Zalman vf3000

[drexeus]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this but here goes. I have a xfx 5850 and i was wondering if it would be actually worthwhile to use said vga cooler as of course it entails that i tamper with it. Anyone with experience with the vf3000? Thanks in advance.

~drex

 

[Helltech]

Are your temps really too high with that card? Arctic Cooling is probably your best bet, although Zalman is good.

 

[wolfram23]

I had the same choice, running a pair of reference Sapphire 5850s. I ended up going with Scythe Setsugen coolers which are quite good and VERY quiet, although the one problem with them is that you need to flip the fan around and now 1 cooler "ticks" for about 20 seconds after being turned on but it goes away. It's sucky. I think the VF3000 is about equal in performance. My gaming temps are about 60 at stock voltage with 875/1205 OC. Oh yeah and the VRM cooler sucks I ended up modding it a bit lol...

Honestly, I WISH I could by the same coolers you can get on new 5850s... Like the Twin Frozr II or Vapor X cooler.

 

[drexeus]

@ helltech my temps so far aren't that high but i was planning to overclock the said card currently with the fan at 100% i idle at around 45-50. That is all stock. My ambient room temp is around 35-38c. Is the artic cooler better and would changing said cooler really make a big difference?

@wolfram23 so it wouldn't be advisable to get a new cooler then? Isn't the zalman more or less similar to the twin frozr cooling? Ticking is not good heheh.

 

[wolfram23]

Well, yes, the VF3000 is probably going to do a good job. The real trick tho isn't so much GPU temp but VRAM and VRM temps, make sure to put heat sinks on the top and bottom side of everything. Also you'll probably have to get some thermal adhesive, I had issues with the bottom heat sinks falling down with the double-sided tape it came with. The adhesive is basically a TIM glue.

 

[drexeus]

Best answer selected by drexeus.