my VF900-cu review...

Y

Yashu

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Apr 18, 2005
Messages
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I drove to directron and bought a vf900-cu. I have been waiting for this thing to come out for a while...

Dcp_1868a.jpg


ok, this thing has quality written all over it. it is extremely well built, the mounting hardware is extremely secure and well thought out (moreso then even the vf700).

The contact surface has been pre polished by zalman! check this out, I have never seen a stock surface so well lapped.

Dcp_1869a.jpg


The footprint once installed is very much the same as the vf700, so if that fits your system then this will.

Dcp_1870a.jpg


There is no excuse to buy any other cooler for your video card. This maintains cooler temps then the vf700 and I can overclock my card further with greater stability.

zalman has impressed me with this.
 
Fistandantilis said:
anyone put one on a 1900xt yet, what are the reuslts?
Click to expand...
I have. Idle's around 35 C; load high 50's to low 60's. That was with overclocking and I forgot what my specs were at the time as its running stock speed right now. Artic silver still needs a few days to fully cure also.

By the way, this runs absolutely silent and is very well constructed; nice and beefy. No need to adjust the fan speed, just set it on high and forget about it. You'll never hear it.

edit: Just got done playing CS:S for about an hour and it was a solid 55 C if that helps anyone.
 
my overclock on my 6800GT with the vf700 was 400mhz on the core...

with the vf900, I can get 410mhz now completely stable with no artifacts... and I can probably go beyond.

now this is amazing to me, because I have about as much experience as one can have with volt modding and overclocking the nv40 core... 10 or more mhz on this core, this cooler is great.
 
ooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo you should apply to some websites as a reviewer you are leet

honestly, good review though
 
Recieved my VF900-CU yesterday and was excited as hell. Finally cool temps for my X1900XT I thought.

Well there was one big party pooper. The damn VF900-CU I recieved was faulty to the point of the fan not moving a one bit. The round heatpite was actually oval :mad: Well luckily the store understand my problem and sended me a new one. Too bad it´s weekend so I can install the new (and hopefully working VF900-CU) next week.

What strikes me odd is that this kinda manufacturing fault was not spotted at Zalman factory as this problem certainly is not doings of vilent postman.

Earp child:

What were you temps with the original cooler? Myn is idling at 50c and on load it gets up to 90c. These numbers don´t go down even if I open the case. Is it just me or what, but I think there are some differences with X1900 thermal sensors. It´s a nobrainer that some pople report below 70c under load while others get ~90c on load with stock cooler.
 
were you connecting the fan directly to your video card?

if so, you need to make sure you have the red and black wires connected correctly.

you may even have to pull out the little contacts and rearrange for what your card requires.

I have used a vf700 on ati cards and nvidia cards... they have different fan connection configuration.

you MUST check the original cooler's cable to see how you need to mod the zalman. that may have been your "fan problem"
 
Yashu I wish that was the problem.

But the fan was actually touching the copper fins of the heatsink. I could not move the fan one centimeter even if I used more than healthy dose of brute force. :(
 
ahhhh... faulty one.

it probably got mushed somewhere in packaging and shipping.
 
Don_1 said:
Got my VF900-CU yesterday installed it.. Very quiet.
Click to expand...

what are your temps though? right now after playing fear for an hour or so my temp get to about 80c, I want to get the zalman but at the same time I am a bit weary of its performance.
I got the vf700 for my 6800GT and the temp difference was soso, but this cooler is $50.00, putting the total cost of my 1900xt at over 500.00, and if I wanted to spend that kind of money on video I would have gotten the xtx.
So anyway, what are the temp differences that you guys are getting.
 
sam0t said:
Earp child:

What were you temps with the original cooler? Myn is idling at 50c and on load it gets up to 90c. These numbers don´t go down even if I open the case. Is it just me or what, but I think there are some differences with X1900 thermal sensors. It´s a nobrainer that some pople report below 70c under load while others get ~90c on load with stock cooler.
Click to expand...

Fistandantilis said:
So anyway, what are the temp differences that you guys are getting.
Click to expand...
Sorry guys but when I bought my x1900xt, I bought the vf900-CU at the same time. I upgraded from an X850XT PE and its fan was starting to get on my nerves. So when I got my card I installed the cooler on it right away. I knew later on that I wished I would have done some type of comparison on it, but I didn't feel like the extra work. Its very well documented throughout the internet what temps these things can get to anyway. I'm sure glad I bought this though, now I just need to quiet down my noisy CPU fan.

I did note that last night after playing CS:S for an hour my temp stayed at a steady 55 C. I'll play a few more graphics intensive games today and post my temps later on.
 
If found on sale and installed correctly you wont be disappointed with this cooler.
 
Quick question: Should one of these be used with an exhaust fan next to it, or would it not make any significant difference?
 
benamaster said:
I wish there were some results of one on a 7900GTX!
Click to expand...
Would like to see 1 also, but not getting my hopes up. Stock cooler is beefy and quiet.
 
Earp Child said:
Sorry guys but when I bought my x1900xt, I bought the vf900-CU at the same time. I upgraded from an X850XT PE and its fan was starting to get on my nerves. So when I got my card I installed the cooler on it right away. I knew later on that I wished I would have done some type of comparison on it, but I didn't feel like the extra work. Its very well documented throughout the internet what temps these things can get to anyway. I'm sure glad I bought this though, now I just need to quiet down my noisy CPU fan.

I did note that last night after playing CS:S for an hour my temp stayed at a steady 55 C. I'll play a few more graphics intensive games today and post my temps later on.
Click to expand...

was it a good upgrade from the x850xt pe?
 
I wonder how good is a v100 single slot solution wich uses same heatpipe tech like a v900.




MD
 
Ok, here's those temps I promissed from yesterday:

CS:S -- 54C
COD2 -- mid to upper 60's, never reached 70
Fear -- mostly hung around 71C, hit 72C once
HL: Lost Coast -- Mostly 70C, hit 75C once

*Note* This is with my x1900xt overclocked to 680/780 and with the room temp around 70 - 72 F.
Something else: once you exit out of a 3D app. it automatically drops the timings down to 2D. So with that and because of the cooler, it takes about 30 seconds or so to bring the core right back down to idle temps. Pretty cool IMO (no pun intended)



Mayhs said:
was it a good upgrade from the x850xt pe?
Click to expand...
I loved my x850xt pe, and I don't want to get off topic so I won't say why I decided to upgrade; but hell yes is was a good upgrade!
 
Bought one of these for my 6600GT PCi-e card as I was running a bit hot in Oblivion (that game really stress your video card).
The card is overclocked, stock speeds core 500mhz memory 1000mhz running @ core 550mhz memory 1100mhz.

All tests, Idle is windows desktop after 20 min, Load is Oblivion after 15 min.

Stock cooler.
Idle.................42°C
Load...............78°C
Ambient Idle....35°C
Ambient Load..48°C

Zalman VF900-Cu and Arctic Silver 5 (Low Speed 1350rpm)
Idle.................38°C
Load...............53°C
Ambient Idle....35°C
Ambient Load..43°C

Zalman VF900-Cu (High Speed 2400rpm)
Idle.................37°C
Load...............48°C
Ambient Idle....34°C
Ambient Load..39°C

That is a 25°C drop at low speed and a whooping 30°C drop at high speed. :eek:
Needless to say I'm very happy with this. :D
Virtualy silent at low speed and I can't hear it at high speed as my CPU cooler and harddrive makes more noise and they are rather silent as well.
 
Got mine installed today. Made my computer way quieter than it was with the stock leafblowers. Temperatures are almost 10 degrees lower, at load and idle.
 
Installed mine the other day, dropped temps 10-15c on my 7900GT, and thats with a volt mod (1.4v) running @ 635core
 
che said:
Installed mine the other day, dropped temps 10-15c on my 7900GT, and thats with a volt mod (1.4v) running @ 635core
Click to expand...

what were your idle and load temps with the stock cooler compared to the idle and load with the new cooler? I put a vf900 on my 7900gtx. Stock hsf i got about 47 on a warmer day and I put the vf900 on there and now the idle is like 42-43. I thought it would be better. I haven't really stressed in to see the load. When you said 10-15 degrees, is that on load temps or idle, or both. I'm gonna try reapplying as5, I think I may be getting too much as5 on there and the heatsink keeps coming off and on a little when I try to hold the vf900 on has i flip the card over and then try to put the screws with the springs on them. I try to hold the heatsink on even so that it doesn't come off so no air bubbles. I think maybe If I can get teh back screws on without the vf900 coming off chipset while holding it, I maybe get better heat transfer.
 
Wolfkin said:
Bought one of these for my 6600GT PCi-e card as I was running a bit hot in Oblivion (that game really stress your video card).
The card is overclocked, stock speeds core 500mhz memory 1000mhz running @ core 550mhz memory 1100mhz.

All tests, Idle is windows desktop after 20 min, Load is Oblivion after 15 min.

Stock cooler.
Idle.................42°C
Load...............78°C
Ambient Idle....35°C
Ambient Load..48°C

Zalman VF900-Cu and Arctic Silver 5 (Low Speed 1350rpm)
Idle.................38°C
Load...............53°C
Ambient Idle....35°C
Ambient Load..43°C

Zalman VF900-Cu (High Speed 2400rpm)
Idle.................37°C
Load...............48°C
Ambient Idle....34°C
Ambient Load..39°C

That is a 25°C drop at low speed and a whooping 30°C drop at high speed. :eek:
Needless to say I'm very happy with this. :D
Virtualy silent at low speed and I can't hear it at high speed as my CPU cooler and harddrive makes more noise and they are rather silent as well.
Click to expand...

I think you should've really went with the VF-700Cu. 6600GT isn't such a hot card that its worth it to spend 50$ on it. I had a 6600GT with a VF-700, and I took it to 600/1200 with idle at 27C and load at 53C.
 
aznpxdd said:
I think you should've really went with the VF-700Cu. 6600GT isn't such a hot card that its worth it to spend 50$ on it. I had a 6600GT with a VF-700, and I took it to 600/1200 with idle at 27C and load at 53C.
Click to expand...

True but I'm getting myself a new card this summer, think it will be a X1900 XT and didn't
want to buy another cooler then.
Haven't tried to clock the 6600GT to the limit yet but as you see in my sig it went pretty high on the stock cooler.
 
Wolfkin said:
Bought one of these for my 6600GT PCi-e card as I was running a bit hot in Oblivion (that game really stress your video card).
The card is overclocked, stock speeds core 500mhz memory 1000mhz running @ core 550mhz memory 1100mhz.

All tests, Idle is windows desktop after 20 min, Load is Oblivion after 15 min.

Stock cooler.
Idle.................42°C
Load...............78°C
Ambient Idle....35°C
Ambient Load..48°C

Zalman VF900-Cu and Arctic Silver 5 (Low Speed 1350rpm)
Idle.................38°C
Load...............53°C
Ambient Idle....35°C
Ambient Load..43°C

Zalman VF900-Cu (High Speed 2400rpm)
Idle.................37°C
Load...............48°C
Ambient Idle....34°C
Ambient Load..39°C

That is a 25°C drop at low speed and a whooping 30°C drop at high speed. :eek:
Needless to say I'm very happy with this. :D
Virtualy silent at low speed and I can't hear it at high speed as my CPU cooler and harddrive makes more noise and they are rather silent as well.
Click to expand...

i think your cooler was full of dust bunnies :D
 
Mayhs said:
i think your cooler was full of dust bunnies :D
Click to expand...

The stock cooler you mean? Not so but I got a rather warm case and it is only in Oblivion
I have reached these high temperatures with the card overclocked.
 
I was not at all impressed with the zalman vf900. Its not thats its not a good cooler. Its just that I didn't realize how good the stock hsf is on the 7900gtx. Anyways, I think I'm gonna put the stock hsf back on using some arctic silver 5.
 
I have been thinking about getting this cooler. I have a PNY 6800GT PCI-e that has some one-slot cooler. I a pretty dissatisfied with the stock temps:

Idle is about 60C and load is about mid to high 70s. I would really like to get the temp down, does anyone think that the vf900 will get it to a reasonable level? Also, those who have the card, AS5 or Zalman goop?
 
Dutt1113 said:
I was not at all impressed with the zalman vf900. Its not thats its not a good cooler. Its just that I didn't realize how good the stock hsf is on the 7900gtx. Anyways, I think I'm gonna put the stock hsf back on using some arctic silver 5.
Click to expand...
This doesn't make sense to me. Just because the 7900GTX stock hsf is good, doesn't make the VF900 any less impressive. There are simply limits to what air cooling can do.

Now if it made it run hotter, I would understand the complaints.
 
Dutt1113 said:
I was not at all impressed with the zalman vf900. Its not thats its not a good cooler. Its just that I didn't realize how good the stock hsf is on the 7900gtx. Anyways, I think I'm gonna put the stock hsf back on using some arctic silver 5.
Click to expand...

I wasn't impressed at all either. I just got mine today and put it on my x1900xtx and the temps were almost around 10c higher than the stock cooler. This is what I got when running a little BF2.....normally in 2D i'll run the stock cooler fan around 40% with the clock speeds turned down, but kept the fan and oc both the same in 2D and 3D for a comparison.

Using ATItool...
710mhz core OC
Core voltage 1.45v

Stock cooler with AS5
idle: 46c (fan 100%)
load: 78c (fan 100%)

VF900
idle: 40c (fan 100%)
load: 84c+ (fan 100%)....my monitors would actually black out because of my OC becoming unstable, but i could still hear sounds.

I know the VF900 was making good contact with the core because it got very hot to the touch, but it's almost like the fan on it couldn't cool it off fast enough. And my case has pretty good air flow through it. I ended up putting the stock cooler back on.
 
what were your idle and load temps with the stock cooler compared to the idle and load with the new cooler?
Click to expand...

Stock cooler:
Idle @ 48C
Load @ 65C

VF900: (1.4v)
Idle @ 38
Load @ 53
 
Nice che. Looks like the VF900 is perfect for the 7900GT card, cool AND silent.
 
Yashu said:
There is no excuse to buy any other cooler for your video card. This maintains cooler temps then the vf700 and I can overclock my card further with greater stability.
Click to expand...

What if you want the heat blown out of the case?
I am loving my NV Silencer 5 (Rev. 3)

Terra - But nice review though :)
 
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