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VGA Silencer vs Zalman Heatpipe VGA cooler

Having both...

Silencer still makes enough noise that's noticable. Zalman without a fan doesn't. The Silencer is MUCH easier to install. I don't notice any temperature drops using an exhaust system. The Silencer was significantly cheaper as well.

My vote goes to the Silencer.
 
Just a reminder: current crop of totally passive cooling option isn't enough for ATI 9800Pro or higher. You will need a fan with the heatpipes/heatsinks.

Newegg has a ready made totally passive ati 9600xt from saphire for $175ish
 
Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
Having both...

Silencer still makes enough noise that's noticable. Zalman without a fan doesn't. The Silencer is MUCH easier to install. I don't notice any temperature drops using an exhaust system. The Silencer was significantly cheaper as well.

My vote goes to the Silencer.
Click to expand...

I agree with what he said, (I have both) but I like the Zalman better just because it's noiseless. The Silencer on low still makes SOME noise. The funny thing is, I haven't put the Zalman back on because it's such a damn pain to install!
 
Originally posted by: Nebor
I agree with what he said, (I have both) but I like the Zalman better just because it's noiseless. The Silencer on low still makes SOME noise. The funny thing is, I haven't put the Zalman back on because it's such a damn pain to install!
Click to expand...

I'm in the exact same boat! I want to go back to the Zalman but I'm too lazy to install it :laugh:
 
Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
Originally posted by: Nebor
I agree with what he said, (I have both) but I like the Zalman better just because it's noiseless. The Silencer on low still makes SOME noise. The funny thing is, I haven't put the Zalman back on because it's such a damn pain to install!
Click to expand...

I'm in the exact same boat! I want to go back to the Zalman but I'm too lazy to install it :laugh:
Click to expand...

I think as long as I'm going to do it, I might as well buy a new generation video card and a ZM80D-HP.
 
I've never used the Zalman, but the VGA Silencer isn't an extreme cooling solution by any means. It's good for moderate overclocking and near silent operation, but I wasn't overly impressed by its cooling ability.
 
I've had both as well. The Silencer is much more "sturdy" when installed. The Zalman is kind of a pain to put on. Yes, the Silencer is not 100% silent like the Zalman, but it is VERY quiet on low. What I like is it directly exhausts the GPU heat out of the case instead of just dumping it back in. On a high end GPU, that is a lot of heat. On my rig, the upper heatsink of the Zalman was just underneath the NB. This heated up the NB, which I was not crazy about. I sold the Zalman and am keeping the Silencer.
 
I bought the VGA Silencer Rev 2 a few months ago for $12.00 (look in Hot Deals forum) for my MSI 9800 Pro/XT. Install was pretty easy & it's quieter than the stock fan.

Price, noise & ease of install makes the VGA Silencer choice a no-brainer!
 
Originally posted by: animeba
Just a reminder: current crop of totally passive cooling option isn't enough for ATI 9800Pro or higher. You will need a fan with the heatpipes/heatsinks.

Newegg has a ready made totally passive ati 9600xt from saphire for $175ish
Click to expand...

My 9800Pro (even at XT speeds) runs just fine on the ZM80C without a fan. It is, however, MUCH cooler (and OCs better) with their add-on fan mounted on it.
 
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