Silent cooler for a 7900GT overclocked and voltmodded.

[fuzzybabybunny]

I've heard that current air HSFs have increased dramatically in performance over the years, and I'm a bit behind in HSF tech since I've been watercooling for about 6 years.

What's a good, near-silent HSF for a 7900GT, or two in SLI where clearance is an issue?

Watercooling's great and all, but for a video card it's really expensive and the tubing gets in the way, moreso with SLI, hence the reason for me moving to air.

 

[Operandi]

Zalman VF-900 > all else.

 

[Noubourne]

I don't have SLI, but the VF900 does the job for me. It's not silent though. I bet a fan controller could fix that.

In fact it's the loudest fan in my system, next to the north bridge fan. Of course, it's also on full all the time.

 

[IEC]

Zalman fans are reasonable at 12V and dead silent at 5V. With a Fanmate or a fan controller they can be put at 7-9V for best performance/noise.

 

[Noubourne]

Originally posted by: ariafrost
Zalman fans are reasonable at 12V and dead silent at 5V. With a Fanmate or a fan controller they can be put at 7-9V for best performance/noise.

I might actually have a FanMate rolling around in an old box somewhere from my old CNPS 6000. I should see if I can't find it and slap it on to kick down the volts a bit.

I am enjoying a pretty sick OC (imo), and it would be nice to have the balance of noise to performance. Thx for the tip.

 

[Rike]

Originally posted by: Operandi
Zalman VF-900 > all else.

Yeah, I have one on my 7900GT OC w/Vmod on a fan bus. I turn it down for surfing and up for gaming. It's worked very well for me.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Oof, the VF-900 is kinda expensive. What about others like the NV Silencer?

 

[Rike]

I haven't used an NV Silencer but you could try the Zalman VF-900's kid brother, the ZALMAN F700-CU It's also very effective, though a notch or two down from the VF-900.

 

[Pens1566]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Oof, the VF-900 is kinda expensive. What about others like the NV Silencer?

I think the silencer needs like an inch cut off the plastic vent in order to fit the 7900gt's.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: Pens1566

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Oof, the VF-900 is kinda expensive. What about others like the NV Silencer?

I think the silencer needs like an inch cut off the plastic vent in order to fit the 7900gt's.

Yup, and I think it's too fat to fit SLI. VF-900 then I guess...

 

[Running]

the arctic cooling X1 is a good way to go also

 

[gchanjam]

The Thermalright HR-03 is the way to go.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: Pens1566

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Oof, the VF-900 is kinda expensive. What about others like the NV Silencer?

I think the silencer needs like an inch cut off the plastic vent in order to fit the 7900gt's.

Yup, and I think it's too fat to fit SLI. VF-900 then I guess...

The VF-700 and 900 are both options. Both will fit and offer plenty of cooling performance.

If yu have a soddening iron ou can connect either HS/F (700 or 900) directly to the video cards fan header to gain automatic fan control for the best balance between noise and performance. Simply cut the connector portion of both the stock HS/F and Zalman off and solder the stock connectors header onto the Zalman. Use heat shrink tubbing to finish it up.