler I use in my sig. the card never sees 58C on full load (even on a hot day..and my room is at the top of the house and is terrible with reguards to air conditioning -.- at that overclock... at stock settings with the stock cooler the card would reach 70C.

Before any sort of volt mod I did temperature checks..
the stock cooler idled at 48C (I told ya my room is hot hot hot lol) and would hit 70C
after the zalman it idled at 33C and would hit 46C on full load. So I was damn pleased.
Now after the volt mod and insane overclock it idles at 37C and hits 57C on full load.. but no higher.

If you are not doing the volt mod (voids warranty) I suggest just getting the nv silencer. If you are doing the volt mod..and have good airflow in your case I suggest the vf900 like I have. The reason is... beyond its better performance... the very large fan covers the ramchips...and they get great cooling from the zalman because of that. Even though the fan is very large... it does not take up more than a single slot below the card (which all aftermarket coolers need to be more effective anyway) Some coolers require a slot below and a slot above... or are too thick below for SLI use... ect ect. The other thing I like about it...is I cannot hear it even on it's highest/loudest setting... it was super easy to install..(just dont install it sideways..lol this thing fits no matter how you install it...a testament to it's versatility with card design)

I can clock my card higher than what is in my sig...and it is still totally stable...but I just get nervouse lol cuz it seems so ridiculous that I tone it down 20mhz on core and 50mhz (that translates into 100 effective) on the memory for safety/longevity. (from 450 stock to over 700 just seemed like I was asking for trouble 2 or 3 months down the road)

anyway thats my 0.02$

 

[aldamon]

Originally posted by: Arkane13131
well, you can see the cooler I use in my sig. the card never sees 58C on full load (even on a hot day..and my room is at the top of the house and is terrible with reguards to air conditioning -.- at that overclock... at stock settings with the stock cooler the card would reach 70C.

I have the Sytrin VF1 Plus. I'm running 1.5V through my core @ 715 MHz and never exceed 55C under load.

 

[Munky]

From my own experience, the vf900 only gets about 2 degrees lower temps than a vf700cu, with both at full speed, so save the money and buy something cheaper. An Accelero is better than both of those.

 

[Arkane13131]

here is a picture of what I mean by cools the ram

http://www.matbe.com/images/biblio/ces_2006/000000025741.jpg

vs the silencer

http://lp.pcmoddingmy.com/albums/userpics/AC/NV5r3/24.jpg

which the fan does not sit directly over.... nor would it matter since it doesn't have individual ramsinks just 1 giant flat piece with pad spots.

though I don't own one.. just from looking at it..and what I have heard from owners.. it does not cool the ram aswell as one would like.. when they increase voltage to it and overclock it by hundreds of mhz LoL...

 

[Arkane13131]

Originally posted by: aldamon

Originally posted by: Arkane13131
well, you can see the cooler I use in my sig. the card never sees 58C on full load (even on a hot day..and my room is at the top of the house and is terrible with reguards to air conditioning -.- at that overclock... at stock settings with the stock cooler the card would reach 70C.

I have the Sytrin VF1 Plus. I'm running 1.5V through my core @ 715 MHz and never exceed 55C under load.

yeah but is your room 83F ?
In the mornings when its cool (in the 60's)... it seems to hover right around 53C...but I play mostly afterwork in the heat of the day at 3pm... and where I live it has been hot hot hot.

Can you use that cooler in SLI mode?
And how is the ram cooling?

http://www.phoronix.net/image.php?id=382&image=sytrin_kuvf1p_d3_lrg

how many slots is it taking up?
http://www.ocia.net/reviews/sytrinvf1/pic25.jpg

 

[starwars7]

So is there a way to put RAM coolers on the NV Silencer 5 Rev. 3?

I noticed you can purchase them separate, but I'm wondering if they would fit under the NV Silencer?

Also, Munky mentioned the vf700cu, which is a nicer price compared to the vf900 and seems to perform well. But, I am concerned abou the air flow of my case. Seems I could benefit from the extra exhaust.

However, taking a hack saw to my PC part just seems a little scary What exactly would I need to do? From looking at the pic, I can't see where I would want to chop off part of the NV Silencer

http://lp.pcmoddingmy.com/albums/userpics/AC/NV5r3/24.jpg

 

[kyparrish]

Originally posted by: starwars7
So is there a way to put RAM coolers on the NV Silencer 5 Rev. 3?

I noticed you can purchase them separate, but I'm wondering if they would fit under the NV Silencer?

Also, Munky mentioned the vf700cu, which is a nicer price compared to the vf900 and seems to perform well. But, I am concerned abou the air flow of my case. Seems I could benefit from the extra exhaust.

However, taking a hack saw to my PC part just seems a little scary What exactly would I need to do? From looking at the pic, I can't see where I would want to chop off part of the NV Silencer

http://lp.pcmoddingmy.com/albums/userpics/AC/NV5r3/24.jpg

Okay, the NV Silencer has "built in" ram coolers. Hard to explain. See this pic, the pads make contact with the ram chips, and the fan cools the entire assembly.

link to pic

Doesn't cool the ram as well as the VF900, but it's better than stock that has nothing at all. Plus, I haven't gone crazy overclocking the memory, b/c it is plenty fast enough as it is (freaking 1600mhz effective of 256-bit memory).

I personally haven't even bothered w/ the memory vmod because you see the most gains overclockign the core, increasing your gpu power to GTX levels and beyond.

 

[aldamon]

I'll answer your questions in order.

1.) I live in NC, so the ambient temperature in our house has already hit 78+ with AC. If the VF900 can handle it, turn up your voltage and core speed to match mine and we'll compare apples to apples. I'm not slowing mine down

2.) I believe SLI mode would be impossible with the VF1.

3.) The VF1 came with RAM sinks. I'm running 2.2V through the RAM and am hitting 1950.

4.) The cooler takes up an extra PCI slot.

If SLI doesn't interest you, the Sytrin cooler is a better cooler than the VF900. It's also cheaper. Look how it performs on the spaceheater X1800XL:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/04/14/...plus_the_formula_for_graphics_cooling/

Originally posted by: Arkane13131
yeah but is your room 83F ?
In the mornings when its cool (in the 60's)... it seems to hover right around 53C...but I play mostly afterwork in the heat of the day at 3pm... and where I live it has been hot hot hot.

Can you use that cooler in SLI mode?
And how is the ram cooling?

http://www.phoronix.net/image.php?id=382&image=sytrin_kuvf1p_d3_lrg

how many slots is it taking up?
http://www.ocia.net/reviews/sytrinvf1/pic25.jpg

 

[Arkane13131]

Originally posted by: aldamon
I'll answer your questions in order.

1.) I live in NC, so the ambient temperature in our house has already hit 78+ with AC. If the VF900 can handle it, turn up your voltage and core speed to match mine and we'll compare apples to apples. I'm not slowing mine down

2.) I believe SLI mode would be impossible with the VF1.

3.) The VF1 came with RAM sinks. I'm running 2.2V through the RAM and am hitting 1950.

4.) The cooler takes up an extra PCI slot.

If SLI doesn't interest you, the Sytrin cooler is a better cooler than the VF900. It's also cheaper. Look how it performs on the spaceheater X1800XL:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/04/14/...plus_the_formula_for_graphics_cooling/

Originally posted by: Arkane13131
yeah but is your room 83F ?
In the mornings when its cool (in the 60's)... it seems to hover right around 53C...but I play mostly afterwork in the heat of the day at 3pm... and where I live it has been hot hot hot.

Can you use that cooler in SLI mode?
And how is the ram cooling?

http://www.phoronix.net/image.php?id=382&image=sytrin_kuvf1p_d3_lrg

how many slots is it taking up?
http://www.ocia.net/reviews/sytrinvf1/pic25.jpg

what are you using to check your card max temp? would you run rthdribl for an hour?
If it keeps it cooler than 55C for an hour at 80F room temp.. I will admit defeat lol. For the 15 minutes I watched it.. it did not hit 53C... but when I came back after 1 hour it was up to 56C on screen and 58C was in the temp logger. This is at 700/1950 but only 1.4v. I started this test right when I finished my last post... and ended it when i came back from lunch =P

Also how quiet is that cooler?

edit: here is the link to rthdribl if you dont already have it.

http://www.daionet.gr.jp/~masa/rthdribl/

 

[aldamon]

Originally posted by: Arkane13131I will admit defeat lol.

Read this:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/04/14/...rmula_for_graphics_cooling/page12.html

"We would not have guessed that the VF1 Plus could lower temperatures over 45°F (25°C) from those of a stock card under load. At an MSRP of $38, the only question to ask yourself is whether the VF1 Plus is compatible with your current card. If it is not compatible, the second question to ask is if you're willing to mod it to make it work with your card.

Considering that a high-performance graphics card costs several hundred dollars, an investment of $38 seems pretty reasonable. This is particularly true if the investment has a very positive impact on thermals and acoustics at the same time. This product is a must-have for every enthusiast, whether or not you intend to overclock your graphics board."

Then read this thead and see the misery the VF900 is causing X1900 owners:

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=452425&highlight=vf900

"And now for the temp comparison. Load temps were achieved by running 3 loops of 3dmark06 graphics test, skipped the cpu test. ATI stock cooler fan was run at 100%(sounds like a jet engine like you all know). The stock ATI cooler w\ fan at 100% outpreforms the VF900 under load....... "

The VF1 is in a class of its own.

 

[TheRyuu]

What about water?

My two 7900GT's never break 36C.

But either get the VF1, vf900, or NV Silencer (I like the NV Silencer cause it cools everything without those ram sinks.

 

[Arkane13131]

Originally posted by: aldamon

Originally posted by: Arkane13131I will admit defeat lol.

Read this:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/04/14/...rmula_for_graphics_cooling/page12.html

"We would not have guessed that the VF1 Plus could lower temperatures over 45°F (25°C) from those of a stock card under load. At an MSRP of $38, the only question to ask yourself is whether the VF1 Plus is compatible with your current card. If it is not compatible, the second question to ask is if you're willing to mod it to make it work with your card.

Considering that a high-performance graphics card costs several hundred dollars, an investment of $38 seems pretty reasonable. This is particularly true if the investment has a very positive impact on thermals and acoustics at the same time. This product is a must-have for every enthusiast, whether or not you intend to overclock your graphics board."

Then read this thead and see the misery the VF900 is causing X1900 owners:

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=452425&highlight=vf900

"And now for the temp comparison. Load temps were achieved by running 3 loops of 3dmark06 graphics test, skipped the cpu test. ATI stock cooler fan was run at 100%(sounds like a jet engine like you all know). The stock ATI cooler w\ fan at 100% outpreforms the VF900 under load....... "

The VF1 is in a class of its own.

its variable depending on the article you read. why can't you just run rthdribl and tell me what you get?

 

[aldamon]

Originally posted by: Arkane13131
its variable depending on the article you read. why can't you just run rthdribl and tell me what you get?

I've been using RTHDRIBL since I had my 6800GT. I also use ATITOOL tool.

Why can't you run your GPU at 715 Mhz with 1.5V, change the same motherboard and case/fans as me so we have the same temp sensors and airflow, and then report the temps inside your case during the test? Then you can come over to my house and we'll test in the same room so this pissing match can end. Variables are fun

OR you can try to find a review or threads/posts where the VF900's performance beats the VF1. Since the VF1 can't touch the stock cooler on the X1900, while the VF1 cools the X1900 dramatically, you may have a hard time finding those reviews/posts/threads. The VF1 simply has more cooling capacity than the VF900. Whether or not that increased performance is outweighs its installation/design flaws is up to each person to decide.

 

[Megatomic]

I use a Zalman VF700 CU on my modestly overclocked XFX 7900GT Extreme Edition. No volt mods applied and the card runs at 585/820 and it never goes over 54C even after an hour of RTHDRIBL. You can get a pretty good deal on these coolers now that newer stuff is out so your bang for the buck factor goes up quite a bit with them.

 

[starwars7]

Didn't realize how many options there were an how controversial this would be I can see some of the pros and cons of each, cost definitely being a big variable.

Seems like the NV Silencer 5 Rev. 3 or VF700 CU would be the best bang for your buck.

But the VF1 seems like quite the buy. Does the VF1 Plus fit a 7900GT? Newegg seems to think so: "Compatibility Both NVIDIA / ATI for AGP or PCI-E Video Cards." However, they had to do a little modification in the Toms Article.

Seems like the VF700 CU and NV Silencer are just designed for Nvidia cards? That could be an issue in the future if I switch to ATI.

I was also wondering about the RAM HS's on the VF1, how have they been?

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: starwars7
Seems like the VF700 CU and NV Silencer are just designed for Nvidia cards? That could be an issue in the future if I switch to ATI.

The NV Silencer is designed solely for NV cards, but the Zalman VF700 will work just as well on an ATI card as it will an NV card.

 

[aldamon]

Originally posted by: starwars7But the VF1 seems like quite the buy. Does the VF1 Plus fit a 7900GT? Newegg seems to think so: "Compatibility Both NVIDIA / ATI for AGP or PCI-E Video Cards." However, they had to do a little modification in the Toms Article.

The card in the Tom's review is a burning hot X1800XL, not a 7900GT. It fits the 7900GT with no issues whatsoever. The RAM sinks are fine.

Honestly though, if you're not going to voltmod the card, go with the quiet VF700. It's cheap and will handle a 1.2V 7900GT easily. The VF1 will handle more heat though if you want to keep the cooler for future cards or voltmodding.

 

[lifeguard1999]

Check out the VGA Cooler Roundup April 2006.