GeForce 8800 GTS/GTX Cooler Comparison

[PAGETITLE=Introduction] So you have an older 8800 GTS or GTX. If your timing is like mine, you might have even gone out and picked one up less than a month before NVIDIA dropped its exceptional 8800 GT. As frustrating as that was, I have yet to find anything wrong with the original card and even on my 24â€ monitor, I have had little problem running most of my favorite games at the monitor's native resolution of 1920x1200. What I am getting at is that even though a product refresh has taken place, the older 8800 series of cards are still more than capable of running most anything that you throw at them. Pair them up in SLI and you're looking at even better performance. With all that in mind, when they were still THE cards to get, the older 8800s were selling as fast as any model in recent history so I know there are a few of you out there with one. If you're looking to get a little more mileage out of your cards, the easiest solution would be to upgrade the cooler. Offering better performance and often at a lower volume, an aftermarket cooler can more often than not remedy a noisy PC as well as provide a bit more head room when it comes to overclocking. In the spirit of all things fair, we have a set of coolers on the bench and our end goal is to find the best cooler for your money. To kick things off, our cooler battle royale starts with industry giant and mainstay of enthusiasts everywhere, Zalman. Taking on the giant is a relative newcomer to the cooling industry, ZEROtherm. Building a name for themselves on the success of an odd piece of butterfly shaped cooling goodness, ZEROtherm has steadily produced great products and has managed to keep pricing as low as possible as well, making their products a smart choice when looking to upgrade their system's cooling capacity. For those go-getters out there, check out Rory's review of the excellent Nirvana NV120. Zalman on the other hand has been grooming their already spectacular air cooler portfolio for years now and has even branched out into other areas such as cases and water cooling kits. Not ones to rest on their past success, they have even used their engineer's creativity and expertise to branch out into 3D displays and gaming mice. The representatives of each camp include more copper than a small home and both incorporate moderately sized fans. For Zalman, we have the VF1000 LED copper heat pipe cooler and are pairing it with the ZM-RHS88 memory cooler. In the other corner we have the Hurricane HC92 Cu 8800. With a slightly larger fan, the Hurricane might best the Zalman in sheer performance, but only our testing will indicate which cooler outperforms the other. [PAGEBREAK] [PAGETITLE=Zalman VF1000, ZM-HRS88] Without further delay, our comparison starts with the established industry veteran, Zalman and its VF1000 LED cooler. Zalman VF1000. Forgoing typical Zalman design, the circular coolers of the past have been push aside with a more standard, yet space hogging, full card design. This design allows four separate heat pipes to run from the base of the cooler and fan out symmetrically through the thin copper fins. With an adequately sized 80mm fan sitting in the middle, the Zalman cooler will push air downward through the fins as well as across whatever you use to cool the memory chips be it the included blue RAM sinks or in our case, the ZM-RHS88. The fan also glows a brilliant blue when in operation and while doing so, takes up your standard 2 PCI slots in your motherboard. As mentioned earlier, there are four copper heat pipes running from the base of the cooler and up through the fins, two on either side. Also on this side of the card is the power cable for the fan. This is a standard 3 pin cable that can be plugged directly into a motherboard or into the included Zalman fan mate variable speed controller. Turning the cooler over, we can see an almost perfect finish on the copper base. While the latest design fad of direct heat pipe cooling is absent here, the smooth finish to the base should provide more than enough surface area to pass the heat from the GPU onto the pipes and sub sequentially, into the fins. As you can see, the fan screw sitting on top of the base is reflected quite well. Kudos to Zalman for their attention to detailâ€¦ not an area they have ever been suspect at. Surrounding the base of the VF1000 LED are four arms with four separate threaded holes in them. These allow the cooler to be installed on virtually all 8800 and prior video cards. Simply attach the provided posts to the holes that apply to your card and your good to go. It's simply that easy but more on installation later. Coming with the VF1000 are a handful of accessories, not uncommon but appreciated none the less. Included is mounting hardware, thumb screws for added installation ease as well as Zalman's own blue RAM sinks. These sinks have been around forever and have been favorites of many in the water cooling crowd. We would normally use these in testing but Zalman sent along their ZM-RHS88 memory sinks instead. Also thrown in for good measure is a fan mate. Zalman has been manufacturing their own speed controllers for a long time now and the addition of this little piece will help control fan noise as well as allow the user to up the speed should additional cooling be needed. The fan will max out at a respectable 2,500 RPMs (+/- 10% according to Zalman themselves). ZM-RMS88. Moving onto the memory cooler, the ZM-RMS88, we can see that it's all an aluminum, 2 piece set that will sit on top of the onboard memory, VRM and HSI chip. As the design of the GTS and GTX cards differ slightly, there are two different sinks for each of the different cards. All of this comes in a well designed foam casing that is more than adequate to keep each and every part safe. The main unit itself will sit on top of the memory and the HSI chip and is designed with room for the VF1000 to sit directly on top. There are multiple aluminum posts sticking up over the heat sources to help suck the heat away from the card and into your PC chassis. On the back of the cooler there is pre applied thermal tape, eliminating the need to grease up each chip that you need to keep cool. If I can give you any advice at all it's thisâ€¦ please do not forget to remove the plastic backing on the thermal tape as this is a great way to completely FUBAR your card. Have fun explaining that to the RMA department. For the voltage regulator modules, there are two separate pieces representing the two separate designs of the GTS and the GTX. With each piece clearly stamped, make sure you choose the correct piece and apply it to your card. There are also thermal pads on the bottom of these pieces and the same approach applies, please remove the plastic backing before installation. Now that we have seen the Zalman cooler, let's take a closer look at the APACK ZEROtherm Hurricane HC92 Cu 8800. [PAGEBREAK] [PAGETITLE=APACK ZEROtherm Hurricane HC92 Cu 8800] Taking a similar approach to their Hurricane cooler, ZEROtherm has built a GPU cooler that runs the entire length of the card. Also similar, the ZEROtherm also has a fan that blows downward, through the large copper fins and across the included green RAM sinks. Surrounding the Hurricane is a large grey plastic shroud that tunnels the air flow down and out but can be removed should a little extra cooling be what you're looking for. One can also remove the housing and the fan for completely passive cooling. You'll not want to do this for the higher end card but for those of you using lower powered cards for a media center or such will appreciate this extra feature. The Hurricane HC92 Cu 8800 uses the same style that the Zalman uses with four heat pipes coming out from the base of the cooler and separating out to either side. The length of the all copper fins is less than the Zalman cooler but what they lack in length, they more than make up for in height. This should help out a little as there is more surface area directly below the larger 92mm fan. Flipping the Hurricane over, we can see the full size of the fins that the four copper heat pipes run through. Another similarity of the two coolers being tested is the power cable for both. Like the Zalman, the Hurricane uses a three pin connector that can be connected directly to your motherboard if you choose to do so or you can piggy back the included fan speed controller onto the cooler's fan. The base of the ZEROtherm is comparable to the Zalman's in finish quality which is a testament to the commitment that ZEROtherm has for their products. I know the picture does not reflect such a finish and the smudge on the left hand side of the base is the editor's fault (insert lack of professionalism jokes here}. We can also see that the Hurricane comes with multiple threaded mounting holes on the arms that stick out from the corners of the base. While not as compatible with as many cards as the Zalman, the Hurricane covers most all relevant cards that anyone might still be using. Bundled with the Hurricane, ZEROtherm has included all the hardware to get you going, a small bag of RAM sinks, including a HSI chipset cooler that use the push pin mounts, the before mentioned fan controller, a bit of thermal paste and a manual. One thing to notice is that the sinks are green. While this might appeal too many out there, I personally find this choice of color god awful. Personal opinions aside, there are plenty of sinks and come with pre applied thermal tape on their backside. Next, let's look at the installation processes for the two coolers. [PAGEBREAK] [PAGETITLE=Installation] Starting out with a stock EVGA Superclocked 8800 GTS 320MB card, it should be mentioned that I enjoyed the look and feel of the stock cooler but as with anything in the enthusiast segment, the shinier, the better. I don't know if that exactly applies to everyone but it sure as hell seems that way sometimes. Not content with anything stock, or at least for...

GeForce 8800 GTS/GTX Cooler Comparison

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