MaximumPC 2005 12

I

n the past we’ve been a smidge wary of aftermarket VGA coolers, but all that’s

changed now that we’ve tested the royally badass VF700-Cu cooler from

Zalman. This kick-ass heatsink/fan (HSF) not only looks elegant with its solid-

copper fins and sassy blue LED fan, it also offers performance that blew us

away, especially considering how unbelievably quiet it is. This is one of those

rare products that exceeded our expectations in almost every way possible.

Let’s start with the VF700’s installation, which was so easy even a blind-

folded intern could have done it. In fact, on our Radeon X800 XT test card, it took

longer to uninstall the stock cooler than it did to hook up the Zalman cooler—it’s

that simple. Still, we did encounter a slight annoyance. Your first task is to remove

the stock cooler and attach the eight included RAM heatsinks on the card’s RAM

modules; the problem is that the damn things barely stick to the RAM modules,

and constantly fall off during installation, which can be frustrating. Once the heat

from the memory gets to them, however, they stick like glue. With that out of the

way, the rest of the installation is a breeze

and takes just a few minutes.

Thanks to the VF700’s smart design and simple instructions, it’s virtually

impossible to damage the videocard’s GPU during installation—indeed, our

card survived the process totally unscathed. The icing on the VF700 cake are

the two included power connectors: a 5V plug for “quiet” operation and a 12V

part for “normal” mode.

As the benchmarks show, its performance was amazing using either

setting. We were astounded to see a temperature drop of 20 C from stock,

even when running in quiet mode, which is inaudible even with the case door

removed. In normal mode the numbers were even better, although the VF700

emits just a bit of noise.

Aside from the flaky RAM heatsinks, this cooler is the answer to our VGA

cooling dreams. And the fact

that its low-profile makes

it SLI-ready just sweetens

the deal.

—JOSH NOREM

Zalman VF700-Cu LED

VGA Cooler

Cool, quiet, and SLI-ready

 MA XIMUMPC DECEMBER 2005

reviewsTESTED. REVIEWED. VERDICTIZED

Though it’s not visible in this image, the Zalman VF700’s fan

sports a swank blue LED that adds a tasteful dash of “mod”

flavor to your videocard.

MA XIMUMPC

KICKASS



ZALMAN VF700-CU LED

$35, http://www.zalmanusa.com

T

his month Kingwin bravely wades into the water-cooling fray with a

CPU- and GPU-cooling kit dubbed AquaStar. This kit can be set up as

either an external unit or an internal kit that mounts inside two 5.25-inch

drive bays. Although it performed adequately during testing and is a hellu-

va bargain, our enthusiasm for it is tempered by the fact that the first kit

we tested leaked water all over our test bench. A second kit was sent and

it ran flawlessly, however.

The kit includes two aluminum water blocks (with copper bases), sev-

eral sections of 1/8-inch tubing, and

the radiator/reservoir/pump unit.

Installation is simple: Every

piece of tubing terminates

in a fitting that screws onto

the blocks’ inlet and outlet

ports, so it’s just a matter

of attaching the blocks

(also incredibly easy),

screwing on the tubing,

and filling the reservoir.

Once up and running, the

AquaStar provides respect-

able cooling performance

while remaining totally silent when the fans are set to low (1,400rpm). With

the fans set to high (2,760rpm), performance is impressive, but still shy by a

few degrees of the best we’ve seen.

A multi-color LCD (you can change the color to suit your mood) dis-

plays a wealth of useful information and can also sound an alarm when

the system reaches a preset temperature threshold (which is adjustable) or

if/when the water pump fails. The problem is that there’s so much info on

the screen that it’s hard to read. Also, the whole kit has a “budget” look and

feel to it, which isn’t surprising given its rock-bottom price.

While we’re impressed with the AquaStar’s value—decent CPU- and

GPU-cooling at a low price, we’re knocking it a bit for the initial leakage and

because its cooling performance

isn’t top-of-the-line.

—JOSH NOREM

Kingwin AquaStar

AS-3000

A decent way to dip your PC’s toes in the water

The Aquastar

is the first kit

we’ve seen

to offer both

CPU and

GPU cooling

for less than

$200.

AQUA STAR STOCK COOLER

Best scores are bolded. All temperatures were measured via the

onboard sensors, using the utilities provided by the motherboard

manufacturer. Idle temperatures were measured after 30 minutes of

inactivity and full-load temps were achieved running CPU Burn-in

for one hour.

BENCHMARKS

AMD FX-55

IDLE

FAN LOW (C) 41 N/A

FAN HIGH (C) 34 40

100% LOAD

FAN LOW (C) 48 N/A

FAN HIGH (C) 45 54



KINGWIN AQUASTAR

$135, http://www.kingwin.com

7700 “QUIET” 7700 “NORMAL” STOCK COOLER

BENCHMARKS

Best scores are bolded. All temperatures were measured via the card’s onboard sensor and measured within the ATI

Catalyst drivers. Idle temperatures were measured after 30 minutes of inactivity and full-load temps were achieved loop-

ing 3DMark 05 for one hour.

IDLE (C) 34 32 40

100% LOAD (C) 53 47 71