Best video card cooler?

[Dodger]

Ok, so I few days ago I was tinkering around with my video card, seeing how high of an overclock I could get, ect. It's currently a silky smooth 12 degrees in my room and my video card is overclocked to the max. But alas, the heating bill has gone up and the parents aren't to happy. So I need a new alternative to cooling this sucker down. So, what's the best grx card cooler? I'm looking at a 60 dollar price range. I am currently useing a Gainward Geforce 4 Ti4200 8X card and am planning on upgrading to a Radeon 9800 sometime after X-mas.

[csimon]

I like my zalman zm80c-hp (http://www.zalmantech.com/).
newegg (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&manufactory=1647&catalog=129&DEPA=1&sortby=14&order=1) has them for $29.99 and $34.99 shipped. scroll until you see it.
don't expect a whole lot more from it than what you can achieve from simply adding some AS5 to your stock hsf IMHO

[Geeky1]

http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5211

[SimGuy]

The CoolJag JAC313C 1U Copper Server Cooler.
$18.00 USD @ http://www.1coolpc.com/jag.htm

You'll need a couple minutes, some rubber washers, throughbolts, a dremel tool, nuts, a drill, a drillbit to match the diameter of the throughbolts and some AS3/5.

http://mikhailtech.com/articles/mods/mx440mod/

Mikhailtech did this modification to a GeForce 4 MX 440, but it can be done with any video card as long as there is sufficient clearence around the GPU.

Here's a 9800 Pro with the CoolJag JAC313C 1U Copper server cooler installed :D

[Geeky1]

The Cooljag is awfully small though, don't you think Simguy? I like the AMD retail HSF better... :D

[Thrax]

It looks a whole hell of a lot better though; no offense, Geeky.

[SimGuy]

The CoolJag is small enough it only encroaches on the 1st PCI slot.

How many does the AMD retail cooler take up? 2? 3? :D

The CoolJag puts out 24 CFM in a 63x63x26mm package @ 5200 RPM (+/-10%).

Considering most VGA coolers put out what.... 10-14 CFM, it's a noticable improvement. Either way, overclocking is still limited by what the GPU can achieve. :)

[Geeky1]

Thrax:
No offense taken. My mod is a mess, primarily because I was more interested in getting it working than I was in how it looked.

Regardless, the AMD retail HSF takes up the first PCI slot on the NF7-S, so on a normal board, it would take up the first two slots.

[Dodger]

Yeah, I think i'll go for the zalman... looks like a little less hassle.

EDIT: blah, i'm stuck between getting the Zalman or the cooljag...

[GHoosdum]

SVC has that Zalman for $26.99 + shipping (Newegg is OOS)

[TheLostSwede]

SimGuy had this to say
The CoolJag JAC313C 1U Copper Server Cooler.
$18.00 USD @ http://www.1coolpc.com/jag.htm

You'll need a couple minutes, some rubber washers, throughbolts, a dremel tool, nuts, a drill, a drillbit to match the diameter of the throughbolts and some AS3/5.

http://mikhailtech.com/articles/mods/mx440mod/

Mikhailtech did this modification to a GeForce 4 MX 440, but it can be done with any video card as long as there is sufficient clearence around the GPU.

Here's a 9800 Pro with the CoolJag JAC313C 1U Copper server cooler installed :D

Mod a 70mm or even a 80mm fan on that and you have some extra air on the memory on that card. If you don't have anything in the first pci, then try using a funnel which will increase the cooling a lot. NICE mod!

[Geeky1]

The zalman is more hassle, trust me. It's a pain in the ass to assemble and install.

[Dodger]

Well, i'm leaning towards the Zalman because it would work well with this (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-133-116&depa=1&section=3) case. You see, notice the side panel fan.... it's blowing outward. If I got the Zalman w/ fan attachment, the Z fan would blow hot air toward the side panel fan, and the side panel fan would take care of the rest. Hense, increasing air flow.

[Straight_Man]

There is one thing to note:

If you have a case with front and back fans, the easiest way not to disturb the overall airflow with a column (3D ROW for anyone who wants to get technical a horizontally rotated column, it is a round airflow unless broken up) and net result if it is that the column gets broken up by the airflow up and back through case or the side fan sucks stuff out too well and casues the main airflow to be turbulent instead of airflow going out the side is to duct the AGP card HS out a slot, which means if you want the best results you put a pulling fan on the outside of your slot or use a fanned duct. That is why fanned slot ducts can be very handy, though WITH decent fans on the AGP HS as well as a fanned duct and not either\or.

This is also why I use side holes only to suck air into ATX cases, or with light volume fans blowing IN. On a good ATX case, it might be a LOT better for airflow and cooling if the GPU was on the BACK of the card, fanned so venting would be toward the back fans. Most side blowholes with sucking fans are too close to FRONT of case.

John.

Maybe BTX layouts and cases designed to cool them will help with this conflict some IF they can have rear vent fan on back where CPU etc is supposed to go.

[MJO]

Remember, Zalman throws in a free screwdriver. ;D

It is a hassle to assemble the Zalman.
But the provided manual is great.
I have rarely seen documentation that good.

Remember the Optional fan ZM-OP1 if your case lacks airflow.

[dream caster]

What about Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer ? (http://www.silentpcreview.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=117&page=1)

[Dodger]

According to their comparisons the Artic Cooler is superior to the Zalman VGA cooler. Thanks, I am almost deffinently going for the Artic cooler now.:)

[MJO]

The only problem is that they do not test the ZM80C-HP.
The 80A can not be equipped with a fan, therefore it is only a passive cooler.
The 80C can be equipped with a fan, that would lower the temp significantly.

I would call it a tie between the Arctic cooler and the ZM80C-HP + optional fan.

The Zalman mentioned in this thread is the 80C not the 80A.

Here you can see the ZM80C-HP
http://www.zalman.co.kr/english/product/ZM80C-HP.htm

[Geeky1]

MJO, the 80A has a fan, but you have to buy it separately. It's supposed to be used with the Zalman 92mm fan bracket.

By the way, the 80A is better than the 80C; the C has less surface area than the A does, and uses a smaller fan (80mm vs. any size you want, 92mm stock) so...

[SimGuy]

Dodger had this to say
According to their comparisons the Artic Cooler is superior to the Zalman VGA cooler. Thanks, I am almost deffinently going for the Artic cooler now.:)

Like FlowFX for Radeon 9500+, minus the noise of course. :)

It's an impressive cooler, and cools slightly better than the Zalman. Slightly being 2-4*C.

Enjoy :D

[MJO]

Geeky1: The fan is separate for the 80C as well.
It is called ZM-OP1.

The SilentPC review isn't equal.
It is a passive heatsink versus a active heatsink and fan.
It is no big surprise that the active solution is the best according to the review.

BTW: I didn't know that a fan was available for the ZM80A?
I have never seen it with a fan.
Apart from a ghetto soulution with a 80mm fan attached with rubber bands.

[csimon]

I have the optional ZM-OP1.
I'm going to be removing my shim to get better contact this week sometime ...I'd do it today but my exacto is at work.

[Geeky1]

MJO, you're SUPPOSED to use this fan with the 80A:
http://www.zalman.co.kr/english/product/fb123.htm

[GnomeWizardd]

Here Is a link to the pics of when i Put the Zalman on my 9700pro and it was not hard at all. took 5 min or my time and cools very well I would def get the zalman if you want the best cooling. I am not ocing my 9600 XT so i just put A thermaltake Crystal Orb with bga ram sinks and its sweet looking and cools actually very well too.

First Link is the 9600xt with the Crystal Orb
http://www.tehgnome.com/9600%20Xt/

Second is the 9700 Pro with the Zalman Heatpipe with Fan
http://www.tehgnome.com/Card/

[MJO]

Thank's for the link Geeky1.

I have only seen the 80A tested as a passive heatsink.
I have seen a fan being recommended anywhere, and I have read some reviews of the 80A.

BTW: Zalman states that you only need active cooling on the 80C when using R9700Pro and above.

[Dodger]

Ok, now i'm confused. I'm hearing the Zalman is the best than I heard the Artic cooler is the best... has anyone actualy tried both and can honestly say which offers better cooling?

[Geeky1]

I've tried the Zalman ZM80A, and it's OK. I really think you should just do what I linked to at the beginning of the thread, though.

http://www.short-media.com/forum/sh...=&threadid=5211

That's anywhere between 1 and 5hrs work, depending on the heatsink you get and how much effort you want to go to.

Hell, you could even just glue the heatsink on with Arctic Alumina Epoxy and be done with it in 5 minutes + drying time.

[Dodger]

Thread hijackers.:(

[SimGuy]

Thread Pruned.

Okay, to get back on topic here.

Dodger: The Arctic Cooler won't fit the Ti4200, so it rules that out. Honestly, get the Zalman and slap a 92mm Fan on it for active cooling. I wouldn't trust my video card to a passive cooler, especially with $400 riding on that decision to be quiet.

For the 9800 Pro, Zalman recommends that you USE the fan for active cooling. In a flip between the Arctic Cooler and the Zalman with fan for the 9800 Pro, I'd go with whatever is cheaper. Both cool in the same range, and 1-3*C isn't going to make a whole lot of difference, unless you are planning on overclocking the video card out the wazoo.

[drasnor]

Well, this sucks. It looks like there aren't any video card coolers aside from the original copper Iceberq, Tt Blorb, and Tt Crorb that will fit on my AiW 9700 Pro.

Here's what I'm thinking now:
1) Cut off a small square of copper from a 1/16" thick plate I have.
2) Lap it on both sides as well as the stock sink.
3) Polish both sides of the copper plate and the stock sink with the Dremel polishing drum dipped in AS5.
4) Carefully place copper plate centered on R300 core.
5) Center, place, and affix stock sink to card, sandwiching copper plate between core and stock sink.

Opinions?

-drasnor :fold:

[SimGuy]

Drasnor, you could try the CoolJag 1U cooler I showed on page 1 of this thread, but you would need to chop some of the cooler off to get it to fit on the AIW...

[drasnor]

SimGuy had this to say
Drasnor, you could try the CoolJag 1U cooler I showed on page 1 of this thread, but you would need to chop some of the cooler off to get it to fit on the AIW...

I'm really questioning as to whether or not it's worth it.

-drasnor :fold:

this is to scale.

[SimGuy]

What about this.

If you've got an old AMD retail heatsink laying around, remove the fan off the top of it and mount it onto the stock 9700 AIW cooler, after removing the stock fan and properly utilizing some thermal transport compound to replace the dinky thermal pad utilized on the stock cooler.

[drasnor]

SimGuy had this to say
What about this.

If you've got an old AMD retail heatsink laying around, remove the fan off the top of it and mount it onto the stock 9700 AIW cooler, after removing the stock fan and properly utilizing some thermal transport compound to replace the dinky thermal pad utilized on the stock cooler.

I've got the shim of doom, so that's why all this. I'll look at mounting a bigger fan, though.

-drasnor :fold:

[Dodger]

SimGuy had this to say
Thread Pruned.

Okay, to get back on topic here.

Dodger: The Arctic Cooler won't fit the Ti4200, so it rules that out. Honestly, get the Zalman and slap a 92mm Fan on it for active cooling. I wouldn't trust my video card to a passive cooler, especially with $400 riding on that decision to be quiet.

For the 9800 Pro, Zalman recommends that you USE the fan for active cooling. In a flip between the Arctic Cooler and the Zalman with fan for the 9800 Pro, I'd go with whatever is cheaper. Both cool in the same range, and 1-3*C isn't going to make a whole lot of difference, unless you are planning on overclocking the video card out the wazoo.

Ahh, but I am planning on purchasing a Radeon 9800 after X-mas. So, realisticly i'm useing my Ti4200 card as a tie-over entill after the holiday season. Maybe i'll get the Zalman and slap the 92mm fan Zalman inc. offers with it as you said yourself the cooling difference will be but a few degrees.

Edit: Which zalman to buy? This one (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-118-210&depa=1)? Or this one (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-118-211&depa=1)?

[GnomeWizardd]

the gray one /me is to lazy to open links

[madmat]

I'd say go with the second one as you know right off the bat that it's been machined to accept the optional fan and IMHO the color's a lot more pleasent to look at.

[Dodger]

That was sure insightful! Thank you GnomeWizardd!:)

madmat had this to say
I'd say go with the second one as you know right off the bat that it's been machined to accept the optional fan and IMHO the color's a lot more pleasent to look at.

I know, but look at the design of the VGA coolers... the gold looks ever-so-slightly bigger than the silver...

[drasnor]

The gray one is the newer revision.

-drasnor :fold:

[madmat]

It's hard for me to tell without seeing them laid side to side, to me they look pretty much the same.

[drasnor]

The gold one is 75g heavier but fits on the card weird. You might want to check the Zalman website for card compatibility information, since I'm fairly certain the gold one is designed for the GeForce 2/3 and Radeon 8500.

-drasnor :fold:

[Dodger]

http://www.myimgs.com/data/Janix/35-118-210-01.jpg

http://www.myimgs.com/data/Janix/35-118-211-01.jpg

Now look at them....

[GnomeWizardd]

i got the gray one on my 9700 pro

[Dodger]

Good for you.

[madmat]

I dunno man, they look the same size to me still.

[Thrax]

Yellow is bigger.

[Dodger]

I'm with thrax, yellow is ever-so-slightly bigger.

[Dodger]

The bottom one sure doesn't look gold-plated...

[csimon]

csimon had this to say
the top one is aluminum and the bottom one is gold plated copper according to zalman.
I take that back ...after looking closer it seems they are both aluminum material and only the heatpipe itself is gold plated copper on each ...who know. I think that while reading the specs at newegg I figured that the a stood for aluminum and the c for copper ...my bad.
I do know that the top one is 400g and the bottom is 325g.

[Dragstk]

There are 2 differences between the grey and the gold Zalman's. The gold is slightly larger, but the grey has provisions to mount a fan directly to the HS. Oh yea, a slight difference in price.
I have the gold one. Cools about 5-6 c. cooler than the stock cooler, on a 9800. But if I had to do it again, I'd get the grey with the fan(must be purchased seperatly).
As a side point. They are a pain to mount. Take your time, have help and get everything parallel.

[Geeky1]

The gray one is also worse than the old one. I've said this like 3 times now people: the ZM80A-HP has MORE SURFACE AREA than the ZM80C-HP. The 80A with the 92mm fan bracket WILL outperform the 80C with the 80mm fan.

[Dodger]

Excellent, so go for the gold?

[Geeky1]

Yeah. Get the gold one and the 92mm fan bracket.

[csimon]

you be teh judge!
hmmmm ...maybe it's time for a short-media review/comparrison ...I'm not volunteering just trying to light a spark!

[Geeky1]

csimon, a review might be a good idea. But, if you check Zalman's site, you'll find that the -A is almost certainly superior:

ZM80A:
- Weight: 400g
- Heatpipe: Gold Plated Copper Tube
- Dissip. Material : Aluminum
- Dissip. Area: 1300 cm2

vs.

ZM80C:
-Weight: 325g
-Heatpipe: Gold Plated Copper Tube
-Dissip. Material: Aluminum Dissip. Area: 1200

[csimon]

yes it is superior in dissipated area ...perhaps it is longer.

the note below the specs also says that it only weighs 385g's?

* Since the heatsink weighs 385g, the VGA card equipped with this heatsink should be attached tightly inside the PC case with a bolt when installing. Also special care should be taken while the computer is being moved.

[csimon]

this might go well with the 80a ...

http://www.modthebox.com/review271_1.shtml

[Geeky1]

I'm not so sure about that, actually. You're cooling the wrong side of the heatpipe...

[GHoosdum]

I think that the best thing for that gold cooler would be this thing that SimGuy recommends:
http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?postid=74606#post74606

[Dodger]

What about watercooling? Does anyone know where I can find a great video card watercooler?

[GnomeWizardd]

well thing is you go water cooling you gotta buy a pump/ radiator and block ect..... So your gonna spend i BIG chucnk of money

[Al_Capown]

Yep, Genome's right here. You don't just buy a unit for watercooling. You typically have to buy a water cooler, radiator, tubing, pump, resovoir (optional), and fans to cool your radiator.

[Dodger]

Darn... so, I guess i'm stuck with the Artic cooler for now...

[ginipig]

After reading this 4 page thread, I decided to go for the 80a (gold one.) I'm planning on getting it actively cooled with a 80-120mm fan+bracket.

I have a problem, though. My case is designed with 3x 80mm front fans, 2x80mm rear exhaust below the psu, and 1x 92mm rear exhaust above the psu.

I don't have a side fan hole (clear-case side,) and I'm too lazy to figure out the proper dimensions for drilling.

Question is: If I were to get the 80a actively cooled, will the GlobalWin CAF12 do much, considering my airflow setup? The fan will sit close to my full-tower case's side, so will this cause any problems?

Provided that I choose a different fan bracket, and given that I have a few 80mm Tornado's sitting around, should I use these instead of 92mm fans?

[edit] Also, will the 80a be too big to add any ramsinks? If not, which ramsinks should I get?

[Geeky1]

The fan bracket will still work fine, even though it's fairly close to the side of the case. It may not work as well as it could otherwise, but it'll work just fine nonetheless.

RAMsinks are basically useless. RAM doesn't dissipate enough heat to require them. The best way to cool RAM is to use a fan bracket/blowhole (which you'll be using anyhow) and not bother with RAMsinks.

[ginipig]

Thanks for your reply :)

So, should I go ahead and google for 92mm fans, or should I go with my 80mm Tornado spares? Will it make any difference? I know that most 92mm have larger deadspots, and seeing how I don't have an efficient side-case fan, will it make any difference if I use 80mm?

[Geeky1]

The Tornado is too thick. Just get this:
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?DEPA=1&sumit=Go&description=FB123&searchdepa=1

[ryan200]

i used to think that ramsinks do nothing but on video card ram i have seen reviews where it does lower the temperature i dont remember buy how much but if you had them in combination with a fan blowing on all of it i am sure it be cooler than not having them

disipation area isnt necessarilly everything i see in the picture that the new one has thinner longer fins which i think should help i would like to see a review of both with the same fan on the same video card.

i would rather get the new one it be easier cause it was designed with a spot to mount the fan and you dont have to worry about the bracket when you try and remove other pci cards that are blocked because the bracket is screwed over them.

i havent really though about how far the fan comes down and if thats gona interfear with anything.

i do like the idea of the arctic cooling vga silencer i would like to see a review of both the 80c-hp with the fan and the vga silencer is the same exact idea i have had since my geforce 2 pro take that hot air from the heatsink and put it outside the case through a pci slot so that hot air being created by the video card isnt adding to the heat in the rest of the case. so in that respect you wont have the video card adding as much heat to the rest of everything else in your case. and its pretty quiet in its low fan mode which is a big plus in my book.

[Geeky1]

ryan, I don't care what the reviews say. They don't do anything. You realize that most reviews of heatsinks, power supplies, cases, etc. don't provide any valid information about the cooling ability of whatever they review, right?

The fact of the matter is that no ram (except possibly DDR2, and I'm not sure about that... I'll have to look up the heat dissipation specs) dissipates anywhere near enough heat to be heatsinked. Period. Why do reviews say otherwise? Two reasons:

1. Because, by and large, the people doing the reviews couldn't do a scientific analysis of anything if their lives depended on it.
2. Because said reviewers don't know how to properly cool a computer, hence the apparent increase in overclockability with the use of RAMsinks.

[ginipig]

Ryan, in terms of customization, the older model beats the newer model. True, there is a mounting spot for the fan, but, from pictures that I've seen, the fans have to be mounted a certain way (slide-in?.) With a bracket, I can modify my cooling setup to suit my needs.

[ryan200]

well my assumption that some ram for instance the ram on the radeon 9800 pro puts off too much heat is that it can be overclocked higher with better cooling than it could without any type of cooling active or passive.

so yes the reviewers can be lying, have improperlly cooled computers

i dont believe that normal ram for the computer needs cooling but i was giving them the benefit of the doubt being that memory on video cards doesn't have to stick to the same standards that the ram for a motherboard does to be compliant and standard while on video cards the whole video card architecture is designed around what memory can be put on it.

and giving the fierce competition all the video card companies are cheating and getting caught, nvidia comes out with something that runs too hot and needs excessivelly loud cooling, ati comes out with crap drivers fixes them later.

so to me it didnt seem to far of an exageration that ram was the next thing to need cooling.

oh i was under the impression that the radeon 9800 pro 256mb wasnt ddr 2 and it was just a typo.

i havent seen any "mods" for the older one

that bracket wasnt made for the 80a-hp it was made for the 3000 and 6000 series cpu heatsinks and that is why it is a kit and usually come bundled with it zalman makes no mention of this being used with there 80-a but they do sell the bracket seperatlly to be used for whatever you want.

so if that is what you are talking about as far as customization i dont see how the old has any more than the new.

i dont bother with ram sinks either and the heat spreader i laugh at.

[ryan200]

well you can see the dead spots for yourself they should just be as large as the motor.

if your worried abuot dead spots get one of the tmd fans

a larger fan is usually quieter because it doesnt need to spin as fast to put out as much cfm's and therefore it doesnt create as much turbulance granted they do make fans that run crazy fast just to satasify people that dont care about sound and just want the most cfm's possible.

it all depends on your application and what you care about if you dont like to hear noise coming from your computer or if you dont care what it sounds like and you just want the best for the most overclockability.

but i assume with fans called tornado unless you run them at lower voltages you dont care about noise.

[Geeky1]

RAM period doesn't dissipate much heat. You're talking something that in most cases (no pun intended) doesn't even have heatsinks, and it stays well below 50*C, even with minimal airflow. You're probably talking <1w/module, although I can't find the exact input power for Samsung's GDDR2.

Regardless, RAM doesn't need heatsinks. Like I said, GDDR2 may be an exception, but since I haven't had an opportunity to play with it, I don't know that for sure.

It's not an issue of people lying in their reviews... it's an issue of reviewers that don't know what they are doing. Take heatsink reviews, for example. How many reviews of heatsinks do you see where the heatsink is tested on an overclocked CPU? The results from that test are instantly totally invalid.

How many heatsink reviews do you see that are done with the heatsink installed in a case?
The results from those tests are totally invalid.

How many heatsink reviews do you see that test the heatsink on a CPU period? Those results are passable at best, but far from as accurate as I'd like.

The fact of the matter is that people don't know how to benchmark these things correctly. I have yet to see more than one or two good power supply reviews, and there are only a few sites that do good heatsink reviews. The vast majority of the reviews out there on power supplies, heatsinks, fans, waterblocks, radiators, etc. are absolutely worthless because none of the "objective" information they provide is valid.

RAMsinks do nothing, unless the user doesn't know how to properly cool a computer.

That whole "dead spot" thing is a fraud to an extent, too. The size of the dead spot varies with the distance from the fan. It's only an issue when a fan is mounted right on, or very near right on a heatsink. In applications such as that Zalman fan bracket, it's a non-issue.

Also, the Tornados won't fit on the Zalman fan bracket in most cases, because 38mm deep fans are too deep, unless you don't mind leaving the side of your computer off all the time.

[Thrax]

GDDR2 has even lower voltage requirements than regular DDR, coming in at about 1.8v up to 667MHz (That's 1334MHz DDR).

But that said, DDR chips of any kind do not radiate enough heat to benefit from the increased surface space of memory sinks. That isn't to say they act as insulators, however the memory produces so little w/cm^2 of surface space that the temperature difference between sink and no sink can be measured in fractions of a degree. Not enough to make an impact on overclocking to a very large degree... 3-5MHz, and that can be attributed to margin of error.

[Gravite2090]

have any of you tried the thermaltake solution, giant II or something. Tests show it did pretty well.

[Geeky1]

Haven't tried it, don't see much of a reason to. It's got a dinky little 40-50mm fan...

[ryan200]

i certainlly agree about the dead spot thing but i wasnt the one to bring it up

[Geeky1]

True. I was simply commenting on it because it was there. I simply wanted to make sure that anyone else that was reading the thread that may not know as much about it as you or I do don't misunderstand anything.

[csimon]

Here's a pic of my zm80c-hp/zm-op1 ...In an attempt to mount the op1 diagonally against mfg specs to get more air flow thru the fins ...it works.
please excuse the wire nest.

I went from 393/393 to 405/405 overclock and even increased my fsb to 229 stable and 2634mhz.

[ryan200]

see thats how i would have mounted the zalman fan good job csimon nice ducting too

[csimon]

thanks ...and that fan does blow ...I get an average of 2900 rpm out of it and the one above it (rear case fan) is only garbage @ 2000rpm ...not sure what cfms are but the 15mm zalman blows harder for sure.
I think I will begin by replacing that case fan soon with a 4800rpm ys-tech adjustable fan.

[Dodger]

I'm sorry to revive this thread but, if I were to use simguy's suggestion, mod the cooljag on to my video card, and paint it white somehow, wouldn't that repell heat hense making it cooler?

[Geeky1]

in a word, no.

[ryan200]

here is an thread about the discussion of paint a heatsink black

i dont believe it but i didnt read the whole thread either

http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=7508&highlight=anodize

[csimon]

black anodized would be better than black paint.

[Geeky1]

And black anodizing would be worse than nothing at all.

[Dodger]

Ok, I was thinking about getting this (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-106-005&depa=1) product JUST for the fan along with the previously mentioned cooljag (http://www.1coolpc.com/jag.htm) NOTE: I couldn't care less about the noise level

Now, my plan was to replace the cooljag's stock fan with the fan found on the Volcano 6. I realize i'll likely end up sacraficing 2 PCI slots but hey, that's the price you pay for one cool PC. Anyway, would this be ok? Opinions needed, honesty appreciated. Thanks.