Video cards with the best coolers.

[coolpurplefan]

I noticed Gigabyte has Zalman coolers and was wondering whether they're pretty quiet under load. (I haven't looked for a new video card in a long time.)

Also, by doing some searching, I've found some with heatpipes as well. The following models had coolers I found cool:

Sparkle Geforce 9800 GT
MSI N9800 GT
Powercolor AG3850
Visiontek HD3870
Sapphire HD3850

Does anyone have any of these models? Can you comment on how effective the coolers are and how noisy they are? Also, can anyone tell me if any of these models won't allow you to see the temperature? (I always seem to get the cards that hide the GPU temps.)

 

[coolpurplefan]

OK, after hours of research I found out which cooler Vvikoo installs on their video cards. This is a French company that makes video cards but I can't find a site on the Internet that sells them.

Anyway, the one that seems best by far is the ZALMAN VF1000 followed by the ZALMAN VF900 ? CU.

 

[error8]

No, the best by far is Thermalright HR-03 followed by Arctic Cooling Accelero S1.

 

[coolpurplefan]

Originally posted by: error8
No, the best by far is Thermalright HR-03 followed by Arctic Cooling Accelero S1.

Those might be good but I'm kind of thinking along the lines of a model with a fan. I mean, I installed a Thermalright V2 on a Geforce 6600 once and ended up putting a fan on it because I was too scared it would overheat. I think both the models you mentioned will accomodate a 120mm fan. So, those could still be silent.

I prefer the idea that the manufacturer would already have a great cooler so you wouldn't have to go out, by your own, fit it yourself etc. It's a hassle and will likely cost more.