New VF-700cu on 7800GT

C

cfetter79

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 16, 2004
Messages
217
Just put the Zalman on my eVGA 7800GT. Seems to be idling around 43-44C and under load (510/1.22) on FEAR, I was hitting around 66-68C. This is on the "silent" setting for the fan. BTW, I used the supplied paste from Zalman.. thinking of maybe some AS5....

Guess I'm just throwing that out there to see if I'm where I should be with the temps and whatnot. Couple of stupid questions... Doesn't the vid card normally adjust the speed of the fan according to temp.. if so, why doesn't the connector match the stock one so it can be controlled by the card. It has a molex connector that allows 5V or 12V operation for different fan speeds.. again..seems kinda weird.

This thing is nice and quiet tho...

P1010013.jpg


P1010018.jpg
 
The temperature change is about the same for the 6 series for the Zalman vga. On both of the cards I have had the 6800nu (died) and the 6600gt (current) temperature drop was about 10'C. Load temps on my card with a 85mhz OC on the core are around 58-60.
 
The reason the fan connector on the Zalman doesn't match the one on the card is that the fan draws more power than the card can put out on the fan header, meaning if you plug it in you risk the possibility of frying your card or it's fan header.

Oh and IIRC for some reason the EVGA 7800GT doesn't adjust the fan speed on the stock cooler - it runs at a noisy 100% all the time. At least I seem to remember several complaints here in the video card forums claiming so.

I :heart: my VF-700cu :)
 
My vf700 saved my 68GT's life, it was idling at 70+ before I slapped the sucker on there. I couldnt play any game at all without it overheating and throttling.
 
So idling at around 42-44c is good? seemed a bit high to me.. course, this is a fairly new machine.
 
CPU temps != GPU temps. 40's is bad for an A64, but great for a Geforce 6800 or higher.
 
I have one on my 7800GT at stock clocks, but my idle temps "42-45 degrees celsius" really didn't drop any even with the fan on high. I am also using AS5
 
cfetter79 said:
My 4400+ X2 idles around 41C... that's high?
Click to expand...
it's on the warm side :)

yea i got a vf700. i was going to put the fan on high and overclock as far as i could go...but i coudln't disconnect the 5v connector! i was pulling so hard i was afraid i would break it so i left it...scanning for artifacts i load at 76C, but gaming is more like 66C. i idle around 40-45C.
 
The stock ing fan does go down but it is still very noisy in my opinion. The Zman didn't do much for temps but oh is it so quiet at the same 44ish.

I have the EVGA that came with board too.
 
Blue Falcon said:
The reason the fan connector on the Zalman doesn't match the one on the card is that the fan draws more power than the card can put out on the fan header, meaning if you plug it in you risk the possibility of frying your card or it's fan header.

Oh and IIRC for some reason the EVGA 7800GT doesn't adjust the fan speed on the stock cooler - it runs at a noisy 100% all the time. At least I seem to remember several complaints here in the video card forums claiming so.

I :heart: my VF-700cu :)
Click to expand...

An update on this topic:

The fan used on the NON LED Zalman VF700 is a 12 volt fan drawing 0.14 amps at a full 12 volts. I'd imagine the LED version is slightly higher.

The fan used in the stock 7800GT cooler is a 12 volt fan drawing 0.28amps at full voltage.

So in short if you make the standard 3-pin connector for the VF700 fit the 2-pin connector on the 7800GT it should work with no problem.

Just an FYI :)


[EDIT: I think I'm going to do this mod... I hate the fan connector snaking across my mobo to the mobo chassis connector. I'd much rather have it all self contained. I'll post pics when I'm done if anyone wants.]
 
Blue Falcon said:
An update on this topic:

The fan used on the NON LED Zalman VF700 is a 12 volt fan drawing 0.14 amps at a full 12 volts. I'd imagine the LED version is slightly higher.

The fan used in the stock 7800GT cooler is a 12 volt fan drawing 0.28amps at full voltage.

So in short if you make the standard 3-pin connector for the VF700 fit the 2-pin connector on the 7800GT it should work with no problem.

Just an FYI :)


[EDIT: I think I'm going to do this mod... I hate the fan connector snaking across my mobo to the mobo chassis connector. I'd much rather have it all self contained. I'll post pics when I'm done if anyone wants.]
Click to expand...

A lot of people (including myself) would love to see that b/c the vf700 on my 6600gt is irritating with that cord drapped across my card and mobo (like you said).
 
cfetter79 said:
My 4400+ X2 idles around 41C... that's high?
Click to expand...
Yes, given that my Opty 144 @ 2.7 (stock volts) loads at 37C on an XP-90. Even at 2.8 (1.440V) loads under 40.
 
The VF700's standard 3 pin mini molex connector:



...and the fan header on the 7800GT.





As you can see they don't fit. This can be remedied in a few ways. I chose to pull the plastic molex connector bracket off the card leaving just the pins for the fan header. This way I don't have to hack up the wires on the VF700 at all.

WARNING: On some cards this plastic piece is glued, on others it's just secured by the pins themselves. On my 7800GT it was just secured by the pins but it was hard as hell to get off. My advice is small needlenose, a firm grip, and a steady hand. Don't blame me if you slip and gouge your card or knock components off. PATIENCE and common sense required.





Now the 3-pin molex of the VF700 fits quite nicely on the 2 pin fan header on the video card. Just remember to get your polarity straight. On the 7600GT the red fan wire should be on the pin closest to the PCI-E / AGP connector on the card. If you're doing this on another card you'll want to pay attention to how the original fan is connected.




So doing it this way you don't screw up the 3-wire setup of the VF700 in case you want to use it on something else one day. And if you're REALLY careful you didn't mangle the plastic you pulled off the video card If you ever need to put the card back to it's stock appearance you can just put the plastic clip back on.

My 7800GT works fine and powering the fan off the card's header doesn't affect my overclock in the slightest. I make a point about this because you'll often find goobers around here claiming that not using the video card fan header gives it more power and a higher overclock. Rubbish! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top