Temperate and Noise Tests

Leadtek partnered with Zalman to provide a custom design cooler for their factory overclocked enthusiast 8800 GT based model. The heatsink is rather compact though and is considerably smaller than Zalman’s own VF1000.

We stressed the video card by running Real-Time HDR benchmark in loop until temperatures were stable. Ambient room temperature was 21°C, the lowest noise recording in our test room was 36dBA without PC running.

We tested the PX8800 GT ZL at different fan speeds, through Rivatuner we were able to manually set the fan speed anywhere between 25 and 100%. There are two AUTO results included too, where we let the build-in fan speed controller decide what fan speed to set.

---

Starting at Idle Auto, the fan spins at 30%, ~864rpm, the GPU remains cool at 44°C, noise meter registers +4dBA above ambient from the front, +10dBA from the side panel. In short, at idle the card is whisper quiet and can hardly be heard.

Setting fan speed to 25% (~831rpm), idle temps only increase by 1%, noise readings remain on par.

First Load test is with Auto Fan setting, which sets it at 70% (~1341rpm), load temps are well below critical level, in fact, most reference cooled 8800 GT cards never go below 70°C , and this Leadtek is factory overclocked! Noise wise the card does become audible, especially from the side panel you can clearly hear when the “3D” profile is activated, this change is less noticeable from the front if you are ~30cm away.

With the fan speed set to 50% (~1181rpm) we hardly see an increase in GPU load temps (~1°C) but noise goes down and offers a better performance/noise balance.

Going all out at 100% (1462rpm) the fan can clearly be heard, but the extra airflow doesn’t pay of much, 1°C cooler than AUTO and 2°C better than with the fan at 50°C.

Overall the custom Zalman cooler will be an asset to most, it offers better cooling compared to stock cooler at lower noise levels, but those seeking complete silence or very low noise will find the Zalman cooler not to be ideal.