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Best performance cooler?

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This post is now a post to show some information on the various coolers out there on the market... These are not based on a single model graphics card and can be applied mostly to any one. I've included a picture of each so that you can see if it looks cool (Cause that's the other reason to buy a cooler these days! :p ) If any of you have more information or personal experience with any of these coolers, please feel free to share your opinions!

Any comments / pro's / cons for any of these?

  • Arctic Cooling ATi Silencer 1(9500) / 2(9600) / 3(9800XT) / 4(X800)
    Pros: Excellent performance, mostly quite quiet
    Cons: Only fits some cards, older revision's fan makes clicking noise, not available everywhere, big
    Pic: Arctic Cooling All
    Ramsinks included: Yes (Part of cooler)​
  • Zalman ZM80D-HP + ZMOP1 fan
    Pros: Excellent performance, silent
    Cons: Hassle to install, more expensive, HUGE heatsink!
    Pic: ZM80D-HP
    Ramsinks included: Yes​
  • Zalman ZM80C-HP (Previous model)
    Pros: Very quiet (no noise when used passively). Excellent performance
    Cons: Hassle to install, takes up a lot of space
    Pic: ZM80C-HP
    Ramsinks included: No​
  • Thermaltake Giant 2
    Pros: Very good performance, pretty inexpensive
    Cons: Fan quite loud on 12V, but better on 7V and silent on 5V, complicated installation, very big
    Pic: Thermaltake Giant 2
    Ramsinks included: No​
  • Thermaltake Extreme Giant 3
    Pros: Very good performance once again especially with the blower and larger heatsink surface area
    Cons: Blower is very loud, complicated installation, HUGE!
    Pic: Thermaltake Giant 3
    Ramsinks included: Yes​
  • Zalman VF700-Cu (Copper) and AlCu (Aluminum & Copper).
    Pros: Excellent performance, silent (Cu's performance is seemingly better than AlCu), easy to install
    Cons: Expensive (Cu is more expensive)
    Pic: VF700-AlCu, VF700-Cu
    Ramsinks included: Yes​
  • Vantec Iceberq 4/Pro
    Pros: Small, good performance, inexpensive
    Cons: Lacks decent cooling power for newer graphics cards (9800Pro and up)
    Pic: Vantec Iceberq 4, Vantec Iceberq 4 Pro
    Ramsinks included: No​
  • CoolerMaster VHC-L61 (CoolViva)
    Pros: Great performance, quiet, quite inexpensive, can be used passively
    Cons: Big, heavy, difficult installation
    Pic: CoolerMaster CoolViva
    Ramsinks included: No​
  • JetArt JACSH1 / Logisys "One For All" (looks the same to me...)
    Pros: Very good performance, fits pretty much all graphics cards, easy installation
    Cons: Heavy, not totally silent
    Pic: Jetart JACSH1
    Ramsinks included: Yes​
  • Thermaltake Schooner
    Pros: Passive ie. no noise, good performance
    Cons: Gets very hot, external heatsink
    Pic: Thermaltake Schooner
    Ramsinks included: No​
  • Vantec Iceberq CCB-AIC(Copper) and CCB-AIA(Aluminum) VGA & Chipset Cooling Kit
    Pros: Copper northbridge and southbridge heatsinks included, very quiet, inexpensive
    Cons: Performance vs. some of the other coolers but aimed for 9800Pro and lower
    Pic: Iceberq CCB-AIC, Iceberq CCB-AIA
    Ramsinks included: No​

Anything I've left out?

UNDER CONSTRUCTION :p

Edit: Sorry, I should've posted this in the Overclocking & Cooling forum section btw :eek:
 
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A

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You can add the Zalman VF700-AlCu.

As for the Artic Coolers, since I see your also from South Africa, its pretty much impossible to get Artic Coolers here unless you order internationally or something to that effect. I've heard great things about the Zalman ZM80D-HP aswell as the Thermaltake Giant 3 but I believe the better out of the two would be the Zalman option. If you look around the site you will find that W1zzard has reviewed each of the 3 above coolers.
 
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Thanks, I'll look for the reviews. And yeah, I haven't seen any arctic cooling. But I figured it could only be that good because it's a pretty small heatsink with a massive fan on top whereas the zalman and giant are huge heatsinks with a huge fans? ;)
 
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Just a reminder.. The VF700 AlCu/Cu doesnt fit on every 9550's.
You can read that on there website.. http://www.zalmanusa.com/product/cooler/VF700_incompatiblelist_eng.html.

So i strngly recommend not to buy the vf700 unless you know for sure that your card is in the "compattible" list of Zalman.

I know that the Arctic VGA Silencer Rev.3 works propperly on any 9550, only one problem.
They say u need to bend something if you want to put it on..
Anyone pictures of this and how to do?
 
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I wasn't that interested in the VF700 so much, but thanks for the reply. I looked at the list before and I didn't find my Gigabyte on the compatible OR incompatible list. Mmm. But I think you can get better cooling if you use the ZM80D-HP with a powerful fan anyway so I'll get that as soon as I have the money! :D ...
 
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If anyone has any additions please tell me that I can add it! I've seen a few coolers but they don't seem so impressive. Any others that's worth a look?
 

stordoff

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Thermaltake Giant 3
very good cooler, but blower fan is loud
performs well on lowest setting and is quiet
 

INSTG8R

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I just installed my TT Giant 2. good price, a bit of a pain to install but nothing major.Fans a bit whiney but may do a 5v from 12 mod to lower the RPM on it a bit.
 
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I've added a few things to the original post. It would be nice to have it stickied, so that people could look here for it, but if there's anything I've left out or something that you don't agree on, please let me know.

ps. There isn't maybe a way to move this post to the Overclocking and Cooling subforum is there?? :eek:
 

INSTG8R

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Well I tried the 5v switch on my TT Giant 2 and you'd think that little fan wouldnt make a difference but on 5v it heated up quick (im playing IL-2 alot right now and its a workout) so Im back to 12V tho I would be interested in how to get it to 7v
 

wazzledoozle

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Add the Vantec Iceberq vga and chipset cooling kit, it comes in copper and aluminum.
 
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I would be interested in how to get it to 7v

Just combine the 12 and 5 volt lines to make 12-5=7V. I think you have to use the 12V as the positive lead and the 5V as the negative. I made my own fan controller that can switch between 7V and 12V but I can't remember the wire configurations :D
 

wazzledoozle

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zAAm said:
Just combine the 12 and 5 volt lines to make 12-5=7V. I think you have to use the 12V as the positive lead and the 5V as the negative. I made my own fan controller that can switch between 7V and 12V but I can't remember the wire configurations :D
Uhh I dont see how that would work, if you had two positive lines on each side you would probably just fry something.
 

FatMaserati

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The Thermaltake Giant III is really good. It cools really well. Most people whinge about how loud the fan is, but when you are playing a game, the game's sound easily overpowers the fan noise and you don't hear it. I didn't bother to install the extra blower fan, because it's ridiculously loud for only a 1-2 degree drop in temperature. THAT'S the fan people whinge about. It's less of an 'airy' fan noise and more of a 'high pitched whine'. Just don't bother with it.

I have concerns with passive cooling. If your computer is in a room that's not all that cold, then a fan is definately needed. You can't have super cooling performance AND no noise. You'll find that all coolers with fans will cool much better. If you have really good case fans (and a lot of them), with good airflow inside your case (tidy cables etc.) then you may get away with a fanless cooler, as long as you don't plan to overclock your card as far as it can possibly go.
 
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wazzledoozle said:
Uhh I dont see how that would work, if you had two positive lines on each side you would probably just fry something.

Uhm, it's been proven to work. I'm actually running my fans in that configuration. It has to do something with the relation between the 5V and 12V lines. It doesn't seem logical but it definitely works! :p Just make sure to keep to the warnings... ;) Here's some more info, although it's not where I got it from. http://people.freenet.de/s.urfer/7vtrick.htm
 

ReconCX

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ZM80 all the way.. =)
 
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I wonder what a peltier would do on a GPU? What do you guys think?? If you could somehow fit a peltier module between the GPU and something like the ZM80D, you'd probably have one helluva cooling system? (Except watercooling, liquid nitrogen and refrigeration o'course ;) )
 
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Peltier cooling doesn't make as much of a difference on a GPU as it does on a CPU.
Although, one might gain 20Mhz or so on the core, which would make a little difference. If I used a peltier on a ZM80, I would recommend 2 vantec tornados to cool it, not the quietest solution. Usually a waterblock is used with a TEC for the most efficient performance. I will soon be getting a ZM80 (this week) and thought of trying a peltier with it, its a big enough heat sink, i would think. When I get the Zalman, I'll post my own review on it from an extreme voltmod standpoint. I might try 2.0v core and see if I get smoke or not.
 
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