I own both coolers. Zalman is excellent especially with the fan option
(have it installed on seriously overclocked ati 9700 pro). Fan undervolted
cannot be heard and provides enough airflow to keep things cool. Zalman
fits inside of shim. Negatives: Can be a bit of a project to install.
Also, heat is released into the case which can be a problem if you use a
small case or a case with lousy ventilation or you are a silent pc nut like
me that still likes high performance systems (but without the noise).

VGA Silencer is also excellent and getting rave reviews (have mine installed
on 9800 AIW PRO and running at 9800XT speeds. 420mhz core. 365mhz ram). Big
plus of Silencer is that it exhausts the video heat outside of the case.
You lose the PCI slot next to the video card but 'most' people never use
that slot anyways (same as Zalman). Dream to install, couldn't be easier.
Also dead silent on slowest fan setting and slightly noisier on fast setting
but in "most" systems you would never hear it even at fastest setting.
Negatives: Doesn't fit 'inside' the shim so you have to make sure your shim
is level with your gpu or it has to be removed which can be a pain in the
butt. Check your shim height with a steel straight edge or edge of a credit
card to see if there is any gap between the edge and the gpu. Also,
Silencer only fits a limited number of cards so you have to check
compatibility. New ver. 2.0 of the Silencer DOES now fit the ATI AIW
series.

I love and own both products but ultimately I have to recommend the VGA
Silencer if you want the best. Heat being exhausted from case is just way
too cool. (pun intended) (grin) Also, you still have room for memory
ramsinks on the ATI cards with the Silencer, almost impossible with the
Zalman. You can also check out Silencer review at www.silentpcreview.com
Cheers!

James 8-)


"Uncooked meat prior to state vector collapse" wrote in
message news:ZViZb.4732$C21.1683@fed1read07...
"rms" wrote in message
om...
Consider the VGA Silencer also.

rms


does the VGA Silencer make accomodations for the shim? From what I have
heard it does not.