ATI's X1k series of graphics cards are certainly a powerful solution for gaming, however whether purchasing a X1900XT or the older X1800 - the coolers are some of the loudest we have heard in our labs. We made it very clear to ATI that their noisy cooling solution needed addressed in the future because this was never an issue for the 78x or 79x Nvidia boards.

Due to the racket created by high end ATI cards (and older models of Nvidia cards) there is a real market out there for alternative cooling solutions. A well designed cooler can make a huge difference to overall system noise and even over clocking potential, so when one of the world’s leading after market cooler makers produces a VGA cooler we had to have a look.

The VF900-CU

The Zalman VF900-CU comes packaged in a relatively small box which is well designed. On the front of this packaging we can see the full size of the fan as well as the design of the cooling fins. We can also clearly see the type of metal used.

Flipping the box over reveals the specifications of the product as well as some of the main features. There is also a small window at the bottom of the packing which allows potential customers to inspect the heat sink base.

Upon opening the box the first thing we find are the bundled components. These consist of a well written instruction manual that includes very easy to understand diagrams, thermal paste, sticker, cables, memory heat sinks and Fanmate 2. Fanmate allows you to connect the GPU fan to a motherboard fan header for monitoring and also features a dial to vary the cooler fan speed.

Finally, the small bag pictured contains the various screws, bolts etc. used to attach the cooler to the graphics card.

After removing the bundled components we find the cooler itself suspended in some hard protective plastic. The picture below shows the cooler from a top down view. Clearly shown are the 0.2mm fins which dissipate the heat passing through the 2 copper heat pipes. The fan used on the VF900-CU is a variable speed model which runs from 1350rpm to 2500rpm. This variable RPM means that the noise generated is also variable between 18.5dB to 25dB.

By turning over the cooler we can see the method used to attach the unit. There are 6 arms extending from the base which feature numerous holes. These various holes correspond to almost all mounting holes used on graphics cards within the last 2-3 years. Our X1800XTPE uses hole set 5 (which is the outermost hole on the 4 main arms).

Also clearly shown by the shot below is the base of the cooler, it is very highly polished copper.

Before we take a look at the installation process here is a note of the cards full specifications (which also state that the cooler is a very light 185g)

Time for a look at the installation process...