AHEM..... Coolers?

[Mike Moseng]

I'm looking at getting a cooler for my 9800pro. I have read some
reviews and am looking at the 3 below. Kinda leaning towards the Atric
Cooling one because it "looks" like it "vents" heat out the back of
the case which is a good thing IMO. It also looks like it has a beefy
(2 speed) fan, . Any comments folks? Am I missing any other coolers
out there?


Artic Cooling VGA Silencer
http://www.arctic-cooling.com/en/products/vga_silencer/

Thermaltake Giant III VGA Heatpipe
http://www.coolerguys.com/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=1183

Zalman ZM80C-HP VGA Heatpipe Cooler
http://xoxide.com/zazmvgaheco.html

 

[Cuzman]

" Artic Cooling VGA Silencer "

This has a lot of happy customers. It does the job well, quiet and cool,
and exhausts hot air out of a PCI slot. 278g isn't too bad, considering
that the weight is closer to the AGP port than the Zalman. The HIS
Excalibur Radeon 9800 Pro IceQ Platinum has them on as standard.
http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/radeon/his-1.html?35309


" Thermaltake Giant III VGA Heatpipe "

I don't know much about this one.


" Zalman ZM80C-HP VGA Heatpipe Cooler "

They're good, but they weigh more than the Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer, and
that weight is more to the outside of the card. If you move your case
around, there's a big chance that your card can dislodge, and there have
even been stories of people damaging their cards and AGP ports. They are
also advertised as 325g in weight, and that is without the optional ZM-OP1
fan that you see. The Sapphire Radeon 9800XT Ultimate Edition has them on
as standard.
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/sapphire_radeon_9800_xt_ultimate/page3.asp

 

[JAD]

The cooler situation is fast becoming an issue that is rivaling the
'AMD scenario.
Is the 9700 pro that much less a heat producer, at just slightly over
stock speeds, than the 9800?
Or are you folks looking for cooling solutions, OC'n like a mad man
and not saying so?
I ask because, personally, if the cards are coming out without
adequate cooling from the factory,
this would be a MAJOR QC problem. Looking over the last 30 posts about
9800's cooling problems
Only a few mention OC'n. Other than the 'noise' that gets added, my
9700's stock solution is cooling
'above the call'.

 

[Mike Moseng]

" Artic Cooling VGA Silencer "

This has a lot of happy customers. It does the job well, quiet and cool,
and exhausts hot air out of a PCI slot. 278g isn't too bad, considering
that the weight is closer to the AGP port than the Zalman. The HIS
Excalibur Radeon 9800 Pro IceQ Platinum has them on as standard.
http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/radeon/his-1.html?35309


" Thermaltake Giant III VGA Heatpipe "

I don't know much about this one.


" Zalman ZM80C-HP VGA Heatpipe Cooler "

They're good, but they weigh more than the Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer, and
that weight is more to the outside of the card. If you move your case
around, there's a big chance that your card can dislodge, and there have
even been stories of people damaging their cards and AGP ports. They are
also advertised as 325g in weight, and that is without the optional ZM-OP1
fan that you see. The Sapphire Radeon 9800XT Ultimate Edition has them on
as standard.
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/sapphire_radeon_9800_xt_ultimate/page3.asp

Thanks Cuzman. As I said, The Artic Cooling VGA Silencer looks like
the best choice so far. I do have a concern though and that's the
apparent lack of RAM cooling? The unit itself doesn't seem to cool the
RAM and I can't seem to find pictures of installation to see if I can
somehow mod it to allow for RAM sinks of some sort, or perhaps copper
shims?? Of course, it's possible that the fan alone maybe enough to
cool the ram. Would you or anyone know anymore regarding this?

 

[Mike Moseng]

The cooler situation is fast becoming an issue that is rivaling the
'AMD scenario.
Is the 9700 pro that much less a heat producer, at just slightly over
stock speeds, than the 9800?
Or are you folks looking for cooling solutions, OC'n like a mad man
and not saying so?
I ask because, personally, if the cards are coming out without
adequate cooling from the factory,
this would be a MAJOR QC problem. Looking over the last 30 posts about
9800's cooling problems
Only a few mention OC'n. Other than the 'noise' that gets added, my
9700's stock solution is cooling
'above the call'.

I can't speak for everyone but I plan to OC like a MAD MAN! Heh!
J/K. The fact is these cards run hot, but I haven't heard of any cards
being so hot as to fail because of it! Now if I can prolong the life
by keeping the components cooler, and "possibly" improve the
performance by modifying it for around $30, then it's money well spent
IMO.

 

[Julian Richards]

Thanks Cuzman. As I said, The Artic Cooling VGA Silencer looks like
the best choice so far. I do have a concern though and that's the
apparent lack of RAM cooling? The unit itself doesn't seem to cool the
RAM and I can't seem to find pictures of installation to see if I can
somehow mod it to allow for RAM sinks of some sort, or perhaps copper
shims?? Of course, it's possible that the fan alone maybe enough to
cool the ram. Would you or anyone know anymore regarding this?

I've been told that it is possible to fit RAM heatsinks but also the
Silencer is meant to help anyway by improving the airflow over the
RAM.

The one compliant that I have about it is that the fan is more like a
paddlewheel than a fan. A bit more thought and they could have
increased throughput a lot more.

Perhaps if I put the nozzle of the vacuum cleaner against the output
at the back of the case...
--

Julian Richards
computer "at" richardsuk.f9.co.uk

XP Home
L7S7A2 motherboard
Powercolor 9800 SE 8 pipelines with Omega drivers
1 GB RAM
10 GB + 80 GB HDs
CD+DVD/CDRW drives

 

[Thomas]

I'm looking at getting a cooler for my 9800pro. I have read some
reviews and am looking at the 3 below. Kinda leaning towards the Atric
Cooling one because it "looks" like it "vents" heat out the back of
the case which is a good thing IMO. It also looks like it has a beefy
(2 speed) fan, . Any comments folks? Am I missing any other coolers
out there?

I have the Swiftech MCW50
http://www.overclockers.com/articles977/

I just don't think it's what you're looking for, haha...

It's very effective though, hehe, the quietest cooler you can imagine that
has a good performance
It has my Radeon 9500 NP 128MB (modded to 9700) O/C'd from 275/270 to
390/317!!

Thomas.

 

[GTX_SlotCar]

There is room for ramsinks with this cooler. Obviously, you'll want to
install them before you put the cooler on.


Gary

 

[Steve Henderson]

There is room for ramsinks with this cooler. Obviously, you'll want to
install them before you put the cooler on.


Gary

how about just pulling the side off the PC and pointing a 12" fan at the
whole thing ? <grin>

 

[Mudfish\(Co30\)]

The VGA silener is nice indeed. Easy to install,
quiet and a quick 50 Mhz (15%) increase in core
speed. Well worth 20 bucks.

You should plan on spending a few hours lapping
it down as the machine tooling marks left on the
core contact plate are pretty atrocious. Use arctic
silver instead of the crap that comes with it if you
have any.

It doesn 't do anything for ram cooling but IMHO
passive heatsinks on ram are just as good as
as long as there is some airflow over them, as
from a case side fan.


--

<{{ MudFish (Co30){('>

www.Co30.com
"Careful with that Axe Eugene."

 

[GTX_SlotCar]

"Steve Henderson" wrote

how about just pulling the side off the PC and pointing a 12" fan at the
whole thing ? <grin>

Well...... that actually works. Last summer we had a few days of 100° temps
(yes, we get them in Maine). It was causing some intermittent problems with
my OC'ing.
My wife had bought me a small (8" ?) desk fan to keep me cool while racing
online. It's one of those cheap, plastic fans (blue and white, I think) with
about a dozen blades that looks like a turbo-prop engine with the center,
bullet shaped spinner that's actually the speed control. It tips up slightly
so you can put it on your office desk and get the breeze in your face.
I took the side panel off my case, unplugged all my case fans and put that
desk fan on low speed pointing right onto the motherboard. It worked great
and it was quiet on low speed. Also, since it plugs into the wall, there's
less stress on the PSU.

Before that, I used it on top of my monitor (towards the back and tilted
down a bit). When I was racing and nobody else was home, I'd put a couple
oily rags (from the garage) in a tin pan and put it just in front of the
fan. Really made me feel like I was at the track. I'd leave it on low speed
for Nascar, but turn it up high for open wheel racing (like GPL) so I'd get
the wind in my face. Now, if only I could figure out a way to capture that
burning rubber smell ;-) Do you think that would be going too far?

Gary

 

[Heywood]

Just ordered the VGA Silencer myself after checking around...supposed to be the best one out there and

it takes up the pci slot next to the AGP card too (should usually
noit be used anyway!)

 

[Heywood]

Well. I got the Vga Silencer installed and it is alot quieter than the stock fan....also dropped the system Temperature degrees 3 Celcius at idle. It is a keeper. It is also very quiet on high speed!

Installation in my ati 9700 pro was a breexe and they even give you
Artic Silcer silicon thermal paste. Paid 19.99 + fgt for V2