ZALMAN VF1000 or Thermalright HR-03 Plus

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Gawd
Joined
Mar 26, 2003
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Havent seen to many reviews of these in comparison and was wondering which was better... I know with the zalman you also have to purchase the additional heatsinks which makes the whole thing about $80 compared to HR-0s's $55. But price isnt really an issue.
 
I'm running a HR-03 Plus. It's huge but does a great job. I only run the fan at 80% in BIOS off a motherboard fan header. The supplied thermal tape on the included ram sinks is not the best.
Make sure the chips are very clean and keep a eye on the memory sinks. I had one come off and had to create a temp support(a piece of cardboard) to hold it in position until the tape baked on.
Once the card has heated up a few times, the included ram sinks are on solid enough to not worry about needing thermal epoxy.
 
Your choice, but I would take the Thermalright HR-03+ anytime over the Zalman.
That review did not even mention the HR-03+. Anything is better than the stock pos that is slapped on all 8800's in the Chinese sweatshop they are produced in.
My results with a much higher overclock are: Idle: down from the low 50's to the low 40's (Rivatuner reads the current temp at 39 degrees right now).
Load temps down from high 70's (saw it go into the 80's occasionally) to low 50's. I ran the stock cooler at 100% 24/7. The HR-03+ outperforms the Zalman by a big margin:cool:
 
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I can only speak for the cooler I own and use every day. I have the zalman set up cooling my superclocked EVGA ultra which I'm running at 671/1671/2352 and I never load past 58 degrees. It works really well for me and yeah, installation is really simple. Just my 2 cents.
 
While it appears that the HR-03 does cool better than the VF-1000 one must also realize that the VF-1000 takes about 1/5 of the slots that the HR-03 does for a small loss of cooling. I think that alot of people will be willing to compensate for that. As for the issue with the SLI bridge, can any dremmelling be done?
 
I love the Zalman stuff, but I'll put in a vote for the HR-03+. It comes with everything you need, cheaper and a hell lot sexier than the zalman part.
 
Got a few questions

obviously swapping an aftermarket GPU cooler voids warranty? I would think so

also can a GPU still get damage if overclocked, even though the temps are cooler ?
I spent a crap load of money I'd hate to purchase the HR-03 Plus and damage my card...
 
I vote for the HR-03+; I just can't get over that the SLI Bridge is blocked on the Zalman, so stupid...

Either way, the HR-03+ can be mounted either way you want too.
 
DennisC said:
Got a few questions

obviously swapping an aftermarket GPU cooler voids warranty? I would think so

also can a GPU still get damage if overclocked, even though the temps are cooler ?
I spent a crap load of money I'd hate to purchase the HR-03 Plus and damage my card...
Click to expand...

It depends on the brand, Evga and I believe xfx allow you swap coolers and not void your warranty.

Overclocking a vid card is just like your cpu, you take chances when you decide to do either.
 
The HR03 is huge though, so think about that. Also remember you need to add a fan to its cost, but that also means you can pick the fan.

Another thing to consider is that the heat will all be dumped into your case rather than (mostly) coming out the back.
 
jmackay said:
The HR03 is huge though, so think about that. Also remember you need to add a fan to its cost, but that also means you can pick the fan.

Another thing to consider is that the heat will all be dumped into your case rather than (mostly) coming out the back.
Click to expand...
I used to think the heat being blown out the back was a good idea, but in practice, with video cards, it really seems to do dick all:cool:
 
Becuase of the 92mm fan that can be used on the HR-03+ I would bet its quieter even at full speeds over the Zalman. I liek the way the Zalman looks but my HR-03+ I already have does the job perfectly. At least with the zalman you dont have to worry about your memory cooling coming off!
 
mavalpha said:
Oh, no. The Zalman blocks the SLI bridge.

So tell me, what good does that SLI bridge do in this situation (linked from Anand)?
Click to expand...

And Presto! The HR-03 can be mounted either on top or wrapping the card.
alldone3.jpg


I think the HR-03 is a fantastic GPU cooler, plus it makes your system look seXy and stuff...the Zalman is kinda fugly if you ask me.
 
CopyCat said:
And Presto! The HR-03 can be mounted either on top or wrapping the card.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/Luke9583/alldone3.jpg

I think the HR-03 is a fantastic GPU cooler, plus it makes your system look seXy and stuff...the Zalman is kinda fugly if you ask me.
Click to expand...
Wow, that layout is all kinds of funky!

  • One PCI expansion slot at the bottom, maybe...
  • Bottom GPU's fan has almost no ventilation, and is pre-heated from being so close to the top GPU
  • Top GPU fan is messing up the airflow around the CPU. It's either getting pre-heated air from the CPU, or dumping heated air onto it. And either way, the TRUE's fan is less effective (and louder) because of the cross-draft.
I'm sorry, I just don't consider it practical. Two slots per card is the absolute limit for me, thanks. And even that better be well-justified.
 
mavalpha said:
Wow, that layout is all kinds of funky!

  • One PCI expansion slot at the bottom, maybe...
  • Bottom GPU's fan has almost no ventilation, and is pre-heated from being so close to the top GPU
  • Top GPU fan is messing up the airflow around the CPU. It's either getting pre-heated air from the CPU, or dumping heated air onto it. And either way, the TRUE's fan is less effective (and louder) because of the cross-draft.
I'm sorry, I just don't consider it practical. Two slots per card is the absolute limit for me, thanks. And even that better be well-justified.
Click to expand...

Your argument would be valid if he was just cooling stock cards, but if you want to go "balls to the wall" performance, you know what you need to do. And who needs more than 1 pci slot anyways now, almost everything you need is standard-fare for most chipsets, hehe.
 
azuldenial said:
Your argument would be valid if he was just cooling stock cards, but if you want to go "balls to the wall" performance, you know what you need to do. And who needs more than 1 pci slot anyways now, almost everything you need is standard-fare for most chipsets, hehe.
Click to expand...
I have a wifi card, TV tuner (used to be two, in fact), and sound card plugged into mine. I'm also adding a RAID card shortly, next time I reinstall Windows.
I expect a lot of people have at least a wireless card. And given how many people criticize onboard audio, I'm amazed more people don't have some sort of sound- I'm not endorsing Creative, as I have a Via Envy24, but the numbers definitely are not in line with the number of posts about how "any serious gamer should invest in something better." That's two right there.
 
I kind of find it ironic that people are critical of the Zalman blocking the SLI connector...yet in the image of the SLI setup with the Thermalright heatsinks, someone used a flexiable SLI bridge. Wouldn't said flexiable SLI bridge also fit over 2 cards using Zalmans?

Anyway, I am using the Zalman on a single 8800GTX, and it's a nice cooler. I've never tried using the Thermalright one, so can't comment past saying I don't doubt it cools even better. But, even if only using one card, I didn't like the idea of it's size. For a double slot solution, the Zalman works well. Finally, I don't mind the looks at all. :) Kind of like it overall in fact.
 
mavalpha said:
I have a wifi card, TV tuner (used to be two, in fact), and sound card plugged into mine. I'm also adding a RAID card shortly, next time I reinstall Windows.
I expect a lot of people have at least a wireless card. And given how many people criticize onboard audio, I'm amazed more people don't have some sort of sound- I'm not endorsing Creative, as I have a Via Envy24, but the numbers definitely are not in line with the number of posts about how "any serious gamer should invest in something better." That's two right there.
Click to expand...
Thats all well and good for some people. But my gaming rig has no need for more than the onboard 7.1 audio, I have 0 need for TV cards and even less need for a Raid card.
Truth of the matter is, if you are forking over the $1k+ for those 2 cards AND spending around $100 for the coolers you are most likely building a rig ONLY for gaming or at the very least that is its main purpose.

It really is just a person to person preference.

I wasn't saying anything bad about the Zalman cards. I was just showing that you can SLI with HR-03 coolers given the correct configuration.
And if you are SLI'ing those 2 cards and need more than a stock cooler you are probably getting a mobo made for it
Im sure you could SLI with the Zalman somehow, from the pictures i see its not totally blocked.
 
jmackay said:
It means he would rather have his video card be a bit cooler but the rest of his case hotter :p
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"Dick All" meaning diddly squat. A couple years ago, I was at an AMD trade show where I spoke to an Arctic Cooling rep about their new coolers which no longer vented the hot air out the back of the case. I was concerned that they would be less effective and create more heat inside the case. The rep showed me some charts with temperature graphs that illustrated no increase in internal case temps from the new design. I bought one for my 1900XTX and it was quite effective, and I had no increase in cpu or motherboard temps.
Anyway, with an HR-03+ mounted on my 8800GTS, my ambient case temps went down about 5 degrees from when I had the stock Nvidia cooler, which vented out the back of the PCI slot.
I think this is because with a well vented case, any extra heat that is not being vented from the video card is still exhausted out the case regardless.
It works for me:cool:
 
DerComissar said:
"Dick All" meaning diddly squat. A couple years ago, I was at an AMD trade show where I spoke to an Arctic Cooling rep about their new coolers which no longer vented the hot air out the back of the case. I was concerned that they would be less effective and create more heat inside the case. The rep showed me some charts with temperature graphs that illustrated no increase in internal case temps from the new design. I bought one for my 1900XTX and it was quite effective, and I had no increase in cpu or motherboard temps.
Anyway, with an HR-03+ mounted on my 8800GTS, my ambient case temps went down about 5 degrees from when I had the stock Nvidia cooler, which vented out the back of the PCI slot.
I think this is because with a well vented case, any extra heat that is not being vented from the video card is still ehausted out the case regardless.
It works for me:cool:
Click to expand...

Well yeah, thats the thing. If you have a well ventilated case you will be ok, and you are also adding in another bigger and more powerful fan into your case so temps can lower, but that heat will linger longer for those who have high temps on their existing cards/stock coolers, as these problems are usually due to bad case airflow.

I don't think these heatsinks are the best solution to people who have slightly high temps @ stock, they need to fix their current airflow first. These are great for people who want to push their OCs but don't want to water cool.
 
mavalpha said:
I have a wifi card, TV tuner (used to be two, in fact), and sound card plugged into mine. I'm also adding a RAID card shortly, next time I reinstall Windows.
I expect a lot of people have at least a wireless card. And given how many people criticize onboard audio, I'm amazed more people don't have some sort of sound- I'm not endorsing Creative, as I have a Via Envy24, but the numbers definitely are not in line with the number of posts about how "any serious gamer should invest in something better." That's two right there.
Click to expand...

I think you missed the point, if your all about performance and overclocking to the edge, you wouldnt fill your pci bus up anyways.

I for one only have an x-fi soundcard, but with onboard sound getting so close to discrete offerings, its days are getting numbered. And I prefer the external USB wireless Nic's, they usually have a better range since they arent next to the ground and surrounded by so much electrical noise.
 
jmackay said:
Well yeah, thats the thing. If you have a well ventilated case you will be ok, and you are also adding in another bigger and more powerful fan into your case so temps can lower, but that heat will linger longer for those who have high temps on their existing cards/stock coolers, as these problems are usually due to bad case airflow.

I don't think these heatsinks are the best solution to people who have slightly high temps @ stock, they need to fix their current airflow first. These are great for people who want to push their OCs but don't want to water cool.
Click to expand...
Good point. A well-vented case is a must, and if your case isn't the temps probably would suffer from the extra "contained" heat. As for the watercooling, I have avoided it so far due to the cost of a good watercooling setup. Although I have probably already spent most of that cost on my current and upcoming air-cooled build, Antec 900 case, several 120mm fans, and a Thermalright city:D
 
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