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Zalman FC-ZV9 VGA Heatsink Review
Zalman FC-ZV9 VGA Heatsink Review
  85%   
Abstract: Zalman have produced a handful of videocard heatsinks in the years since the original ZM17CU cooler was first patented.

 Manufacturer  Category  Published  Author 
Zalman   Cooling / Heatsinks   Jul 28, 2006   Max Page  

Home > Reviews > Page: 360° View - Zalman FC-ZV9 VGA Heatsink

360° View - Zalman FC-ZV9 VGA Heatsink
Information on Frostytech's test methodology is available here.
The Heatsink Fan:
The eleven bladed translucent impeller on this 15mm thick 80mm fan creates a moderate amount of airflow through the copper cooling fins, and practically no noise. Compared to some stock VGA heatsink fans, the FC-ZV9 is refreshingly quiet. The fan can be controlled with the Zalman Fan Mate 2 to operate at between 1650-3600RPM. Power comes via a standard 3-pin motherboard fan header which supports RPM monitoring. When installed, the Zalman FC-ZV9 VGA heatsink will occupy one additional PCI slot worth of space adjacent to the videocard.

Heatsink Top:
The copper fins are 30mm long, 0.1mm thick. A specialized cast aluminum mounting bracket accomodates five different mounting hole patterns. Because the heatsink is set off-center to the base, exhaust airflow blows down onto the VGA memory which is located adjacent to the GPU.

Heatsink Side A:
The nickel-plated copper fins are spaced 1.5mm apart along the outer edge, and stand 18mm high. The entire FC-ZV9 heatsink is only 30mm tall. The heatpipes are soldered to the copper fins to reduce thermal resistance at the joint.

Heatsink Side B:
The thin 4mm thick nickel-plated copper base is soldered to the two 5mm diameter copper heatpipes, and the aluminum frame is subsequently screwed into place on top.

Heatsink Base:
The base of the FC-ZV9 VGA heatsink is 30mm in diameter, and the two heatpipes both pass close to the GPU core. This size base should cover the vast majority of GPU's on the market, from both the Geforce and Radeon stables. The surface finish is excellent, no doubt because the copper base has been nickel plated after it was machined. Surface roughness is at or better than ~2 microinches, which is excellent. The base is perfectly flat in both axis.

The five sets of mounting holes for different videocard configurations flank the base here. A small metal post screws into the aluminum frame, and that passes through the videocard PCB.

 Previous Page ° ° Next Page 

Table of Contents:

 1:  Zalman FC-ZV9 VGA Heatsink Review
 2:  ATI/nVidia Videocard Mounting Holes
 3: — 360° View - Zalman FC-ZV9 VGA Heatsink
 4:  Sound Level and Thermal Comparisons

List all Zalman heat sinks that Frostytech tested?

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