POLL : what's the best aftermarket cooler for the x1900xtx?

[Vesper8]

looking for the best aftermarket cooler that lowers tempertures the most while keeping it a very quiet solution

price isn't much of an issue

 

[Praxis1452]

V1 Ultra is the best but better by a few degrees and louder than the Accelero X2 so I voted V1 since you asked for the best but Accelero is better pricewise and noisewise.

 

[Xed]

My vf700 (copper) keeps mine in the low 60's under load with the 5v fan speed, no complaints

 

[Zenoth]

Go with Zalman.

Well, I know I don't have a X1900 XT/X, but it's still an OC'ed X1800 XL, and with the Zalman VF700-ALCu, it keeps my load temps under 60ºC, with the only, single, unique, absolute exception of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, where it sometimes reaches 65ºC or so.

On the stock cooler, it would EASILY reach 75ºC in simple games like Half-Life 2.

Hope it helps.

 

[Bull Dog]

Thermalright V1 Ultra. See project logs in sig for more details about it.

 

[NoDamage]

I have compiled a list of X1900 aftermarket cooler user reports over at Rage3D:

http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?t=33854396

My conclusion is if you want something that is known to work well and has been validated by many user experiences, go with the Accelero X2. The Accelero is also the quietest cooler out of the 4 you listed.

The VF-900 has had way too many reports of overheating and instability for it to be an option. The Sytrin VF-1 and V-1 Ultra don't really have enough user reports in to generate a solid verdict.

The V-1 could potentially be the best, depending on what kind of fans you strapped onto it. If you are looking to minimize noise with quiet undervolted fans, then performance may not be so great compared to the others.

 

[TheRyuu]

You forgot to add the NV Silencer 5 to the list

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: wizboy11
You forgot to add the NV Silencer 5 to the list

LOL WTF the OP actually added it. The NV Silencer 5 doesn't even work with ATI cards... In any case, it's not the best cooler by a long shot.

 

[Vesper8]

oh.. hehe

well.. i didn't check.. i had never heard of it before though so i thought it was weird

ill take it off now

 

[Howard]

I think it's probably one of the following three:

Accelero X1
KuFormula VF1 Plus
V1 Ultra

 

[Munky]

The V1 ultra would give you the best gpu cooling, but I'm not sure how well it cools the voltage regulators (if it does at all). I'm using the accelero right now, and I got better results than the zalman vf900. The kuformula vf1 cools about the same as the accelero from the reviews I've read.

 

[Barkotron]

Originally posted by: munky
The V1 ultra would give you the best gpu cooling, but I'm not sure how well it cools the voltage regulators (if it does at all). I'm using the accelero right now, and I got better results than the zalman vf900. The kuformula vf1 cools about the same as the accelero from the reviews I've read.

You do need decent airflow over the voltage regulators: I added Zalman ramsinks to mine and stuck an undervolted PCI exhaust underneath - it ran fine without, but I prefer the peace of mind the slight extra cooling gives me. I haven't tried adding an 80mm fan on to the bottom block - I suppose this might help.

As for VPU temps, down 15-20C under load with the V1-Ultra, rock-steady at maximum CCC overdrive settings (really can't be bothered farting about with other tools - it's taken me plenty long enough to get this machine ready as it is).

 

[TheRyuu]

Originally posted by: Vesper8
oh.. hehe

well.. i didn't check.. i had never heard of it before though so i thought it was weird

ill take it off now

Come On!

It does actually work. There was a post about it a little while back. It worked with like no modifictaion either.

But the best cooler has to be the V1 Ultra.

 

[Exsomnis]

Zalman VF900-Cu all the way.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Exsomnis
Zalman VF900-Cu all the way.

no no no

 

[Extelleron]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: Exsomnis
Zalman VF900-Cu all the way.

no no no

Whats wrong with the VF900?

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Extelleron

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: Exsomnis
Zalman VF900-Cu all the way.

no no no

Whats wrong with the VF900?

http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&number=13&artpage=1800&articID=405

 

[mauri]

I would say Accelero as price/oerformance wise (noise yet unknow to me). V-1 Ultra might be better, but atleast here it's over twice the price. I just got mine X2 today, but I got cold feets when starting to install it, I realized that by installing the Accelero X2 (or any aftermarket cooler) to my X1900XT will void the 3 year warranty of the 500? card.

 

[NoDamage]

Originally posted by: Extelleron

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: Exsomnis
Zalman VF900-Cu all the way.

no no no

Whats wrong with the VF900?

This is what's wrong with the VF900:

VF-900CU on X1900xt
I installed mine today on my x1900xtx it idles @41 degrees cel. when I load Oblivion the temp goes up to 99 degrees Cel. then the screen goes black within 5 minutes and I have to reset my pc (i am using ati tool to log the temp). the AC Accelero X2 i removed to install this would keep my card below 75 Cel.

It is installed correctly and making good contact with the chip and the fan is working (I do know how to install a vga cooler I have 3 vf700-cu's installed on my other PC's). Is it possible for these things to break? I know it is installed correctly as I have removed it twice and verified the thermal compound is fine. Anyone have any ideas? this really sucks. $50 for this thing and now I am stuck as I have the memory sinks installed and will have to remove them to put the X2 back.

my VF900-cu review..
I wasn't impressed at all either. I just got mine today and put it on my x1900xtx and the temps were almost around 10c higher than the stock cooler. This is what I got when running a little BF2.....normally in 2D i'll run the stock cooler fan around 40% with the clock speeds turned down, but kept the fan and oc both the same in 2D and 3D for a comparison.

Using ATItool...
710mhz core OC
Core voltage 1.45v

Stock cooler with AS5
idle: 46c (fan 100%)
load: 78c (fan 100%)

VF900
idle: 40c (fan 100%)
load: 84c+ (fan 100%)....my monitors would actually black out because of my OC becoming unstable, but i could still hear sounds.

I know the VF900 was making good contact with the core because it got very hot to the touch, but it's almost like the fan on it couldn't cool it off fast enough. And my case has pretty good air flow through it. I ended up putting the stock cooler back on.

Zalman VF900 - very disapointed...
Hey there guys,

I bought a Zalman VF900 cooler for my X1900 as I was rather concerned about the constant high temps when under load.
This is my first Zalman product I have purchased, I had heard only good things about Zalman coolers, so felt assured that the product would be of good quality.

I have just spent the last few hours playing around with it, and running some tests.

My conclusion is that it does a poor job of cooling my card.

Comparing both fans at 100% whilst idling in Windows...

Stock 36C
Zalman 33C

Under load, I ran at 700Mhz overclock for the GPU and ran ATi tool's artifact test.
Both fans running at 100%

The stock fan kept temps at 62C
The Zalman had temps rising into the 70's and eventually corrupted and rebooted.

I tried 2 different brands of thermal paste (Cooler Master and Arctic MX-1) and the results were more or less the same, 1C cooler with the Arctic.

The only job that the Zalman does better than the stock fan is that it has a lower idling temp of 33C compared to 36C, however when under load and overclocked, the Zalman just drowns and the performance is no where.

The one thing that the Zalman has going for it is that its super super quiet, however I am going back to the stock heatsink for now, and I guess i'll just have to wear earplugs!

By the way, if anyone wants to buy the Zalman off me im open to offers (that is if you think ive been doing something wrong with the installation and you KNOW the fan to be good etc).

Cheers.

VF900 on X1900XTX

And now for the temp comparison. Load temps were achieved by running 3 loops of 3dmark06 graphics test, skipped the cpu test. ATI stock cooler fan was run at 100%(sounds like a jet engine like you all know). The stock ATI cooler w\ fan at 100% outpreforms the VF900 under load.......

http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/2935/x1900xtxtemptable7vw.jpg

This list isn't nearly exhaustive either. If you look around the internet you will find tons of people having trouble with the VF900 on their cards. Granted, you will also find a couple people with great results, and you won't really know until you strap it onto your card. Personally I think there are too many mediocre results for it to be worth the risk/hassle of buying it and having to return/sell it if it doesn't work out.

 

[JBT]

While I do own a Accelero X2 so I'm a bit biased. I think the X2 is the best bang for the buck being cheapest and around ~2nd in cooling ability.

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: wizboy11
You forgot to add the NV Silencer 5 to the list

LOL WTF the OP actually added it. The NV Silencer 5 doesn't even work with ATI cards... In any case, it's not the best cooler by a long shot.

Also Howard the NV Silencer 5 fits just fine on the X1900 cards and it does a pretty good job cooling it too.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: JBT
While I do own a Accelero X2 so I'm a bit biased. I think the X2 is the best bang for the buck being cheapest and around ~2nd in cooling ability.

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: wizboy11
You forgot to add the NV Silencer 5 to the list

LOL WTF the OP actually added it. The NV Silencer 5 doesn't even work with ATI cards... In any case, it's not the best cooler by a long shot.

Also Howard the NV Silencer 5 fits just fine on the X1900 cards and it does a pretty good job cooling it too.

Interesting. You learn something new every day. But still, it doesn't belong on the poll.

 

[Sentry2]

water

 

[KeepItRed]

I like the sounds of that Zalman!

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I've seen more benches of hte Zalman beating out the X2. That Madshrimps article is questionable for that reason.

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

V1 Ultra is the best air cooler in terms of performance/heat dissipation . . . though it's a little difficult to install compared to the others and may require some creativity on some mobos if you have a large CPU cooler . . .