Zalman 8800 GTX/Ultra Waterblock Cases and Cooling   Page 1

Reviewer: David Walker Article Publish Date: 12/8/2007

 

 

 

 

Introduction 

Watercooling, while not yet mainstream, has picked up in popularity. It is one of the best methods available to cool the heat generating components within a PC system.  Most solutions will employ one or two 120 mm fans to move air across a radiator with less intrusive noise than air cooling. Cool and quiet, just what everyone wants in a PC system.  Zalman has been making products that offer this balance for years and, to date, most of these products have been traditional air cooling. They have defined a new breed of coolers that offer great cooling, quietly which have been oft imitated by many other manufacturers. So, it is no surprise that Zalman has introduced additional water cooling products to further bolster their quiet and cool reputation.  

Today, we are taking a look at Zalman’s watercooling solution for the 8800 GTX/Ultra, the ZM-GWB8800. The unit retails for about $79 US. It is an all aluminum design that cools the GPU core as well as the memory and power components of the card.  Copper is normally the material of choice for waterblocks in the enthusiast community but at the cost of weight. Aluminum is lighter but less effective. Then again, how effective does it really need to be? Well, let’s get the heat sink installed, mounted in a system and run through some tests to see how it performs.

 

Who is Zalman?

Zalman was founded in 1999 improve the computing experience by reducing computer noise down lower than 20dB. They have researched and patented many innovative coolers since then that have delivered on this promise. Along the way, they have also received a number of industry awards for excellence in design and a very strong reputation with PC enthusiasts.