Zerotherm GX700

[theburan]

Just wanted to share my thoughts on a vga cooler that I've had for a while now... the Zerotherm GX700. Newegg.com - ZEROtherm GX700 Ceramic VGA Cooler - Retail

Got it for dirt cheap, about 14 bucks after the rebate, but even at it's current price it's pretty cheap.

Don't have many pics, and I don't remember the actual before and after results (I installed it a few months ago originally...), but I still wanted to share my thoughts.

I got this for a few reasons originally, first, because the stock cooler was noisy (this was on a 7600gt), second, because it looked cool, and thirdly, because the cost was good.

Installing it is real easy, the hardest part is making sure you put the bolts in the right spot. You see, there are several spots where you can mount the bolts that will actually pass through the card, and it takes a few minutes to get these attached. Once you do that, it is a simple matter to attach the ramsinks (which are a pretty nifty anodized aluminum type of green), and attach the heatsink itself. It comes with a very small amount paste, literally just enough for one use. It appears to be silver based, as it looks like arctic silver 5, but I never actually used it. Finally, the fan has to be plugged into the motherboard (or an adapter be used to hook it up to something else) as it uses a standard 3 pin fan power connector, and not the 2 pin style used by the stock fan. I with they had taken the time to sleeve that cable, but for the cost, it's not necessary. Also, it's really light, much lighter than the stock cooler.


So, once it's all on, it looks something like this:


(sorry for the blurry pics, the camera I was using don't focus very well when i have the flash off)

That's the cooler sitting on a 7600gs (yes, it works on agp cards, it seems, doesn't interfere with the agp chip like some coolers do, at least on this nvidia card.), and it will be going in my clear case here shortly. From what I remember when I first put it on, it didn't cool better than the stock cooler, it was actually a degree or two higher... but it was also dead silent. (the stock cooler was insanely loud). You literally could not hear it over everything else, even if you tried.

So, as far as performance, it wasn't all that great, until you factor in how quiet it is. And cheap. So if you aren't really looking into getting a performance boost, and just want a cheap, quiet cooler that looks good, it's a good option. (nice replacement if the original fan dies or something like that too).

[polobunny]

It looks nice, though I can see that it could be a problem with some cases, in some cases. :P
You probably cannot fit this in tighter cases (HTPC) because the span of the cooler. There's already some HTPC cases that barely fit full height cards. :S
It's good though, seeing as you spent 15 dollars to enjoy the silence. I have to say that's something I'm really getting into lately, silencing my computer. I used to be one of those kids that would have 23049203 rpm fans as long as they kept my components at ambient temperatures, but my ears thank me that I made the move!

I'm surprised though the performance isn't any better. Which cooler did you have on the 7600?

[theburan]

Also, it's takes up two slots, so that can be a problem.

And also, this cooler is like, 100% aluminum, if I remember right. The only copper is the heatpipe itself. There really isn't a whole lot to this cooler, and when you consider that the stock cooler on my 7600gt was pretty much a solid chunk of copper with a crazy fast and loud fan, so it doesn't surprise me that it's a degree or 2 warmer. There's also a 100% copper version of this cooler, but I don't remember hearing that the performance was a whole lot better. Even though it seems kinda big, there's not a lot of cooler here, lol. Pretty much just that one band of fins, otherwise it's pretty much a fan.

[polobunny]

Hmm I guess so. Even though I was sure you would get better performance, not worse haha. Mostly because the 7600GS/GT isn't a big heater too. Some 7600GS and even some GT's are running passively without problem.

[theburan]

Honestly, there's a good chance I just didnt let the as5 set before checking the temps, I don't remember really checking the temps more than a day or two after installing it... I just now realized that too. So there is a pretty good chance that it was cooling better... no way for me to check though. (i did just put it on a new card, but that card's been sitting in a linux box, so I don't know what temp it was running at before anyways, so I don't have much to compare it to.)