vf1000 LED not cooling very well...

[Eridani]

Hi all, new to the forums, so I'm not sure this is the right place for this thread, and sorry if it's not, but any help is appreciated.

I installed the VF1000 LED and the accompanying memory heatsink on my Geforce 8800 GTS 320 MB VGA. On idle, with the fan at the highest, it runs at about 58 to 61° C. On full load, with the fan on full, it gets as high as 75°, and on some games (like Crysis) it can go up past 80°. There's quite a bit of room between the fan and the next PCI card in my case.

I got one of those Slot fans that pull air from the system and blow it out, and I put it underneath my VGA, but it doesn't really help. I think what I really need is one of those slot fans, but instead I need it to bring cool air in (that's why my CPU rarely goes above 50° C, I have a case fan blowing right in the CPU fan). But I have yet to find a slot fan that takes air in, maybe it can't be done effectively.

But I thought the VF1000 was supposed to cool better by itself anyway. As far as I know, I followed the instructions to the letter and installed it correctly, but yet it still runs hot.

[Hawk1]

Are you sure you seated it properly and its secure. Also, did you use Thermal paste when you mounted it (if so maybe too much). Anyway, I would redo it, as it sounds like its either not making good contact with the core or too much/not enough TIM is hurting the performance. Just spread a thin layer with a credit card or similar, and try and use non electricaly conductive stuff (ie not AS5 - try Arctic Ceramic or similar), otherwise if you put too much on and it goes over the sides, you could have a short (highly unlikely but potential still there).

[WarEagleAU]

Hi, welcome to the forums and yes you are posting in the right thread. As far as the advertisements go and also what their website states, its supposed to cool very well. What kind of TIM are you using? Are the temp readings from a probe, or some on board reader? Also, how many fans do you have bringing in cool air and exhausting out hot air? What are your system specs. All this will be helpful in trying to narrow down the problem.

However, as I said, from the looks of the ads and the website, its supposed to cool very well and not be near the temps you posted, unless you are ocing the hell out of that card.

[newtekie1]

The review of the VF1000 here is done on a 8800GTS 320MB, and his idle temps were only a little lower than yours(52°C). He was using MX-1 thermal paste, which is better than the generic thermal past Zalman includes with their heatsinks, so that can account for some of the temperature difference.

Though their load temperatures were much lower than yours. You shouldn't be seeing 80°C with that cooler regardless of thermal paste. Are you sure it is sitting level and making good contact with the video cards?

[Eridani]

The TIM I'm using is the kind that came with the cooler.. "Zalman Thermal Grease" is what it says on the little tube. I'm guessing the temp probe is on the card itself because I'm getting the readings from my NVIDIA MonitorView program. As for fans, I have a side fan bringing cool air directly on my CPU fan, and a PSU with two fans (one on the bottom and one pointing out). I do have another fan on the back of my case, but I leave that off since it's noisy and that area is cool already...it's my video card that's making all the heat.

I'm running an AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+, an ASUS M2N-E SLI mobo, 2 GB DDR800 memory, and the aforementioned video card (it's a PNY, and part of the XLR8 series, if that helps), and I have not overclocked the card at all.

As for being level, I thought it was, but I'll check.

[sneekypeet]

I say get that fan in the back of the case runnin and see if the temps drop. One fan blowing air in and the circulation of a PSU is not "good" case airflow IMHO. Personally Id take the door straight off and see if there is a dramatic drop in temps!

[wiak]

i used Arctic Cooling MX-1 on my VF900-Cu, got down from 90c to 50c load and 55c to 33c idle, so i higly recommend artic cooling paste, artic silver might damage you card etc as it has silver in it
btw might take a time due to the burn in time time

hope this helps :)

[Hawk1]

i used Arctic Cooling MX-1 on my VF900-Cu, got down from 90c to 50c load and 55c to 33c idle, so i higly recommend artic cooling paste, artic silver might damage you card etc as it has silver in it
btw might take a time due to the burn in time time

hope this helps :)

I think either he has not set it on the card properly, or has too much TIM on it. And I don't think it matters if he uses toothpaste (dont try it:)), the thermal past is only going to help a few degrees at best.

[Eridani]

Hey thanks for all your help. I tightened the screws on the back of the card a little, screwed the card better in my case, and turned on my rear fan, and I can say that the temps are now like the ones from the review.

One other question though. Now that the fan for the VF1000 is powered by it's own connector, do I need to plug the card in the original power outlet? (the one with the 6 pins)

[Hawk1]

Good stuff. It usually comes down to the HSF not being seated properly or the TIM application. Enjoy your cool card.

[sneekypeet]

Hey thanks for all your help. I tightened the screws on the back of the card a little, screwed the card better in my case, and turned on my rear fan, and I can say that the temps are now like the ones from the review.

One other question though. Now that the fan for the VF1000 is powered by it's own connector, do I need to plug the card in the original power outlet? (the one with the 6 pins)

Yes sir the GFX card still needs supplimentary power.....it will not function without the 6pin being plugged in.