HD3870 and Zalman VF900 cooler -- bad temperatures

TonyStark · Dec 19, 2007

I've just finished installing the VF900 cooler to my HD3870 and am not too happy with the results. I opened up ATI Tool and let that furry box rotate for a bit. After warming up for a few minutes, the GPU temperature flatlined at 68°C. I was expecting low to mid 50's.

Ambient temp in my room is 24°C.

Case airflow is good. A piece of paper easily sticks to the front mesh of my case and I can feel the exhaust at the back.

Any suggestions/comments?

a111087 · Dec 19, 2007

thats what you get for not buying my Thermalright V1 Ultra

j/k, VF900 has just two heatpipes and nothing else, not much for ~100W card

EDIT: one advice, if there is nothing under your video card, drill holes in the bottom of your case and put a quite fan to pull air from underneath directly onto your VF900 (that is if the temp is really bothering you, but i would not worry about it...)

sneekypeet · Dec 19, 2007

I suggest you reseat it again as Random Murdere reported to me that his 3870 with the VF900 bearly gets into the 50's*c!

TonyStark · Dec 19, 2007

a111087 said:
thats what you get for not buying my Thermalright V1 Ultra
j/k, VF900 has just two heatpipes and nothing else, not much for ~100W card

EDIT: one advice, if there is nothing under your video card, drill holes in the bottom of your case and put a quite fan to pull air from underneath directly onto your VF900 (that is if the temp is really bothering you, but i would not worry about it...)

haha, actually I was thinking about getting the HR-03. I wanted lower temps 'cause I'm planning on hard-modding the card for more core voltage. I've seen a few people get 1 GHz on air!

sneekypeet said:
I suggest you reseat it again as Random Murdere reported to me that his 3870 with the VF900 bearly gets into the 50's*c!

I find that hard to believe but will try it nonetheless. Thanks.

What thermal paste is good? I used that stuff that came with the cooler. It looks pretty crap.

sneekypeet · Dec 19, 2007

I used AS5...he used MX-2.....the white stuff that comes with it isnt all that good , but it isnt so bad that it would explain a 10*c+ difference.

Also most manufacturers are using name brand grease just packaged and labeled to them!

a111087 · Dec 19, 2007

you will never go wrong with AS5, not THE best, but falls short by just 1-2c to other more expensive pastes

OnBoard · Dec 19, 2007

Just tighten it like there is no tomorrow (I take no responsibility). When VF900 came out some peeps reported bad temps and others good. It has to be tight in. I got 10 degree less with my x1900XT when I put the fingerbolts so tight that the springs don't do nothing any more

Just remember to tighten all around so it won't brake the core, or the nippless.

EDIT: oh and your temps is little less than I get, so it's not at all bad, though x1900XT should also run hotter.

TonyStark · Dec 19, 2007

Will get some AS5.

Thanks OnBoard, it is on tight -- the springs are fully compressed. Might have to try thinner washers as it felt like the heatsink wasn't pressing firmly enough against the core.

OnBoard · Dec 19, 2007

If you look at the rubber washers on the other side, you'll notice that they are useless and hang in midair. Shouldn't be any contacts issues. I added washers to the front side, so that they'd actually do something. It would have been nice if Zalman had supplied 2 sets of those rubber washers. Then again the new versions are a bit different, maybe they have more already?

Oh and if you used the Zalman paste, then those temps are no suprise. You should see a nice improvement with AS5 (or something similar), have mine with it.

edit: seems you mentioned already that you used that white stuff, missed that. That is good for memory though, like take the thermal pads of and add that grese under there and bolt back on. Don't know if that memorysink can be mounted lower though.

edit2: and that was not a suggestion for you to do, just something I'd propably do if I had that card (that memory sink looks awesome).

wiak · Dec 21, 2007

i can second random murders results, i get 35c idle around 55c load

this is with Arctic Cooling MX-1 paste, you might even get better with Arctic Cooling MX-2 paste

i highly recommend MX-1, but i have ordered MX-2 a while ago, waitng for it atm

if you find MX-2 get it

i have heard its the best you can get and is safe for compoents and gpu usage, same for mx-1

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/further_prod1.php

if you are new to thermal paste, mx-1 and mx-2 is the best ways to get into thermal pastes, its safe for other components, like me i got some on my cpu pins (dont ask me how lol) but it did oc just fine to even X2 3800 @ 2.5 hehe

if you get artic silver besure NOT to get anything on other components!,

Random Murderer · Dec 21, 2007

TonyStark said:
I find that hard to believe but will try it nonetheless.

o rly?

TonyStark · Dec 21, 2007

Nice Random Murderer

What is the ambient/room temp? I'm in Australia and it is summer at the moment so that is a huge factor aswell....

edit: Got it down to 63°C load @ 23°C ambient.

Random Murderer · Dec 21, 2007

TonyStark said:
Nice Random Murderer

What is the ambient/room temp? I'm in Australia and it is summer at the moment so that is a huge factor aswell....

edit: Got it down to 63°C load @ 23°C ambient.

i don't know, but i'm sweating my ass off, lol!

Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 @ 4.0GHz
Motherboard	Asus P5Q Pro
Cooling	Zalman CNPS9700LED
Memory	Kingston DDR2 800 @ 4-4-4-12
Video Card(s)	Asus GTX 260
Storage	Seagate 160GB, Seagate 320GB
Display(s)	Samsung 46" LCD (full 1080p)
Case	CoolerMaster Centurion
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Tagan U22 530W (32 amps on 12V)
Software	Vista ultimate 64 bit
Benchmark Scores	3DMark06 - 17,000

Processor	Intel Q9400
Motherboard	asus p5q-pro
Cooling	Ultra120
Memory	6GB ddr2
Video Card(s)	NVS 290
Storage	3TB + 1.5TB
Display(s)	Samsung F2380
Case	Silverstone Fortress FT02B
Audio Device(s)	Creative X-Fi
Power Supply	750W PC P&C
Software	win 7 ultimate 64bit

System Name	EVA-01
Processor	Intel i7 13700K
Motherboard	Asus ROG Maximus Z690 HERO EVA Edition
Cooling	ASUS ROG Ryujin III 360 with Noctua Industrial Fans
Memory	PAtriot Viper Elite RGB 96GB @ 6000MHz.
Video Card(s)	Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090 24GB OC EVA Edition
Storage	Addlink S95 M.2 PCIe GEN 4x4 2TB
Display(s)	Asus ROG SWIFT OLED PG42UQ
Case	Thermaltake Core P3 TG
Audio Device(s)	Realtek on board > Sony Receiver > Cerwin Vegas
Power Supply	be quiet DARK POWER PRO 12 1500W
Mouse	ROG STRIX Impact Electro Punk
Keyboard	ROG STRIX Scope TKL Electro Punk
Software	Windows 11

Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 @ 4.0GHz
Motherboard	Asus P5Q Pro
Cooling	Zalman CNPS9700LED
Memory	Kingston DDR2 800 @ 4-4-4-12
Video Card(s)	Asus GTX 260
Storage	Seagate 160GB, Seagate 320GB
Display(s)	Samsung 46" LCD (full 1080p)
Case	CoolerMaster Centurion
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Tagan U22 530W (32 amps on 12V)
Software	Vista ultimate 64 bit
Benchmark Scores	3DMark06 - 17,000

System Name	EVA-01
Processor	Intel i7 13700K
Motherboard	Asus ROG Maximus Z690 HERO EVA Edition
Cooling	ASUS ROG Ryujin III 360 with Noctua Industrial Fans
Memory	PAtriot Viper Elite RGB 96GB @ 6000MHz.
Video Card(s)	Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090 24GB OC EVA Edition
Storage	Addlink S95 M.2 PCIe GEN 4x4 2TB
Display(s)	Asus ROG SWIFT OLED PG42UQ
Case	Thermaltake Core P3 TG
Audio Device(s)	Realtek on board > Sony Receiver > Cerwin Vegas
Power Supply	be quiet DARK POWER PRO 12 1500W
Mouse	ROG STRIX Impact Electro Punk
Keyboard	ROG STRIX Scope TKL Electro Punk
Software	Windows 11

HD3870 and Zalman VF900 cooler -- bad temperatures

TonyStark

New Member

a111087

sneekypeet

Retired Super Moderator

TonyStark

New Member

sneekypeet

Retired Super Moderator

a111087

OnBoard

New Member

TonyStark

New Member

OnBoard

New Member

wiak

Random Murderer

The Anti-Midas

TonyStark

New Member

Random Murderer

The Anti-Midas

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Memory	Geil Ultra Series 4GB 2133MHz DDR3 @ 1440MHz 7-7-7-24
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte GTX 460 1GB OC (mostly stock speeds)
Storage	OS: Samsung F3 500GB Games: Samsung F1 640GB
Display(s)	new! Samsung P2350 23" FullHD 2ms / Mirai DTL-632E500 32" LCD
Case	new! Xigmatek Midgard/Utgard side window with red cathodes, 1x140mm & 3x120mm fans
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Storage	Kingston FURY Renegade 2TB PCIe 4.0
Display(s)	2x Dell U2412M
Case	Phanteks P400A
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Power Supply	Corsair AX850 (from 2012)
Software	Windows 10?

System Name	TOO MUCH RADIATOR! \| The TV Box a.k.a. The Shoebox
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Audio Device(s)	RM-DAC -> Xiang Sheng 708b -> Sennheiser HD650 \| HDMI sound device on 7970
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Software	Win 10 64
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