Quick review of Zalman VF900-Cu

[imported_Burkeman]

I have been running a BFG 6800GT at 407/1100 for a while now with a NV Silencer on it, but my temps have been steadily rising over the past months and the cooler fan cut out last week for a bit - time for a new cooling solution! I ordered the Zalman VF900-Cu from HeatsinkFactory and got it in a few days - good reviews from what I have read, and seemed to be an improvement over the VF700 series.

Temps yesterday were 59 idle and 70-71 load, with ambient temp at 34-35. Not very good!

The VF900 comes in a small box with a window in the back to drool over the shiny copper heatsink surface - very nice! Also included are 8 RAM heatsinks in fashion dark blue - probably aluminum, my guess.

Install of the heatsinks was very quick, and they seem to be holding so far. Spread my thin layer of AS5 and on goes the cooler - an all copper flower-style cooler with 2 heatpipes built around the outer rim of the "flower". Mounts easily with springs below the bottom screws to hold this baby on - didn't seem very heavy actually, less than I expected. Many different mounting options for a variety of cards.

Dropped it in the system, and now things are at 49-50 idle and 60 (max) load with Oblivion running for 30+ minutes. Much improved!

A bit pricy (@$50) but a very nice product - highly recommended.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

cool, its a good cooler for sure, i would of expected a little more though. maybe your ambient temps were higher (read: i live in the drizzly always 54 degrees UK) but when i had a 6800GT i replaced the cooler with a VF700 and idle was 44-45 load 59-60

i used arctic silver though

 

[imported_Burkeman]

I used AS, but my case doesn't have high air flow - I lean more towards silent than super cool.

 

[Art Vandaleigh]

I put two vf900's on my 7900GT's the other day as well. Very impressed so far, they are as quiet if not quieter than the NV silencers i used on 7800GT's. Idle temps were in the low-mid 30's and load temps after a few 3dmark runs were in the low 50's. Good stuff.

 

[GTaudiophile]

I've got one in the mail. Should arrive tomorrow. My 7900GT arrives Monday. I hear the adhesive on the RAMsinks is poor. Can you use AS5 on those instead?

Also, any tips on how to best to remove the stock HSF? Any do's and dont's?

 

[imported_Burkeman]

I had no problem with the ram sinks staying put

(quickly checks card)

Yeah - they're on there good!

AS5 wouldn't hold them - you'd have to use their adhesive stuff - Ceramique?

 

[fixxxer0]

those temps are pretty good if u ask me. mine at 100% fan speed on the same card w/ stock cooling is like 85C

 

[Bullhonkie]

Installed my VF-900 yesterday on a 7900GT. The stock cooler made a racket, sounded like a muffled hair dryer or vacuum cleaner. The whine put out by that tiny fan is absolutely unbearable.

I was getting 42C idle and 68-70C load at 580/870 on stock cooling. With the VF-900 at 6v or so using a rheobus it idles at 33C and 15 minutes of rthdribl loads it to 48C. More importantly it's completely inaudible to my ears.

I had no problems with getting the RAMsinks to stick. The adhesive is supposed to take awhile to fully bond, so I won't go and try to wiggle them just yet.

Probably a little bit on the overkill side for a cool running card like the 7900GT, but that just means it's time to bring on the voltage mod. :evil:

 

[GTaudiophile]

What about tips on how to best remove the stock HSF?

 

[Bullhonkie]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
What about tips on how to best remove the stock HSF?

It came off really easily. I was afraid of going through the old pliers and plastic tabs thing but the 7900GT cooler comes off with 4 screws. No risk of damaging the card at all unless you're really clumsy with a screwdriver.

 

[cubby1223]

Originally posted by: Burkeman
AS5 wouldn't hold them - you'd have to use their adhesive stuff - Ceramique?

Neither AS5 nor Ceramique are meant to be adhesive, so they'd fall off if you used either. Just stick with the thermal tape Zalman supplies - worst case scenario it's still better than previously with no heatsinks.

There is an Arctic Silver epoxy available that works very well.

 

[Arkane13131]

this makes me happy to hear...i just ordered a vf900 because my card idles at 45C and gets up to 73C full load..which seems ridiculously high for a 7900gt. sounds like the vf900 will be an honorable improvement. I read some review somewhere that said it wasnt much better than a stock cooler on a 7800gtx...but its just for quiet use...so i thought "doh! i wasted 50$!" but i think the results will vary for everyone abit..and if properly applied with arctic silver it should be a very nice thing indeed.

u all think it was worth the money?