GeForce 7800GT Heatsink: Zalman VF700-CU or NV Silencer 3?

zech

Member
Oct 7, 2005
38
0
0
I just bought an eVGA Geforce 7800GT CO, and wondering if investing a mere $30 into a good heatsink would payoff in my situation.

I've heard the stock copper heatsink of the eVGA Geforce 7800GT is good, but then I've heard the Zalman VF700-CU and NV Silencer Rev.3 are superb.

I'm not doing any OC'ing. I want to keep the case/mobo temperatures down as well, which has me thinking the NV Silencer is better suited.

Owners of either please voice your opinion. ;-)

Are there any new cooler VGA heatsinks coming out soon (or already available) I should look into instead?
 

GML3G0

Golden Member
Jan 1, 2005
1,356
0
0
VF700 if you get a lot of dust in your case. NV Silencer Rev. 3 otherwise.
 

zech

Member
Oct 7, 2005
38
0
0
What's your reasoning behind that? How does VF700 prevent dust? (or how does NVS do nothing about it?)
 

rs1089

Member
Oct 6, 2005
94
0
61
the vf700, although still hard to clean entirely, has the copper fins exposed, so u hv the ability to clean it up. Also, it's less susceptible to dust buildup because it blows most of it back into the case. The artic silencer however, will collect with dust easily because all the fins are inside the cooler, trapping more dust. It's harder to clean the artic silencer this way. Thats why you should consider a vf700 if u get a good amount of dust in your case.
 

GML3G0

Golden Member
Jan 1, 2005
1,356
0
0
Originally posted by: rs1089
the vf700, although still hard to clean entirely, has the copper fins exposed, so u hv the ability to clean it up. Also, it's less susceptible to dust buildup because it blows most of it back into the case. The artic silencer however, will collect with dust easily because all the fins are inside the cooler, trapping more dust. It's harder to clean the artic silencer this way. Thats why you should consider a vf700 if u get a good amount of dust in your case.
bingo
 

Snowice

Golden Member
Oct 7, 2004
1,442
0
0
vf700... it cools better and you will be able to use it for your future video card.

vf700 doest not prevent dust, but it's much easier to clean. i had a NV for my 6800 and it's PITA to clean because the plastic cover makes it impossible to reach inside.
 

Born2bwire

Diamond Member
Oct 28, 2005
9,840
6
71
I've got a V700 on my EVGA 7800GT. I can run it at 500/1200 off the 5V setting. Fairly quiet but it'll hit maybe at most 71 Grad right now. I habven't tried the 12V setting though.
 

Operandi

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,508
0
0
The VF-700 is higher quality, cools better, produces less noise, and has the advantage of being used on just about any card.
 

j511180

Senior member
Mar 22, 2005
335
0
0
I put a nvsilencer on my XFX 7800gt a few weeks ago....and now my temps are running 5 - 7 degrees warmer than with the stock cooler :confused: Oh well, at least it's quiet. The stock fan was very noisy.

It came with pre-applied thermal goo on the heatsink for the core and the ram. That could be why my temps are higher - I should have cleaned it off and applied some AS5 or ceramique, but I didn't have any at the time.
 

Jetster

Member
Aug 1, 2005
105
0
0
Hi, i need some tip installing vf700, how much do you guys screw your vf700 to the board? all the way down till you can't turn the 2 screws into the nipples anymore? or leave it half way in? cause i want to install it on my 6800gs, seems that there is no metal shim to protect the core, so i'm quite nervous about how much pressure to push down the heatsink while keeping it tight at the same time
 

grimlykindo

Senior member
Jan 27, 2005
546
0
0
Yeah, I had X800XL with an AC silencer and the fan started humming loudly after 4 months. Now I have a VF-700 on a 7800gt and it works great. Its also alsot easier to install than the silencer (they can be a PITA) I noticed my temps didn't drop much, but I only run my fan at 50% so its totally silent.

I never use stock coolers. I am a silence freak and video cards are often the loudest thing in your case. $30 is worth it to be able you hear yourself think!
 

cw42

Diamond Member
Jan 15, 2004
4,227
0
76
Has anyone tried the recommended method by Arctic Cooling of cleaning dust out of the NV Silencer? They say just take a vaccum cleaner to the exhaust port in the back of the case, and just let it suck it all out. Any decent vaccum cleaner shoud have enough suction to get all that dust out easily. I think that cleaning dust off the VF700 is even more difficult since there's no easy way to clean all the way around the heatsink unless you take the card out.
 

tallman45

Golden Member
May 27, 2003
1,463
0
0
The Silencer exhausts heated air Out of your case and likely a little dust along with it.

I use them on 3 machines (ATI) and they work like a champ, exactly as advertised.

The Zalman just whirls hot air around inside the case, if you have good exhaust fans then that looks like a good solution.
 

potato28

Diamond Member
Jun 27, 2005
8,964
0
0
Looks unaminous... the VF-700 is better. Im looked into this, and it seemed VF-700 is better....
 

MoogerFooger

Member
Oct 28, 2004
40
0
0
Why not just use a stock cooler? To me buying a new cooler, installing it thus voiding your warranty, wasting time on installing it and then getting almost equal results... What's the point? I'd only do that if the stock cooler crapped out or was not providing sufficient cooling. Otherwise it's pure GAS.
 

grimlykindo

Senior member
Jan 27, 2005
546
0
0
Originally posted by: MoogerFooger
Why not just use a stock cooler? To me buying a new cooler, installing it thus voiding your warranty, wasting time on installing it and then getting almost equal results... What's the point? I'd only do that if the stock cooler crapped out or was not providing sufficient cooling. Otherwise it's pure GAS.
uuuhh... not when you have an EVGA - they offer lifetime warranty even with an aftermarket cooler installed. I've also heard that they allow aftermarket BIOS within the warranty, but I haven't researched to see if this is true yet...

Also, those of us who value silence in our PCs see aftermarket GPU coolers as a necessity as stock ones are usually very loud and often uneffective coolers. the VF-700 has now been compatitible with 3 generations of video cards and continues to perform well above the nicest stock coolers.
 

klocwerk

Senior member
Oct 23, 2003
680
0
76
Originally posted by: MoogerFooger
Why not just use a stock cooler? To me buying a new cooler, installing it thus voiding your warranty, wasting time on installing it and then getting almost equal results... What's the point? I'd only do that if the stock cooler crapped out or was not providing sufficient cooling. Otherwise it's pure GAS.


Because they sound like jet engines when the rest of your case is cooled by big slow 120mm fans. As said above, $30 is well worth it to be able to hear yourself think. For some of us at least.


As for which to go with... I'm pondering the same thing.
I'm leaning towards the Silencer for a few reasons.

1. Another exhaust vent in the case. The hot air isn't recirculated unlike the Zalman.
2. Cleaning a silencer really isn't hard. Use canned air, or a vaccum, easy as pie. (I have two longhaired cats, and a silencer on a 9800pro. Cleaning it is simple.)
3. You have to install ramsinks with the Zalman. The silencer cools the ram without needing to use thermal tape/epoxy that'll be a pain down the road.
4. Hot air isn't recirculated, so your CPU isn't sucking on a furnace! (yes, it's in the list twice.)
 

Meuge

Banned
Nov 27, 2005
2,963
0
0
On my motherboard installing the Silencer made it impossible to use an aftermarket chipset cooler (Swiftech). Also, I only have 1 free slot right below the video card, and that didn't leave enough room for the Silencer to breathe.

VF700Cu installation was a lot easier... and the result is both better, and more elegant.
 

wkwong

Banned
May 10, 2004
280
0
0
Originally posted by: Meuge
On my motherboard installing the Silencer made it impossible to use an aftermarket chipset cooler (Swiftech). Also, I only have 1 free slot right below the video card, and that didn't leave enough room for the Silencer to breathe.

VF700Cu installation was a lot easier... and the result is both better, and more elegant.

i have the smae problem on my board, not with not having enough room for the silencer to breathe, but for an aftermaket chipset cooler. the fan on the on my chipset cooler is insanely loud.