zalman vf900-cu vs custom water vs x1900xtx stock tests

[kiwi]

Since x1900xtx is so hot I decided to do some tests :D

Test:
Att artifact scanner at least 3 mins
Voltages 1.4/2.086/2.086/1.486

Cooling:
Stock, full RPM, loud
custom water + DD Maze4 Acetal, one 120mm fan at 5V!, silent!
Zalman VF900-Cu heatpipe cooler, full RPM, not as loud as stock but can be heard

Results:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=47192&stc=1&d=1147722151


Conclusion:
* Water cooling owns for GPU cooling 24/7 and overclocking too, core goes up to 770 :D
* Lapping and reapplying AS 5/ceramique on stock cooler would give 3-10C better temps.
* at 1.575 only water cooling would pass 3dmark05

[Nanometer]

Very nice review, simply, that means I like :). It would be nice to see the idle temps too though.

Nice job.

[-aDaM^]

word, nice review :clap:

[kiwi]

Idle temps
water: 38
vf900: 48
stock: don't really remember never tested but I guess around 60C

[NightCrawler™]

That's impressive!

[biohead]

ambient temps?

my x1900 vf900 does 30-33C idle with 20C ambient. 65-70 load I think.
but yea, wc owns.

[Cooper]

Nice
kiwi finally made it as promised :)

[IvanAndreevich]

My opteron HSF gets 65C @ 1.4V very quiet.

[Nanometer]

Kind of random, but all right. lol

[Cobalt]

Did you reseat the stock HS before running the tests? Those seem unusually high for the stock cooler running at 100%. My reseated stock HS gets me to 46C idle or 31 if I have the air con on right next to it (its on a X1800XT but the temp difference is too big to be just because of that). The xalman is also not certain to get those temps. Some people have had real problems getting it to cool properly.

Its good to see the test though.

[vegabros]

Wow I didn't know there was such a BIG difference...

I was inbetween a swiftech custom setup and a Zalman 9500 & VF900... but now I'm leaning towards the WC setup.

[hot_fifty]

have kan you have a load temp about 100 degress, mine is only 70 max. load with fan at 100% stock cooling, and same volts as yours

[hot_fifty]

is the vf900cu better than stock cooler in load temps. i saw some place that it was very poor on x1900 platforms

[NightCrawler™]

I bought a vf900 today. I'll see if it works or not.. I've got some options to mod it so if the result is bad I'll make some adjustments..

I can alsways mount my modded Zalman 9500 on the XTX... :D

[hot_fifty]

kiwi, how does the zalman effect other temps than the core temp, like voltage regulator and surroundings

[hot_fifty]

zalman suxx for x1900.. temps get very high on load

[NightCrawler™]

I think it depends on how it gets mounted, airflow and maybe some luck..
I've done some serious testing with the stock cooler and the vf900.... I also took some pics of the whole process and I'll post something up this evening.. :)

[kiwi]

There is only one way to reasonably mount vf900 lol


Remember every card is unique as to temps and the way stock cooler performs with the card!

I had many different cards (not x1900), one model but some got much hotter that the other, some had very poor stock heatsink contact etc


Voltage regulator temps were better than stock but worse than water + 120mm fan :)

[biohead]

There is only one way to reasonably mount vf900 lol


Remember every card is unique as to temps and the way stock cooler performs with the card!

I had many different cards (not x1900), one model but some got much hotter that the other, some had very poor stock heatsink contact etc


Voltage regulator temps were better than stock but worse than water + 120mm fan :)
in other words, every card's temperature sensor is off by whatever degrees celcius.

[hot_fifty]

zalman cant cool it at 1,4v+ and stock is better because of so high RPM