Check out the reviews On the egg for that card and you'll see peeps complaining about the fan noise....fan runs at 100% 24/7 with supposedly no ability to control It through RivaTuner or the Nvidia control panel......Just an FYI.
Zalman responded to this and says that shouldn't be the case and those fans are bad. I have seen the opposite posted aswell stating it is quiet.
example Pros: Idles @ 45C with the Zalman fan. Indeed a BIG improvement coming from a 8600GT OC'd @ 625. Black PCB and HSF which gives it a nice touch. Not as big as I've expected. Cool ""XFX"" backdrop.
Cons: The fan is annoyingly loud running at one speed @ 100% all the time. XFX first ticket: I should be able to control the speed using Riva/Speedfan. XFX second ticket: The fan is non-adjustable and is suppose to run 100% all the time QUIETLY. ??? I bought this card when it still has no reviews so i guess I had a bad lot.
Other Thoughts: I would have given this card just one or two eggs for false "Cool and QUIET Zalman Edition" advertisement. But for the benefit of the doubt I'm gave it a 3 since it's suppose to be an "overall" rating. Still waiting for XFX's reply on my ticket. Performance-wise, definitely a 5!
Manufacturer Response:That fan should be very quiet if this is not the case please email me your ticket number (Newegguspport@xfxforce.com) and I can help out. Thanks.
here are some customer reviews
REVIEW BY: Doc Reviewed Jun 03, 2008
I bought this card as an upgrade for my 7600 GTKO. I have no benchmark results to go off of but have noticed quicker execution of programs, etc... Crysis runs ALOT smoother than with the 7600 GTKO, and has never gone over 60 degrees. Overall I am quite satisfied with my purchase. You will be too.
REVIEW BY: FnkDctr Reviewed May 30, 2008
Amazing Card! Went from 7600GT, and more than doubled my 3Dmark scores, and absolutely no hiccup at maxed detail gaming. Overclocked to the XXX specs no prob. 675/1675/1925. Comes with adapters of all types. The only ''con'' is the 100% fan speed. It's got alittle hum, but the temp never goes about 55-60c OC'd and full load. Forget crap paddle fans, this is 8800GT to buy! Running Opteron 180 and 2GB OCz
REVIEW BY: Paole27 Reviewed May 25, 2008
Very good card. I like the cooler very much, as it keeps the card very cool and allows for MASSIVE overclocks. Performs very well. And is a very well built card. Good job XFX...
REVIEW BY: Reviewed May 22, 2008
This card is WOWW!! updated from a 7300gs. Crysis running on high and Bioshock never ran so good. Had to reposition hard drive because of card size and the fins do move and can hit the fan so take note.
Pros: Awesome card, much quieter than my ATI Fire GL V7200. Runs WoW on maxed settings flawlessly. I let crysis determine settings and they came out as ""Very high"". I got the package a day early so kudos to Newegg. Lets see what I have to say in another month.
Cons: After I enabled overclocking, the application is hanging. I still need to work on that resolution.
Other Thoughts: Soooooo quiet as compared to my ATI V7200, graphics are excellent, temp is good
Pros: It's worked great out of the box with no tweaking required. I bought it to play AoC with more detail and I was up and running within 20 minutes of opening the box. It's quiet- I noted some people haven't had luck with the cooler, but it's been very quiet for me in my system. It's pretty short too, only slightly longer than my old xfx 7900 series. Made it much easier to seat in my case.
Cons: So far, none.
Other Thoughts: My other thoughts are for Newegg, this is the 5th product I've ordered from you. You guys are very efficient in your shipping and notification practices. GJ Newegg.
Amazing Card
Pros: Great Price Excellent Performance Very Quiet Running Cool So Far
Cons: Um... only thing I can think of is minor.. it didn't come with a DVI cable, but it did come with a converter to convert the slots on the card to older monitor versions.
Other Thoughts: I play games such as World of Warcraft, Oblivion, and Age of Conan. I can run all these on high settings while still getting at least 30 FPS, greats card for a great price.
Sounds to me like some of the fans are bad whenever you see a posting stating it's loud a XFX rep post offering a RMA because it shouldn't be loud. We will see I ordered one.