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VGA Cooler Roundup on ATI X1900 Series

Cooling/VGA & Other Cooling by piotke @ 2006-11-13

We test 4 after market VGA coolers from Thermalright, Zalman, Sytrin and Arctic Cooling on a hot running Powercolor ATI X1900 GT. Which one keeps the card the coolest and how quiet can it be done? Find out in this group test.

X1900 GT and Installation of 3 Coolers

ATI X1900 GT

The Powercolor X1900 GT uses the reference cooling, which is a compact single slot aluminium heatsink with a copper core insert that covers both memory chips and GPU core. At reduced fan speed (2D mode) it’s relatively quiet but once you load up a game it will become quite noticeable in your system.

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A naked X1900 GT

The fan speed can be controlled through ATI Tool or ATI Tray Tools. You can either set it to a fix value (e.g.: 50%, 100%) or let the fan be controlled automatically. From the different after market coolers tested here, only the Accelero X2 from Arctic Cooling connects directly to the fan header on the X1900 GT and thus it can profit from the onboard fan speed control.

Installation of the aftermarket coolers

We covered the installation of the Zalman, Accelero and Sytrin coolers in detail in our last roundup, the method for getting them on the ATI card is not very different and the remarks in the last roundup still stand. The Sytrin needs the most work out of those 3, with custom bracket and plenty of screws to be fixed in place, the Zalman also needs a bit of screwing work but does so tool-less with practical thumbscrews. The Accelero X2 is made especially for the ATI X1800/X19** series and fits using the same mounting holes as the original stock cooling.

Zalman VF900-CU:

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Arctic Cooling Accelero X2:

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Sytrin KuFormula VF1 Plus:

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We haven’t covered the Thermalright V1 Ultra before, so let’s see how it’s installed on the next page ->

Comment from h1gh @ 2007/05/12

Due to space constraints (no free PCI slots in my system), I was interested if you could re-test the VF1 WITHOUT the included fan with a 120mm fan mounted on the rear of the case (i have a Arctic-Cooling ACF12).

My system setup is similar to the Piotke's Test Setup picture on Page 1 of your review except my Zalman blow air directly to the back of the case.

TIA

Comment from jmke @ 2007/05/13

these products and test card are no longer available as we have to make room for new product reviews & gear; sorry :/

Comment from Rutar @ 2007/05/13

I still think TR cripples their cooler by supplying a crappy fan. It is just asking to ghetto mount a 1000 RPM 120mm Silent Eagle.

Comment from jmke @ 2007/05/13

TR doesn't supply fans with their HSF

Comment from Rutar @ 2007/05/13

"The included 80mm fan is low profile (15mm) and spins at 2500rpm@12v."

?

Comment from jmke @ 2007/05/13

for retail channel they sometimes do, but if you check their product line-up you'll see that practically none come with fan. I think the low profile is not a bad choice as it limits the risk of it not fitting inside your case.

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