FrostyTech.com Heatsink Reviews and Analysis
   
  

TOP 5 Heat Sinks     TOP 5 Low Profile Heat Sinks     TOP 5 Liquid Coolers    
 Heatsinks by Brand / Mfgr      Reviews + Articless     Advanced Search    

Zalman CNPS6000-AlCu Fan Heatsink Review
Zalman CNPS6000-AlCu Fan Heatsink Review
  80%   
Abstract: Cooling comes from a separate 92mm fan that attaches via a special bracket to several of the expansion slots.

 Manufacturer  Category  Published  Author 
Zalman   Cooling / Heatsinks   Mar 21, 2002   Max Page  

Home > Reviews > Page: Test Results - Acoustic Measurements / Thermal Results

Acoustic Samples: Listen to this Heatsink

The CNPS6000AlCu comes with the Zalman Fanmate 1 which allows users to control how fast the 92mm fan rotates, and thus how noisy it is. The first recording is a standard 10 sec bit with the fan connected directly to the power supply. The second recording is of the fan connected via the Fanmate 1, and also illustrates what happens when you turn the dial down so the fan makes less noise.

FrostyTech Acoustic Sampling Chamber (~10 sec)
Listen to this Heatsink now.
Standard Waveform view.
(Listen to an MP3 recording of this heatsink by clicking on the headphones)

You can see the effect visually in the second wave form image, or you can click on the pair of headphones and listen in to each recording separately. Since all Zalman heatsinks use the same type of fan, each of these recordings applies to all similar Zalman flower heatsinks.

Hi to Low Fan Speed Acoustic Sampling Chamber (~10 sec)
Listen to this Heatsink now.
Standard Waveform view.

Sound Level Measurements:

Being able to listen to the heatsink allows you to hear things that pure numbers alone cannot get across, but to further emphasize Frosty's reliance on cold hard facts when evaluating a heatsink we took some sound level measurements with a HHSL1 meter. While the list of heatsinks which have been measured for sound levels is still growing, this is now firmly part of our test procedures.

FrostyTech Sound Level Results
Manufacturer Model Noise Level Scale
1 Zalman All Flower HSF 47.4/28.9 dB quiet
2 Noisecontrol Silverado 50.8 dB
3 Thermal Integration Ti-V77L 53.0 dB
4 Dynatron DC1206BMP 65.1 dB louder

The split results for the Zalman heatsinks means this; the first measurement of 47.4 dB is of the fan without the FanMate 1 in place, the second measurement of just 28.9 dB is of the fan with the FanMate 1 set to its maximum point. The Dynatron heatsink with its 38mm Delta fan is very noisy by contrast.

Synthetic Temperature Test Results: *Ranked according to 100W small interface die test results.

FrostyTech Synthetic Temperature Test Platform Results
Mfg. Model Ambient Temp. 27mm large copper block 15mm small copper block 27mm large copper block 15mm small copper block Thermal pad No. Fans Fan Noise Clip force
50W 50W 100W 100W
1 Thermal Integration TI-V77L 26.5 39.1 44.4 57.5 63.6 grey 1 med med
2 Swiftech MCXC370 21.4 38.3 43.4 53.5 65.7 none 1 med med
3 OCZ Gladiator 21.4 33.3 47.3 50.6 70.3 none 1 very loud med
4 Vantec CCK-6027D 27.4 45.4 49.6 64.9 73.4 none 1 med med
5 Swiftech MCX370 22.3 42.0 46.1 60.3 75.6 none 1 med hard
6 Zalman CNPS6000-Cu 24.8 46.4 53.8 65.6 78.2 none 1 very low easy
7 AVC 112AM1 24.8 46.6 52.9 70.1 79.6 none 1 low stiff
8 Thermaltake Volcano 6cu+ 26.5 40.3 55.3 58.6 84.4 carbon 1 loud med
9 Spire 5T060B1H3R 26.7 42.7 57.5 64.6 85.1 none 1 low med
10 Zalman CNPS6000AlCu 24.9 48.3 56.3 72.2 86.0 none 1 low med
11 Thermalright CB-6L 24.6 50.3 57.7 73.8 92.7 white pad 1 low med
12 Fortis A92 26.7 45.6 65.8 67.8 97.8 none 1 loud stiff
50W 50W 100W 100W

The CNPS6000-Cu comes in where we really expect to see a primarily aluminum low noise cooling solution - towards the lower end of reference coolers. Since it uses a much less focused cooling fan, the is little it can really do to compete head on with the other higher-powered heatsinks, but in its class this is pretty good performance.

Considering that with the Fanmate 1 active at the lowest setting the CNPS600-Cu will produce less than 20dBa of noise, and at full throttle, a mere 36.1dBa I would have to peg it as a good average cooler, and in terms of quiet heatsinks, very good. To be totally sure, let's have a look at the rise above ambient temperature results next.

Rise Above Ambient Temp. (c)
Mfg. Model 27mm large copper block 15mm small copper block 27mm large copper block 15mm small copper block
50W 50W 100W 100W
1 Thermal Integration TI-V77L 12.6 17.9 31.0 37.1
2 Swiftech MCXC370 16.9 22.0 32.1 44.3
3 Vantec CCK-6027D 18.0 22.2 37.5 46.0
4 OCZ Gladiator 12.0 26.0 29.2 49.0
5 Swiftech MCX370 19.7 23.8 38.0 53.3
6 Zalman CNPS6000-Cu 21.6 29.0 40.8 53.4
7 AVC 112AM1 21.8 28.1 45.3 54.8
8 Thermaltake Volcano 6cu+ 13.8 28.8 32.1 57.9
9 Spire 5T060B1H3R 16.0 30.8 37.9 58.4
10 Zalman CNPS6000AlCu 23.4 31.4 47.3 61.1
11 Thermalright CB-6L 25.7 33.1 49.2 68.1
12 Fortis A92 18.9 39.1 41.1 71.1
50W 50W 100W 100W

Conclusion:

Well the CNPS6000-Cu is certainly not at the bottom of the barrel as far as cooling goes, and it will provide sufficient cooling for even a stock 2000+, though overclockers may not have as much luck.

We should all know by now that overclocking and quiet heatsinks just don't go together. For those kinds of situations liquid cooling is usually the better option, but from a users perspective where noise is the main issue, the Zalman heatsinks will help tremendously. The core temp will not be as low as it could be with other heatsinks, but so long as the chip is running at stock speeds everything should be fine for average use.

 Previous Page ° Heat Sink Review Index  

Table of Contents:

 1:  Zalman CNPS6000-AlCu Fan Heatsink Review
 2:  Close up look at the heatsink
 3:  New Heatsink Test Parameters
 4: — Test Results - Acoustic Measurements / Thermal Results

List all Zalman heat sinks that Frostytech tested?

Facebook RSS Feed Twitter
Resources
° Got Feedback?
° Mk.II Test Platform
° Where To Buy?
° Manufacturer Index
° Industry Dir.
° Cooling Projects
Recently Tested

Arctic Liquid Freezer 120 CPU Watercooler Review

Scythe Mugen 5 Rev B SCMG-5100 Heatsink Review

Gelid Tranquillo 4 Air Cooled Heatsink Review

Coolermaster Ergostand III Laptop Cooling Stand Review

Noctua NH-D9DXi4-3U LGA2011 Xeon Server/Workstation Heatsink Review

Noctua NH-L9x65 Low Profile Heatsink Review
...More Articles >>


Websites you may also like:
PCSTATS

FrostyTech.com
Since June 1999


Find a Heatsink
Latest Heatsink Reviews
Top 5 Heatsinks Tested
Top 5 Low Profile Heatsinks
Top 5 Liquid Coolers
Heatsinks by Mfgr / Brand


Social Media
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest


FrostyTech.com Info
Feedback
Contact Us / Heatsink Submissions
Submit News
Privacy Policy
Suite 66

© Copyright 1999-2024 www.frostytech.com All Rights Reserved. Privacy policy and Terms of Use
Images © FrostyTech.com and may not be reproduced without express written permission. Current students and faculty of accredited Universities may use Frostytech images in research papers and thesis, provided each image is attributed.