Zalman CNPS7000-Cu CPU Cooler Review
By: Allen Furmanski

Zalman has long been a major player in the computer cooling industry. Their flower and radial style heatsinks have won much recognition by people in the field. In this review I will outline my installation experience with their latest model. The specs of the test system are as follows:

Here is a pic of the system with the stock Intel HSF. The stock HSF is decent but produces a somewhat whiny noise. The before temperature are listed in the table below.

The package includes the HSF, a fanmate controller, retention brackets, thermal grease and various screws. Installing the Zalman CNPS700-Cu HSF is quite easy. In most cases, the heatsink will fit in without any clearance problems; however, on some boards you may run into some problems. Consult Zalman's website before purchasing this product to make sure that the mainboard you plan to use it on will allow it to fit. With that said let's get started!

Below is the heatsink installed in the system. As you can see, the heatsink touches the power supply at the top. Other than that there are no clearance problems. Its curved-in design allows it to maximize surface area while maintaining a standard fit.

After pulling out my Intel HSF, I installed the two retention bars as per the manual. This gives the Zalman something to screw into to firmly secure its heavy weight. The clips on the heatsink then get fastened to these bars. After slowly tightening each one of the screws, I connected the fan mate and plugged in the fan connector.

I decided to run the fan in silent mode which generates no noise or vibration. I decided upon this because the chip is only 1.6ghz and doesn't generate much heat. I could always add a low CFM exhaust fan such as a Panaflo later on if I choose. Temperatures were still about the same for both idle and load so there's no need to repost them. It should produce slightly better temps. in normal mode though.

Once I booted up the system I was amazed at how quiet it was. It really was silent! The only noise I heard was from my 80gig hard drive which I don't believe has a FDB motor.

The Zalman CNPS700-Cu is really one great HSF guys. I truly can't say enough good things about it. Zalman has pushed the limit once again on good cooling with low noise levels. For most of us who like to build our own custom systems, Zalman offers a great range of products to keep the noise down. Why have a system that sounds like a jet airplane when you can have one that is whisper quiet. You'll actually be able to concentrate on the work at hand. Thanks once again to FrostyTech.com for giving me the opportunity to review this great product and quiet down my system.

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