Zalman VF-700Cu

Mister E

2[H]4U
Joined
Sep 14, 2004
Messages
2,661
Instead of putting this in Overclocking & Cooling, I figured it would recieve more appropriate attention here.

I'd like to hear from those of you who have purchased and installed this cooler on medium-high to high-end cards. Including x800xl's, x800pros, x8X0xtpe, 6800gt & ultras. And also, if some1 has put one on a 7800gtx, let's hear it. Better yet, post pictures if you have them.

I went ahead and snagged one today after reading several reviews. W1zzard has a pretty good review still up. But I'd still like to hear from fellow [H]'ers about your experiences with this cooler. Please post be4 and after temps, installation comments, anything relevant. My x800xtpe core temp already soars past 80C under full load. However it can overclock to 575mhz with no lock-ups. Memory, not so good. So with much better heat removal from the core, we'll see what she can do. 600mhz would be shweet.

It'll be here in a couple days, I'll ring in with results and comments around Friday.
 
FWIW, I've done just a little reading over at SilentPC Review, and this seems to be the cooler of choice for most people. The newer Arctic Silencers have fallen a little bit, it seems, cause they seem to have some noise issues.

I'm still deciding myself what to add (if anything) to my x800xl. I sure would like to use the Arctic to vent the hot air outside the case instead of just circulating it in the case like the Zalman.
 
Yeah unless you have good airflow this might not be the best cooler. My Antec Sonta case has two big 120mm fans in it so airflow is not a problem.
 
You do need airflow to get to work at it's full potential, but it's an awesome cooler. I only used an old rev. 3 VGA Silencer on my 9800Pro, so I cant compare the VF-700 Cu to the newer silencers. However, as you can see, it does work. I've benched this card at 435/1170 and I run it daily at 425/1150, no volt mods (POS onboard circuitry evidently prohibits it). It's touch to clean the dust out of, but most coolers are like that. I'm impressed with it, and it is silent compared to 2x120mm 1450RPM antecs (28db or so) even on full blast. I think it'll do you well :cool:
 
7800 runs pretty cool. I have a brand new 700-cu in the box but havent put it on cause my 7800gtx stock runs much cooler than the 6800
 
That's awesome that the 7800 runs so much cooler. If you slap that Zalman on her, be sure and dig up this thread outta your history and post up your results. ;)

FedEx says Thursday for me. Shweet. :D
 
Good luck with the Zalman. I have one on my 6800GT and it worked wonders. I was having trouble with the stock Gigabyte heat pipe cooler. It looked cool, but apparently, one of the pipes wasn't piping heat. So anyway, now I get easy, stable Ultra+ speeds. I was able to run up to 425MHz IIRC, but I actually did somewhat poorer in benchmarks. Must have been some error processing and handling which wasn't apparent on the screen (no corruption).

Now I'm running a cool and stable 410 every day. Thanks Zalman!
 
I like this cooler alot... I have used it on a heavily volt modded 6800... and also an x800xl.

It keeps the temps down, though the x800xl is a pretty hot card if you do any volt modifications.

Numblock: your 6800 was benching slower at 425 because it was throttling the speed down due to lack of electrical power. If you want to get up that high and even higher you will have to do a volt mod... but I would be careful and consider volt modding only for short experimentation. I can say from experience that long term volt modding on 6800 cards results in a dead/unstable card after only a few months, regardless of how well you are cooling.
 
Any1 install this cooler on the x8X0xt-pe class cards? Seems a lot of 6800 owners are very pleased.
 
Go to Zalman's site (www.zalmanusa.com). I am 99% sure the X850XT was on their list as compatible.

Question to GTX owners: how many RAM chips do you have? The Zalman comes with eight ramsinks. I've seen some semi-heatsink on the back of the card cooling what seems to be RAM chips. Does this mean the 7800 has its 256 MB in 16 chips while the 6800 had it in 8? Or did they move the chips to the back of the card for some silly reason?
 
Thanks for the link.

Yeah I'm not worried about compatability. It'll fit on my card and in my case just fine. I was just wanting to hear from other x8X0 owners. Thanks for all your replies so far. :)

Tomorrow's the day. I've never taken the stock cooler off a spendy card be4. :eek:
 
I have. Just so you know, that creaking sound that will make you cringe isn't necessarily your core being crushed :p
 
lol

No crunching sounds for me thanks. I believe the cooler on a x800xt-pe comes right off. So no freezer trick for me either.

I'm off to go retrieve my new toy!! weeeeeeeeeeee :)
 
Ok I got a question for you guys. Why must you power this cooler with the provided fan connector that goes to the power supply? Why can't you just use the graphics cards on board fan connector? That would vary the fan speed according to temperature I assume. So why not? Is the Zalman to beefy for the cards onboard fan control?
 
if your vid card has the right connect it probably will work..

the connector they provide has both a 3v and a 5v connector, depending on how quiet you want the fan..
 
Installed. Working. AWESOME!! :D :cool:

Decided not to bore you with pict's, just see W1zzard's review. It took 20 minutes to swap the coolers and add ramsinks. I used a dab of AS5 and the damn thing went on easier than my Zalman CPU cooler. :p Running it at 12v. Can't even hear it over the other fans.

Stock cooler - 50°C idle / 80-85°C load. Load temps wander depending on room temps, dust etc.

Zalman VF-700Cu - 40°C idle / 62°C load.

I'll post back after a day or so with some overclocking results and some benches. I'm gonna let things 'cure' for a bit be4 I get at it. I am so pleased once again with Zalman. Just gotta keep 'em clean and they work awesome.

Got a hot running X800XT-PE or 6800Ultra? Got an extra PCI-slot and 30 bucks? Get.....one......of.......these!! :D
 
you can get it working with the card's fan connector... you just have to do a little hacking with the connector... you can see what you have to do... it involves swapping two wires... and then you can stick the zlaman connector on the 3 prongs on the card if you remove the plastic guide for the original connector...

it really works great to be able to setup fan profiles with ATI tool
 
awesome thanks! i could probably use the connector on the stock cooler if i swap it and make sure its wired correctly like you mentioned.
 
But why draw more power from the card? Use that power to overclock good man! :p

Glad you like it though. If you want it to cure faster, try shutting off your PC for 20 min, turn it on and play a game for 20min (or real time lighting, etc.) and cycle it twice or so. Cooling and heating lets AS5 set faster.
 
Mr. K6 said:
But why draw more power from the card? Use that power to overclock good man! :p

Glad you like it though. If you want it to cure faster, try shutting off your PC for 20 min, turn it on and play a game for 20min (or real time lighting, etc.) and cycle it twice or so. Cooling and heating lets AS5 set faster.


sounds good. im leavin' in a bit so off she goes. ;)

and yeah i may just leave it on 12v since its so quiet. dont wanna burn the fan out to fast though. probably run 12v in the summer and 5 or 7v in the winter. :D
 
I'm another happy VF-700Cu owner. I installed one on my 6800GT after fighting to get a NV5 on it(ram sinks where soooo uneven). Needless to say the VF-700Cu blew me away.
Stock cooling: 85-90c load
VF-700Cu: 64-67c load
NV5: 75-80c load.
Running 450core/1100 memory flawless. Plus look how sexy it is :cool:
Oh yea, it was hella easy to install also..BIG PLUS.
100_1082.jpg
 
Very nice. I think that GT looks way better with the Zalman instead of the stock cooler. I also like how all 8 ram chips are on the front. Nice even cooling. Four of my ram chips are on the back so no direct air from the fan. bah o well lol :D

I'll post some o/c'ing results tomorrow after werk. Maybe a pict too. :)
 
I recieved mine 2 days ago for my 6800 Ultra. Installation was a breeze. It's very quiet compared to the stock cooler. (Even at 12v, I can barely hear it) I'm still waiting for the AS5 to "cure" so I'll post my temps then. It's an excellent cooler so far. :)
 
Just installed one last night on my X850.

Ambient room temperature of 78 fahrenheit.

Stock cooler: 78c @ load, 42c idle
VF700-Cu: 60c @ load, 37c idle

Not only does this thing cool much better than the stock sink, it also looks awesome. Pair it with a nice Zalman 7000 for your CPU and you've got a lotta copper in that machine. :)
 
Nice. ;)

And yeah I have the blue LED CNPS7000-Cu on my CPU. Looks good with the bright blue LED's on my Antec Sonata case. Case fulla copper indeed. :D
 
Just got done with some overclocking. Pretty much what I expected.

Stock - 520/560 - 50°C idle / 80°C+ load

Zalman - 520/560 - 40°C idle / 63°C load

Zalman o/c - 570/570 - 41°C idle / 65°C load

Card hits a wall at 583/573. Slight artifacting at anything above those speeds. No lock-ups though. Probably could use a little more juice to the core and memory.

I'm seeing about a 5-7% increase in frame rates as a result. Not to shabby. Could mean the difference between 28fps and 30 or so. 3DMark05 went up a couple hundred points. Yippie!! :p

So overall the results are very good. Load temps are down almost 20°C. Idle temps down 10°C. No more down throttling due to heat. No more heat related lock-ups while experimenting with max clock speeds. Even my case temps are down a few degrees. Shweet. :cool:
 
hrmm... now you've got me thinking... lol.. i may have to get one of these.
 
i highly recommend it if your card runs hot and you have good air flow. and you know you like the 'omg dont break it' buzz you get when takin' apart a 400-500 dollar card. :p
 
Anyone have a method of cleaning those stupid RAM sinks? I'm starting to get some dust on mine :eek:
 
a tiny thin brush gets between the copper fins and loosens dust. canned air takes care of the rest. as far as cleaning the ramsinks......maybe a tooth brush? then canned air. buy a dedicated tooth brush for this, dont use your regular brush or your Sonicare. lol :p mine arent dirty yet but I have cleaned my Zalman CPU cooler with the above method.
 
check out my EVGA geforce 6800 GT with zalman and OCZ memory cooling...

Normal 6800 GT stock cooling


what am I trying to do with that?


BIG ISN'T IT?


Memory's pillow case


cleaning with articclean kit


OCZ memory cooling


DONE!


Awesome isn't it?!


modern 6800GT


I got 43c idle and 51c load! :eek: surprise ain't it?!


even overclocking it, the temp increased by 1c more on stock speed idle and load temp

Weird card ain't it?
 
eh? i should save up for one of these :p

although my 6800NU idles at 49 after a softmod and overclock :D 16/6 350/875 :D (stock cooling)
 
I have a BFG 6800 OC Unlocked to 16 Pipes / 6 Vertex Shaders , when i unlock the pipes i cant OC the card anymore at all, but if im at 12x5 i can oc to 390/800 if i got the zalman would it let me oc the card when its unlocked? I found a site that has the zalman for $25 so please let me know , my new pc parts should be in by thursday/ friday so i would like to order the zalman if its good ,

Athlon 64 3000+ Winnie
MSI K8T Board
Tube of AS5
New 500w Ultra psu (nice blue color finish and blue led fans)
4 clear 80mm blue led fans

Thanks,
SaViOr
 
SaViOr- said:
I have a BFG 6800 OC Unlocked to 16 Pipes / 6 Vertex Shaders , when i unlock the pipes i cant OC the card anymore at all, but if im at 12x5 i can oc to 390/800 if i got the zalman would it let me oc the card when its unlocked? I found a site that has the zalman for $25 so please let me know , my new pc parts should be in by thursday/ friday so i would like to order the zalman if its good ,

Athlon 64 3000+ Winnie
MSI K8T Board
Tube of AS5
New 500w Ultra psu (nice blue color finish and blue led fans)
4 clear 80mm blue led fans

Thanks,
SaViOr
Unfortunately, I don't think more cooling would help you. It doesn't sound like a heat-related issue, it just sounds like your card can't handle the OC when unlocked. However, better cooling may help you reach higher overclocks when not unlocked.
 
Nice line-up there Naruto. I too thought about getting some larger copper ramsinks like those. I didn't wanna spend to much though since I 2nd day aired my Zalman. My memory isnt that great of an o/c'er anyways. *shrug* ;)
 
Lol what are people thinking saying the 7800 GTX runs cool.. My BFG runs at 80C full load, not exactly what i'd call a cool running card. lol.

Not when my old X800XTPE got load temps of 56-60C at 550 core (with a silencer).

Theres one big thing people dont take into account when compairing the Zalman and AC coolers though. The zalman connects directly to teh PSU, so the fan justs at full speed all the time (if you use the 12v one), where the AC coolers run from the card, thus the card uses the fan control. I wasnt impressed with my AC cooler on my X800 untill i found it was running at 30% fan speed. After setting it to 100% fan speed it matched the Zalman temps AND it had the added extra of exhausting hot air out the case, and i dont care how good your case cooling is, a direct exhaust is better than none, no matter what :p.
 
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