Problem: MSI 7800GTX and Zalman VF-900

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duaLife

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 21, 2006
Messages
143
Well, I recently got an MSI 7800GTX for a good deal off the forums, and since this is West Texas it gets pretty hot. Needless to say, the card was idling around 55C. I read about how great the Zalman VF 900 was, and since I already owned the Zalman CNPS9500, I figured I would bite. I got the VF 900 in tonight and here's my dilemma:

I don't think this is with all 7800GTX's, probably just this MSI or whatnot. It's an NX7800GTX 256mb version. I took apart the card, and installed the VF 900 easily enough.. until it came time to plug the molex power cord in. Let me show you what I'm talking about.

On the video card board, there is a 4-pin molex connector:

p7270145smallsw8.jpg


However, the Zalman VF 900 comes with a 3-pin molex connected to it:

p7270146smallgu3.jpg


The box I received came with no adapter of any kind, nor did I assume it would because of this being a 4-pin. My question is, is there some kind of adapter out there I could buy for this? This looks to be a small connector.. here is a picture of it from the stock fan:

p7270147smallyg3.jpg


I searched here and online, but all the results I came up with are for power supplies. Can anyone help me or point me in the right direction? Thanks.
 
You cannot hook up the Zalman vf900 directly to the graphics card. From what I hear, the Zalman's suck too much power and will fry the fan port.

You must use the included Zalman Fanmate that comes with the vf900. There's no way of getting around this short of splicing the wires and making a custom fit (which of course runs the risk of the card being fried)

That's why I prefer the AC series-it's quiet, exhausts all hot air out of the case, and can be hooked up directly to the pcb.

edit: There IS a way of getting around the Zalman Fanmate-you can hook up the 3pin directly to a fan port on your motherboard.
 
duaLife said:
The box I received came with no adapter of any kind, nor did I assume it would because of this being a 4-pin. My question is, is there some kind of adapter out there I could buy for this? This looks to be a small connector.. here is a picture of it from the stock fan:
Click to expand...
There should have been an adapter in the box contents , send it back or have them send you a replacement
 
Alright, I'm guessing any fan port would do? I'll try that out right now, thanks.
 
Seems to have worked fine.. it's now running at 41C idle. Wow, a 14C drop in temperature, that's amazing. Thanks for the help guys.
 
nice nice! my evga 7800GTX idles at 47-53c with stock cooling. depending on time of year.

makes me want to get that zalman set.
 
I just got a 7800GTX from the BST forum and installed a VF900 and was wondering thr same thing. I would have preferred that the video card automatically adjust the fan speed as they do to their stock HSF's. I did have it connected to my motherboard, but then opted to connect it to the fan controller that came with my Xclio 450BL power suppy. It has 4 ports for controlling fans, and luckily it maxes as 6W which is what the Zalman fan is rated at. At the lowest fan controller setting, it still supplies voltage enough to keep it spinning, since this also controls the fan of the power supply.
 
man I had this problem... my 7800gs has a 4 pin header and the wires are not even standard colors...

I still have the stock cooling on it until I can figure out what wires are what.

I want to use one of my zalmans... maybe someone can use a probe and find out what is what.
 
GonzoP said:
There should have been an adapter in the box contents , send it back or have them send you a replacement
Click to expand...
Wrong, There is no adapter for the header on video cards that comes with any Zalman cooler, what you see in the pic is the wire harness for the Fanmate fan controller, not an adapter to plug it into the video card!

i have to agree with everyone else, just plug it into a fan header on the motherboard, if you want to lower the fan speeds then use the Fanmate or another fan controller. I agree also that it would be really nice to have it scale with the video temps!!!
 
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