SPCR

If you could spend any amount of money to get the best (quality AND quietness) possible 9800Pro Cooler, what would you get? I am not opposed to modding at all.

My BuiltByATI 9800Pro has a stock HSF on it with a Vantec Tornado 80mm fan pointed at it (yes, its noisy, but i modded it with an on/off switch so its only on when i play games and it pushes ~90cfm ).

So far I'm looking at getting the Zalman passive heatpipe cooler and the only thing stopping me is my wondering if there is anything better out there... Thanks!

there is a new version of the passive cooler that comes with a slim fan that you could wire to turn on and off that would proabbly be the best and quietest

Easy answer:

The sapphire 9800Pro Ultimate

The fastest card out there, and it's 0dB. It's also very overclockable.

I think that zalman recommends that you use additional cooling on 9800pro's during 3d operation. So technically its only 0db's when doing 2d, but when 3d kicks in you need to have some type of airflow over it, or at least i would, but then again im paranoid about stuff overheating.

For the aftermarket Zalman, yes. But Sapphire has no such warning about the unit installed on there cards at the factory.

Hmm really, so if the card does overheat then its sapphire responsiblity to replace it?

Yup.

My guess is that Zalman is being cautious since they don't want to be forced to pay for dead cards. The disclaimer gives them alittle legal CYA material. Since Sapphire know more about the heat production they're in a better position to really know the dangers.

The cooler they use is also not the same as the retail Zalman, but I don't know if that makes the difference or not.

Ok, I already have the 9800Pro so buying a Sapphire is out of the question (unless someone has some cash they'd like to blow on my NEW 9800???)

I won't really be over clocking the 9800 and my case is pretty well ventilated (that and currently my case temp never gets above 40C because our house is a steady 75F). Is there really that much danger associated with the zalman??? I've heard that heat pipes are not really ideal, but I do have 2 80mm exhaust Panaflo L1A's on above my 9800. Please, someone tell me now if they have had ANY bad experiences with the Zalman cooler, any heatpipe cooler or any 9800Pro's burning up. I NEED LOTS OF INFO!

If no one can give me any negative advice about the zalman, or at least a better alternative, i'm gonna buy it and give you my impressions.

Thanks!

The zalman will work perfect for you.

And you'll never burn up your card. You could run it with no heatsink at all and you couldn't damage it from overheating. The thermal protection would kick in and itt would just lock up your machine when it got too hot.

thanks rusty... that was the confidence i needed. i didn't know the 9800Pro had a thermal shutdown initiative. I appreciate the info.

thanks rusty... that was the confidence i needed. i didn't know the 9800Pro had a thermal shutdown initiative. I appreciate the info.

you're welcome.

(and actually all current Ati and Nvidia cards have that)

now, i just have to find one that's inexpensive. what's the newest revision of the cooler? i can't seem to find zalman's website...

zm80C they have them at newegg.com

Svc.com has it for cheaper than newegg.com.

ZM80C-HP - http://svc.com/zavgahecozm.html

Swing by your local Fry's. They have it for $29.99 + tax. They work great.

Oh by the way I have heard a report of the zm80a being so heavy that it bent their $300. graphic card enough to cause errors and eventually killed it. This is just one report and the guy might have been carrying his case around alot, or maybe had a fan rigged up on the side of the card also adding more weight. But just thought Id let you know. But apparently its rare because alot of people are using zm80's and the zm80c weighs less also.