Zalman ZF700-CU vs NV Silencer 5 - Which one??

[espeed]

Zalman VF700-CU vs NV Silencer 5 - Which one??

Hiya,

I am having a bit of a selection headache trying to decide which of these two coolers to use on my 6800gt. It seems to me that after reading a few reviews for each that the Zalman seems to have an edge , but in saying that, the NV Silencer has a cool exhaust feature which does help to keep the case cooler as well.

Any recommendations from those who may know better would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

[MyAOLdisconects]

Have two VF700-AlCu are installed on 6600gt's SLI. Easy to install and quiet that the main reason. 6600gt stock are way to loud.

 

[espeed]

Well, im gonna go ahead and order the Zalman, ive read a number of posts on other forums all pointing to the Zalman being the superior cooling solution. The only thing is it doesnt have an exhaust but i have good airflow in my case which should counter that.

 

[PZEROFGH]

zalman is awesome, its great, i use it awesome like 20C on my video card hah

 

[idiotec]

Well, I have the NV 5, and I have mixed emotions about it. Overall it has done well. I have a hot 6800GT, that loaded in the 90C's at stock speed. With the NV 5, it loads about 80C at speed in sig, about mid 70's at stock speeds.

The thing that bugs me, is I have never felt I am getting a great contact on the core due to the design and the way it covers the RAM as well.

TBH, I would love to try the Zalman and see if there is a difference, but meh, doubt I will. Overall I can't complain, I run a pretty decent OC, bench at 433, and still don't really have a heat problem...

 

[PZEROFGH]

i heard the nv bring hot air back in?

 

[idiotec]

i heard the nv bring hot air back in?

No, it actually blows onto the HS and then straight out the back. That part is actually a very good design. To me the only problem is it sitting flat on the RAM chips and the GPU at the same time.

 

[003]

The VF700-Cu is much better. The NV silencer was designed to do just what it is called, silence the video card, not provide extra cooling (although it is slightly better than most stock coolers). A common mistake most people make.

EDIT:
Have you ever tried Doom 3 @ 425 core on air cooling?

 

[espeed]

Well, I have the NV 5, and I have mixed emotions about it. Overall it has done well. I have a hot 6800GT, that loaded in the 90C's at stock speed.

YIKES!! What do you put the 90C's down to? Was there an airflow problem in ur case?

 

[espeed]

Well all this feedback on the Zalman is of comfort as ive ordered it. Cant wait to see the results, at the moment my card idles at about 51 celcius, and under load on say the FEAR demo, got up as high as 79 celcius. If i can shave 15-20 off both ill be really happy. I feel confident of this as the stock cooling on the 6800gt is pretty crap for most brands if not all, maybe leadtek as an exception.