tehsiggi wrote on 2026-03-06, 19:17:

RandomStranger wrote on 2026-03-06, 18:45:

High-balling the heat production is not a bad thing. It makes running these cards safer. If I'm replacing the factory original cooler I always replace it with something much higher performance.

Those numbers will stay in the internet and spread as "facts". Oversizing coolers is fine - spreading wrong numbers helps nobody.
I would also challenge if the small cooler (no3) can sink away 40W while the significantly larger (no4) can only do 50W - I have no3 here. If desired, I can try to qualify how it behaves at what wattage of heat.

I updated my post.

I would really love to have some numbers on these things though. It's a lot of guess work.

But then there are a lot of variables, like case ventilation, ambient temperature, and quality of thermal paste. Those things can make one man's silent PC into another's GPU grave yard.

I'm pretty happy with the cooler to card assignments. Rather than going with wattage, this seems more helpful. To me those assignments look about right!

tehsiggi wrote on 2026-03-06, 19:17:

RandomStranger wrote on 2026-03-06, 18:45:

High-balling the heat production is not a bad thing. It makes running these cards safer. If I'm replacing the factory original cooler I always replace it with something much higher performance.

I would also challenge if the small cooler (no3) can sink away 40W while the significantly larger (no4) can only do 50W - I have no3 here. If desired, I can try to qualify how it behaves at what wattage of heat.

Those type 3 coolers are trash. The fan is tiny, something like 35mm I think. There's no way that's pushing enough air to really do anything.

The cold plate finish is also appalling. High ridges and over anodised on the coloured ones.

The zalman VF range of GPU coolers are my go to options (when I can find them).

Lostdotfish wrote on 2026-03-07, 07:47:

Those type 3 coolers are trash. The fan is tiny, something like 35mm I think. There's no way that's pushing enough air to real […]
Show full quote

tehsiggi wrote on 2026-03-06, 19:17:

RandomStranger wrote on 2026-03-06, 18:45:

High-balling the heat production is not a bad thing. It makes running these cards safer. If I'm replacing the factory original cooler I always replace it with something much higher performance.

I would also challenge if the small cooler (no3) can sink away 40W while the significantly larger (no4) can only do 50W - I have no3 here. If desired, I can try to qualify how it behaves at what wattage of heat.

Those type 3 coolers are trash. The fan is tiny, something like 35mm I think. There's no way that's pushing enough air to really do anything.

The cold plate finish is also appalling. High ridges and over anodised on the coloured ones.

The zalman VF range of GPU cookers are my go to options (when I can find them).

There are enough GPUs that don't need a Zalman VF cooler. Radeon 9000, 9200, 9600s are fine with No3 from the pictures. The exact same cooler worked on Sapphires X700 series for years.
If you're looking for a sufficient replacement with good value, those coolers are good enough. How do I know? I have them.

tehsiggi wrote on 2026-03-07, 08:26:

Lostdotfish wrote on 2026-03-07, 07:47:

Those type 3 coolers are trash. The fan is tiny, something like 35mm I think. There's no way that's pushing enough air to real […]
Show full quote

tehsiggi wrote on 2026-03-06, 19:17:

I would also challenge if the small cooler (no3) can sink away 40W while the significantly larger (no4) can only do 50W - I have no3 here. If desired, I can try to qualify how it behaves at what wattage of heat.

Those type 3 coolers are trash. The fan is tiny, something like 35mm I think. There's no way that's pushing enough air to really do anything.

The cold plate finish is also appalling. High ridges and over anodised on the coloured ones.

The zalman VF range of GPU cookers are my go to options (when I can find them).

There are enough GPUs that don't need a Zalman VF cooler. Radeon 9000, 9200, 9600s are fine with No3 from the pictures. The exact same cooler worked on Sapphires X700 series for years.
If you're looking for a sufficient replacement with good value, those coolers are good enough. How do I know? I have them.

I just think that you'd probably get better results with a bigger cheap passive heatsink than those type 3. I have one on my desk right now and I was not impressed with it at all.

Lostdotfish wrote on 2026-03-07, 08:57:

tehsiggi wrote on 2026-03-07, 08:26:

Lostdotfish wrote on 2026-03-07, 07:47:

Those type 3 coolers are trash. The fan is tiny, something like 35mm I think. There's no way that's pushing enough air to really do anything.

The cold plate finish is also appalling. High ridges and over anodised on the coloured ones.

The zalman VF range of GPU cookers are my go to options (when I can find them).

There are enough GPUs that don't need a Zalman VF cooler. Radeon 9000, 9200, 9600s are fine with No3 from the pictures. The exact same cooler worked on Sapphires X700 series for years.
If you're looking for a sufficient replacement with good value, those coolers are good enough. How do I know? I have them.

I just think that you'd probably get better results with a bigger cheap passive heatsink than those type 2. I have one on my desk right now and I was not impressed with it at all.

Do you have a passive cooler in the same price region that is easily plug and play for 55mm? We were talking about type 3 right?

tehsiggi wrote on 2026-03-07, 09:50:

Lostdotfish wrote on 2026-03-07, 08:57:

tehsiggi wrote on 2026-03-07, 08:26:

There are enough GPUs that don't need a Zalman VF cooler. Radeon 9000, 9200, 9600s are fine with No3 from the pictures. The exact same cooler worked on Sapphires X700 series for years.
If you're looking for a sufficient replacement with good value, those coolers are good enough. How do I know? I have them.

I just think that you'd probably get better results with a bigger cheap passive heatsink than those type 2. I have one on my desk right now and I was not impressed with it at all.

Do you have a passive cooler in the same price region that is easily plug and play for 55mm? We were talking about type 3 right?

https://www.moddiy.com/products/2550/Thermall … tsink-55mm.html
https://www.moddiy.com/products/2940/High-Per … tsink-45mm.html

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Compatible-Adjustabl … B086JPNV3T?th=1

Lostdotfish wrote on 2026-03-07, 11:34:

https://www.moddiy.com/products/2550/Thermall … tsink-55mm.html https://www.moddiy.com/products/2940/High-Per … tsink-45mm.html […]
Show full quote

tehsiggi wrote on 2026-03-07, 09:50:

Lostdotfish wrote on 2026-03-07, 08:57:

I just think that you'd probably get better results with a bigger cheap passive heatsink than those type 2. I have one on my desk right now and I was not impressed with it at all.

Do you have a passive cooler in the same price region that is easily plug and play for 55mm? We were talking about type 3 right?

https://www.moddiy.com/products/2550/Thermall … tsink-55mm.html
https://www.moddiy.com/products/2940/High-Per … tsink-45mm.html

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Compatible-Adjustabl … B086JPNV3T?th=1

Thanks! Tempted to get the larger one and test it with a 9600XT against Type3.
The amazon one is out of the picture, as not price competitive.

tehsiggi wrote on 2026-03-07, 11:37:

Lostdotfish wrote on 2026-03-07, 11:34:

https://www.moddiy.com/products/2550/Thermall … tsink-55mm.html https://www.moddiy.com/products/2940/High-Per … tsink-45mm.html […]
Show full quote

tehsiggi wrote on 2026-03-07, 09:50:

Do you have a passive cooler in the same price region that is easily plug and play for 55mm? We were talking about type 3 right?

https://www.moddiy.com/products/2550/Thermall … tsink-55mm.html
https://www.moddiy.com/products/2940/High-Per … tsink-45mm.html

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Compatible-Adjustabl … B086JPNV3T?th=1

The amazon one is out of the picture, as not price competitive.

Yep but you can find it on Aliexpress cheaper. It will also take a nice noctua fan screwed to the top.

Lostdotfish wrote on 2026-03-07, 11:40:

tehsiggi wrote on 2026-03-07, 11:37:

Lostdotfish wrote on 2026-03-07, 11:34:

https://www.moddiy.com/products/2550/Thermall … tsink-55mm.html
https://www.moddiy.com/products/2940/High-Per … tsink-45mm.html

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Compatible-Adjustabl … B086JPNV3T?th=1

The amazon one is out of the picture, as not price competitive.

Yep but you can find it on Aliexpress cheaper. It will also take a nice noctua fan screwed to the top.

Here you go

https://www.aliexpress.com/i/32432346031.html

Lostdotfish wrote on 2026-03-07, 11:41:

Lostdotfish wrote on 2026-03-07, 11:40:

tehsiggi wrote on 2026-03-07, 11:37:

The amazon one is out of the picture, as not price competitive.

Yep but you can find it on Aliexpress cheaper. It will also take a nice noctua fan screwed to the top.

Here you go

https://www.aliexpress.com/i/32432346031.html

Ali in a nutshell. If you're already a customer, the cooler is 11,50€ for me, basically the same as the amazon price.
So this would be a good choice if you wanna go "passive or silent all the way".

tehsiggi wrote on 2026-03-07, 08:26:

Lostdotfish wrote on 2026-03-07, 07:47:

Those type 3 coolers are trash. The fan is tiny, something like 35mm I think. There's no way that's pushing enough air to real […]
Show full quote

tehsiggi wrote on 2026-03-06, 19:17:

I would also challenge if the small cooler (no3) can sink away 40W while the significantly larger (no4) can only do 50W - I have no3 here. If desired, I can try to qualify how it behaves at what wattage of heat.

Those type 3 coolers are trash. The fan is tiny, something like 35mm I think. There's no way that's pushing enough air to really do anything.

The cold plate finish is also appalling. High ridges and over anodised on the coloured ones.

The zalman VF range of GPU cookers are my go to options (when I can find them).

There are enough GPUs that don't need a Zalman VF cooler. Radeon 9000, 9200, 9600s are fine with No3 from the pictures. The exact same cooler worked on Sapphires X700 series for years.
If you're looking for a sufficient replacement with good value, those coolers are good enough. How do I know? I have them.

I'm not sure if no3 here is the exact same one as on the X700.
As Lostdotfish said the fan is very tiny and I'd consent. Comparing no3 to my X700 side by side the X700 has a much larger fan (see also here). The overall shape of the heatsink is the same but the fan is larger.
With that larger fan my X700 idles at aound 41°C in an open frame build and goes easily 60°C+ under load (not scratching 65°C though / stock fan control settings). That's why I'd say Lostdotfish isn't completely wrong. No3 would surely be borderline on a X700 (compared to stock) or comparable card.
Just my 2 cents 😉

Edit: OK, obviously they've used several different configurations and I wasn't completely correct. I've just had a look at my X700 (AGP) and its fan's size seems to be somewhere between no3 from this thread and the one on the picture from vgamuseum. Specifically my X700 uses a (measured) 40mm diameter fan like this:

The surplus geforce 4 cooler arrived and it's the real deal, bight and shiny, working fan, thermal pad still intact on the back with a plastic covering from the factory. While back in the day, it was fun to get the big bold custom heat sinks, in this day of advanced years, there's something to be said about keeping things in the original form.

Except for these 470uf caps. They gotta go.

The existing heat sink had a busted fan.

Now do I save the quadro cover or do I confuse people by using the shiny new old stock geforce 4 cover?

Now the replacement fan for the Radeon 9800 was more disappointing.

The fan is loud, the heat sink is 34 grams compared to the original 38 grams and the finish on the contact point is terrible.

I hit it with an orbital sander to see if I could make it reasonable, but now the die protector around the 9800 gets in the way.

So maybe I can use the fan from it.

I've used those Zalman knockoff coolers on several cards and have been satisfied with them. The biggest issue I've had was receiving them intact. The last time I bought one, it arrived with the fan broken off. I contacted the Ebay vendor and they sent me another, but it also arrived with a broken fan. I managed to make a fan from a dead X800 fit it.

When I put one my GF3 Ti200 I had to cut and file the unneeded mounting holes because they hit the RAM heatsinks - not surprising considering the universal "fit all" base they come with.

Repo Man11 wrote on 2026-03-14, 00:47:

I've used those Zalman knockoff coolers on several cards and have been satisfied with them. The biggest issue I've had was receiving them intact. The last time I bought one, it arrived with the fan broken off. I contacted the Ebay vendor and they sent me another, but it also arrived with a broken fan. I managed to make a fan from a dead X800 fit it.

When I put one my GF3 Ti200 I had to cut and file the unneeded mounting holes because they hit the RAM heatsinks - not surprising considering the universal "fit all" base they come with.

My Zalman knockoff arrived from China. Box was smashed, but the cooler was intact.

The contact point on the original ZM-VF700-Cu VGA Cooler was the pressure welded fins and it was polished to a copper mirror

This one is aluminum and is fairly rough with a distinct square in the middle

And the square seems to match the binding clamp used to hold the fins together

But it does have a 2 pin fan which is what I need for this vintage of VGA card.

The square one with the tiny fan arrived today in pretty good shape

The base is smoother that I expected, but is anodized.

Not sure what the cooling penalty is for 25-35 microns of anodizing. Seems like I could polish it off without too much trouble.

A quick check and holes are 55mm & 60mm, which is good for:

• V00d003,
• Radeon 9250, 9600, 9800
• Geforce 4 MX, Geforce 5200, Geforce 5500, Geforce 6200
• Matrox 400, 450, 500, 550,

Same size as the 5500 cooler, but a smaller fan. Smaller fan means some combination of less airflow & more noise. Not what I want to see. Or Hear.

The Zalman clone has holes at 55mm & 60mm but also at 75mm and importantly 80mm, so it can fit a reference Geforce 4 Ti, Geforce 6600 & Geforce 7600

douglar wrote on 2026-03-18, 01:06:

But it does have a 2 pin fan which is what I need for this vintage of VGA card.

There are 3pin-to-2pin adapters, so that's hardly a problem.