You cannot leave the existing fan in place. The Zalman VF-900Cu is not just a fan but a heatsink AND fan. It replaces the stock heatsink and fan on the graphics card. The Zalman heatsink/fan you saw on the motherboard is attached to the CPU and would do nothing to cool the graphics card. Each one needs its own heatsink/fan.

BTW, I wouldn't rush out to buy an aftermarket cooler. For one thing, replacing the stock heatsink/fan on a new 7950GT will likely void the factory warranty. You certainly will want to wait to make sure it is in good working condition before trying to modify it.

Thanks mailpup. Oops...I've already ordered the Zalman, in fact it was delivered to me this morning before everything else. I guess I'll just hold on to it for now, and if the GPU doesn't seem to need it I'll exercise my 30-day return policy w/ Amazon.

Thanks again guys!

Got everything installed except the extra 2gb ram which will be arriving today. Had a little trouble installing at first. The Driver CD that it came with wasn't able to identify the card so driver couldn't be installed. I had to go to XFX site to download the latest installation software to make it work.

3D Mark 2006 result is in the 3800s. With the Asus N7600GS Silent 256mb my result was around 2500s. So I guess there is some improvements. But if for those looking for a big jump, I guess the best thing is to save money and invest in a PCIe rig instead like everyone else suggested, which unfortunately wasn't something I was capable of doing due to boss (wife) in the house.

I doubt the extra 2gb of ram will boost the 3D Mark 2006 results. But in case it does, I'll report back!

Thanks again for all the help guys! Wasn't able to do any of this without this board or all of your supports!

got the new 2gb ram installed to make it total of 3gb for my system.

Well well....what do you know...scored a whopping 3750 on 3dmark06. approx 100 pts lower than with my original 1gb of ram setup...

Does that sound right???

Sorry for jumping on this post but I'm in the same position. I have an 8300 and recently purchased a 2 gigs of ram and a radeon HD2600. Only on trying to install the card and it not working and then doing some research (I know,my bad) did I realise that my psu wasn't strong enough to run the card and the card would need a plug in power supply (my fx5200 was powered off the mob I think). I've decided to upgrade the psu, the silencer 410 dell-2 seems to be the recommended one, question is will it run the card ok and would it have the proper plug in cable for it. As you can tell I'm a novice where upgrades and what to use are concerned,so any help gratefully appreciated.

Which psu do you have, the 250w or the 305w?
If you have the 305w no new psu would be needed (22amps).
You may have gotten a molex to AGP adapter cable with the card like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowIm...182+Video+Card

manual
http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...0/sm/specs.htm

Thanks for the quick responce. I did get a dvi to vga/d sub adapter but not the power cable.I'll have to open up to see what size the psu is.As there is a few cables in there not used,would it be the case that it already has a compatable cable in the pc.So if it's the case that the psu is 305,it's just a matter of pluggig in the card if the proper adapter is in the pc, or getting an adapter?

Thanks KPo6969, card is fitted,power supply inside ok.You saved me a few bucks. Only problem now is the drivers won't load

The last I heard you still need to use the Omega drivers for the HD2600 series for AGP.
XP
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1817

I'd still recommend trying the ATI Catalyst drivers first rather than the Omega ones. Only if the Catalyst drivers don't work should you install the Omega drivers. You didn't specify what drivers you're trying to install but I assume they're from the CD. Try downloading Catalyst 7.12 and see if that works. If it doesn't then go ahead and install the Omega drivers.

I tried the cd drivers first and then downloaded drivers from ati,both wouldn't load. The omega drivers loaded ok and seem to be working ok.When testing the performance at 3Dmark06 though their system couldn't find the card to test, also on startup I'm getting the find new hardware wizard, so even though the card seems to be working ok,my system doesn't seem to know it's there.
Any suggestions?