Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu CPU Cooler

Provided by: Xoxide
Retail: $33.00
Review Date: November 11th, 2003
Written By: James S.

Quiet and powerful are two words that to the computer world are complete opposites. When you think of overclocking and cooling performance you think of big fans and extreme CFM when choosing a fan or cooler. When you think of a quiet solution you immediately rule out overclocking and high performance. Zalman, the leader in quiet pc cooling solutions, hopes to change your perception and allow you to get exactly what you want. From their line of heat pipe video card coolers to their line of CPU coolers; Zalman has traditionally swayed from the norm when it comes to looks.

If you are looking for a quiet yet powerful solution then you should be looking into Zalman. Let's take a look at their CNPS-7000A-Cu cooler and find out why.

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Packaging:

Zalman CNPS-7000A comes packaged in a vacuum sealed package to protect it during shipping.

When I took the cooler out of the package my initial thought was heavy. I mean really heavy. The heatsink is like a small copper soup bowl. As you can tell from the way the blanket is under the cooler, it exerts quite a bit of pressure from its weight. Some will say too much on a CPU. On top of an Intel chip, the heat spreader will keep anyone from having to worry. On an AMD chip I’d be worried about exerting too much pressure by moving the tower around causing the weight to shift on the chip. A shim is a must with an AMD cooler.

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The CNPS-7000A comes with all the necessary bolts and clips to mount it to your board. It does not use the Intel mounting bracket.

Also, included with the package are instructions and thermal paste. Zalman is known for including excellent instructions on how to mount their unique line of products.

Specifications:

Manufacturer rated specs for the Zalman CNPS-7000A-Cu as listed on Zalman's web site www.zalman.co.kr/english/.

• Processor: Intel P4 (Socket 478) All GHz, AMD XP (Socket 462) All GHz and AMD Athlon 64 (Socket 754) All GHz
• Dimensions: 109 mm x 109 mm x 62 mm
• Fan Dimensions: 92x25mm 3-WIRE ATX
• Fan Speed: 2400 RPM +/- 10% (Normal Mode) / 1350 RPM +/- 10% (Silent Mode)
• Noise 25.0 DB Noise (Normal Mode) / 20.0 DB Noise (Silent Mode)
• Bearings: 2 BALL BEARING Fan
• Thermal Resistance: 0.20 Degrees C/Watt Thermal Resistance (12V Normal Mode) / 0.27 Degrees C/Watt Thermal Resistance (5V Silent Mode)

Features:

One good thing, this unit comes with a fan controller that allows you to change the fan speed whenever you want. A fan controller also enables you to control the noise of the fan by controlling its speed. The problem with the Zalman CNPS-7000-Cu is not fan noise, it’s the size. I’m not only talking about weight, I’m talking about the physical size of the cooler as well.

Some users may have difficulty getting the Zalman CNPS-7000A on their board. Of course that depends on the motherboard you have and the accessories on it. Check the Zalman web site for a list of compatible boards before buying. Below is a close up of how close it comes in contact with the Abit IC7 northbridge cooler.

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As you can see Zalman's CNPS-7000A-Cu comes mighty close to the northbridge cooler and almost makes contact with it. If you have a board with an aftermarket northbridge cooler, you might want to think twice about this cooler.

The fan on the Zalman is not a standard 92 mm fan. If this fan were to go bad, you will have a hard time finding a replacement. The longevity of this heatsink is based on how long the fan lasts. Compare this to a Thermalright, which allows easy replacement of fans by supporting multiple fan types; therefore, ensuring it will last forever.

Installation:

The Zalman does not mount in the Pentium 4 brackets that are provided with P4 boards. Even though there is more work, the instructions provided by Zalman make installation very easy. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 the easiest, I give the Zalman a 2.

Next (Testing & Conclusion)