TT DUO ORB VS ZALMAN VF-900 (reveiw)

[freaksavior]

Introduction:

Zalman is known to produce some of the best CPU and graphics card coolers ever made. Most of their coolers are aimed at enthusiasts who want either a quiet cooling solution or one that can deal with the massive heat loads that an overclocked system produces.

Thermalright is known to produce some of the best performing cooling solutions on the market today. Their design is original and optimized for today's demands in cooling solutions.

Today I will be taking a look at Zalman's VF900 cooler and Comparing it to Thermal takes DuOrb CL-G0102.

Thermaltake Duo Orb

Zalman vf-900 CU 2
Specs:

Zalman:

ATI x1600 Series
ATI x1300 Series
ATI Radeon 9*** Series (except 9550/9600)
ATI Radeon x*** Series
NVIDIA Geforce4 Mx Series
NVIDIA Geforce Fx 5200
NVIDIA Geforce Fx 5500
NVIDIA Geforce Fx 5600(Fx 5700)
NVIDIA Geforce 6600 Series (except 6600 AGP Series)
NVIDIA Geforce4 Ti 4*** Series
NVIDIA Geforce Fx 5700(Ultra) Series
NVIDIA Geforce Fx 5800 Series
NVIDIA Geforce 6600 Series (except 6600 AGP Series)
ATI x1600 Series
NVIDIA Geforce 6600 Series (except 6600 AGP Series)
NVIDIA Geforce 7600 Series
NVIDIA Geforce Fx 5900 Series
NVIDIA Geforce Fx 5950 Series


ATI HD3870
ATI x1900 Series
ATI x1800 Series

NVIDIA Geforce 7900 Series
NVIDIA Geforce 7800 Series (except 7800GS)
NVIDIA Geforce 7600 Series
NVIDIA Geforce 6800 Series
Dimensions : 96(L) x 96(W) x 30(H)mm
Bearing Type : 2 Ball-Bearing
Weight : 185g
Speed : 1,350 ~ 2,400rpm ± 10%
Base Material : Pure Copper
Noise Level : 18.5 ~ 25.0dBA ± 10%

Thermaltake:

Compatibility
nVIDIA 9600GT
nVIDIA 8800 GT/GTS/GTX/Ultra
nVIDIA 7900 GTX
nVIDIA 7800 GT/GTX
nVIDIA 6800 GS/GT
ATi X1950 PRO/XT/XTX
ATi X1900 GT/XT/XTX
ATi X1800 GTO/XL/XT
ATI HD 3870
Dimension
(L)180.5 x (W)98.5 x (H)30 mm
Heatsink Material
Copper base & Copper Fin
Heatpipe
ø 6 mm x 2pcs
Fan Dimension
ø 80 x 15 mm x 2pcs
Rated Voltage
12V
Started Voltage
7 V
Max.Air Flow
23.8 CFM
Max. Air Pressure
2.9 mmH2O
Fan Speed
2500 RPM
Life Expectation
50,000 hrs
Connector
4 pin
Weight
324g

Packaging:

Zalman:
The usual contents include the mounting hardware, thermal grease, and the cooler itself.



Thermaltake:

The usual contents include the mounting hardware, thermal grease, and the cooler itself.






A closer look:

Zalman:

The Zalman base was a almost a perfect mirror finish wich is nice. When i had bought it there was one small mark on it. The base is flat with requires no lapping to the base.






Thermaltake:

The Base of the thermaltake is no where near as much as the mirrored finish of the zalman but had a flat surface to it so the base is required no lapping.






Installation:

Zalman:

The Zalman Is actually a little tougher than the thermaltake cooler. The included springs are a bit tough to get on and require a great deal of patience to get the cooler mounted. I didn’t use them for this reason. overall the installation was a breeze and took about 5-10min





Thermaltake:
The Thermaltake was actually very easy to install. 4 screws, 4 washers, and 4 nuts to tighten to the board, and you’re done. Much Like the zalman the installations are pretty much identical. Once again the overall the installation was a breeze and again took about 5-10min







Performance/Test Setup:

CPU: Intel C2D E8400
Clock Speed: 4000 mhz 9 x 445
Motherboard: Asus Maximus Formula with rampage bios
Memory: Transcend Axe Ram 1200mhz
Video Card(s): HIS HD 3870 @ 850/1188
Hard Disk(s): Seagate 7200.11, maxtor + WD raid 0
Power Supply: Corsair 620HX
Case: Cooler Master Stacker 832
Software: Windows XP pro, Catalyst 8.4, Open GL fur bench Mark
TIM: AC MX-2

Zalman:

Idle Temperature (ambient being 75F) was a rock solid 42C. It didn't move at all.



Load temp gpu usage at 99.99% it topped out at 73c



The Zalman Fan noise is (my guess) around 25-30db, Not loud at all and pretty quiet cooler

Thermaltake:

Now even though it says 837, core is actually clocked to 850

Idle Temperature (ambient being 75F) was 37-38C it fluctuated.



And load temp gpu usage 99.99% (again) Maxed out at 72c



The Thermaltake cooler was considerable louder than the Zalman fan by a easy 5-10db. Since i do not have proper equipment to measure sound i can not accuratly tell what there are at.

Conclusion:

At same price ($34.99) Both of the coolers I tested performed quite well. The Thermaltake is louder than the Zalman so if quietness is the key the the zalman, but if you have other 120mm fans in your case, then the Thermaltake will blend right in. While the Thermal take seems to handle idle temperatures a little better than the zalman. Load temperatures were almost the same with very minimal difference (2c) while load was around 4c difference.

Being the same price i personally would get the Thermaltake Duo-orb even if it is a tad bit louder,If you don't care forthe blue led fans or the slight loudness then my chose would be for the zalman. Either way you go is going to be good replacement coolers for the 3870 series cards.

Both coolers

[philbrown23]

so this is the review you were talking about,lol

[lemonadesoda]

Pictures are a bit big. Big doesnt make up for the fact they are out of focus. You need a "macro" lens! If you resampled them to a smaller size, they wouldnt look so bad.

But thanks for the review!

[freaksavior]

Originally Posted by lemonadesoda

Pictures are a bit big. Big doesnt make up for the fact they are out of focus. You need a "macro" lens! If you resampled them to a smaller size, they wouldnt look so bad.

But thanks for the review!

wich ones are blurry?

and i cant seem to finish this after i installed the vf-900 my card wont boot. i really hope it didn't crap out on me

[lemonadesoda]

Good luck fixing your system.

Look carefully for TIM that got "overspread" or on a resistor that might cause your current boot fail. I hope you turned the PC off fully before yanking the cards, and didnt just do a software "shut down".

Good luck.

The pictures after being automatically "shrunk" by the TPU system are better... but if you click to "full size", then most are blurry. Some of the pictures are redundant, and only add to the overheat of loading the page (most pictures 300K+). So my suggestion is just to reduce the size of all BUT CRITICAL picture, and remove redundant ones.

Redundant or blurry pictures:
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...r/IMG_0028.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...r/IMG_0030.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...r/IMG_0031.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...r/IMG_0038.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...r/IMG_0042.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...r/IMG_0043.jpg

For reasons of PACE.... (I'm a film director )... just kill those pictures from the review. They dont add... only DETRACT from the other, good, pictures.

[freaksavior]

Well its a inconclusive review. Sorry about this guys. My card crapped out apearently. The TIM paste isn't conductive hence why i used mx-2.

I'll remove those pics right away though

[lemonadesoda]

Oh big suck time, freak. Sorry to hear you lost a card, and ALL IN A GOOD CAUSE for the benefit of a TPU review.

Video Card(s): HIS HD 3870 @ 850/1188

That's a BIG LOSS. I hope you can RMA. Here's a +1 to cheer you up a bit.

[JrRacinFan]

Oh man freaksavior. Thats bad, real bad. You getting an RMA approved?

[freaksavior]

Bump. added pics of zalman installed. i did a rub down with alcohol so i hope and PRAY TO GOD this fixes it. i do not want to send this back

[DanishDevil]

Just saw this thread. Glad someone's doing a comparison like this.

And dude. You really need to take it easy. You're going to hell because you murdered too many video cards.

[Widjaja]

Some one with 56k must have put a curse on you.

Good luck with the RMA.

[tkpenalty]

Good review... how many cards did he murder?

[freaksavior]

Originally Posted by tkpenalty

Good review... how many cards did he murder?

Thanks. and so far 6

[dark2099]

What TIM was used, I have a TT Duo Orb (and an Acellero Rev 1 S2) and neither of them seem to get better temps on my Visiontek 3870 than the stock cooler did. I've had all 3 on the card with both AS5 and MX2.

[freaksavior]

mx-2.

It could also be because of my test setup. i have 3 fans on the side, 2 on the bottom 2 in the front, all sucking in air. then one top and one rear blowing out.

[lemonadesoda]

No way is that due to your other fans. You've either

1./ Accidently been a bit BRUTAL in handling them ("lock up your daughters!!!" ).

2./ You've got a dodgy GPU slot and/or power supply and you are overvolting the poor thing

3./ Other reasons more mysterious

[dark2099]

So I decided to re-set my Duo Orb with some MX-2 today (had AS5 on it to see if that would give any better temps than when I initially set it), and I applied about the same amount I put on my CPU and the temps are now lower than the stock cooler, so I guess I just wasn't putting enough on either. To share the temps and such, on the stock cooler when I first got the card, idle temps were about 50c, first time I put the Acellero on idled at 43c, then when I first put the Duo Orb on, with both TIM's not applied in high enough quantities, idle was like 60c, now with enough MX-2 it idles at 38c.

[DanishDevil]

Be careful putting AS5 on a chip without an IHS. You could fry the card. AS5 is electrically conductive, and if you put too much on or get it on something that bridges an electrical connection where it doesn't belong, your card is toast.

Besides, MX-2 doesn't need a break-in time like AS5. MX-2 ftw!

[panchoman]

@DD, i dont think getting as5 on the cpu is enough to fry it, but might make the cpu act weird, etc.

[dark2099]

Yea, I'm definitely a MX-2 guy now, just was testing out the AS5 (plus I have a huge tube that I really have no use for anymore).

[DanishDevil]

Originally Posted by panchoman

@DD, i dont think getting as5 on the cpu is enough to fry it, but might make the cpu act weird, etc.

GPU. It won't mess with a CPU because it has an IHS.

[dark2099]

Well all my GPU's have MX-2 on them so its all good.

[jbruneau]

The review is well done so far, let us know what happens with that card!

Was it thermal paste bridging connections? Are you running a volt-mod? Is it a volt oc using a custom bios? Is it a system overclock, and pushing the PCI-Ex bus too fast? Perhaps too much voltage to the PCI-Ex bus itself?

I have been trying to figure out what to install on my BFG 8600GTS. So far, the winner is Sytrin's KuFormula VF1 Plus! It even beat out AC's Accelero S1 w/ the Turbo Module! I plan on trying out the Accelero with Ceramique instead of the pre-applied whatever it is. I can't believe there is a 10 deg C difference between the VF1 and Accelero!

[freaksavior]

im getting my his in Friday so over the weekend im going to finish this up. If my memory serves me right, the performance of the two coolers are almost the same.

[dark2099]

When I picked up my Duo Orb I was originally gonna get the Zalman but it was out of stock, but I am happy now that the temps are lower. Decided to do a quick check on what kind of temps I would get at load, after a few minutes of having the 3D cube open in ATI Tool, max temp I saw was 50c, same as stock cooler @ idle. Sorry for kind of hijacking the thread.