FrostyTech Mk.II Synthetic Thermal Heatsink Test Results AMD Athlon64 / FX / X2 & Sempron class heatsinks Results based on readings from a 38x38mm copper interface die with 125W heat load on the K8 version of the Mk.II Test Platform. Temperature results listed for each heatsink were calculated by determining the rise over ambient temperatures at time of test. Information on Frostytech's test methodology is available here. |  | | Socket 939/940/754 & AM2 compatible CPU heatsinks | |
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| manufacturer: | model no.: | *fan speed: | 125w thermal test (°c) | noise level (dba) |
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| Thermalright | Ultra-120 | | 12.4 | 53.7 |
| Zalman | CNPS9700 LED | high | 16.5 | 56.5 |
| AVC | Z7U7414001 (stock AM2) | high | 17.0 | 63.0 |
| Noctua | NH-U12 | | 17.5 | 45.4 |
| Gigabyte | GH-PCU23-VE | high | 17.5 | 65.6 |
| Gigabyte | G-Power Pro | high | 18.6 | 71.9 |
| Noctua | NH-U9 | | 18.8 | 58.4 |
| Apack | Zerotherm BTF90 | | 20.5 | 52.1 |
| Coolermaster | Hyper6 | high | 20.5 | 54.7 |
| Apack | Zerotherm BTF80 | | 21.3 | 51.9 |
| Thermaltake | Venus 12 | high | 21.7 | 68.1 |
| Cooljag | SFO-Q | high | 22.2 | 60.6 |
| Zalman | CNPS9700 LED | low | 22.5 | 37.5 |
| ASUS | Starice | high | 22.8 | 67.4 |
| Zalman | CNPS9500 AM2 | high | 23.0 | 53.2 |
| Arctic Cooling | Freezer 64 Pro | | 23.2 | 50.9 |
| Coolermaster | Aquagate Mini | high | 23.2 | 59.2 |
| Thermaltake | Polo 735 | high | 23.4 | 68.0 |
| Cooljag | SFO-H | high | 23.6 | 60.6 |
| Alpha | PAL-8150 | | 23.7 | 58.9 |
| Zalman | CNPS9500 LED | high | 23.8 | 50.3 |
| Verax | Helado | | 24.3 | 36.3 |
| AVC | Z7U3301001 (stock 939) | high | 24.6 | 59.9 |
| Zalman | CNPS8000 | high | 24.8 | 57.4 |
| Gigabyte | 3D Cooler-Ultra | high | 24.8 | 63.0 |
| OCZ | Tempest | | 26.0 | 51.6 |
| Scythe | Shogun | high | 26.0 | 45.9 |
| EKL | V8 | high | 26.3 | 57.5 |
| Thermalfly | F1-IACSHA | high | 26.6 | 60.4 |
| Zalman | FS-C77 | | 26.7 | 56.5 |
| Gigabyte | 3D Rocket-Pro | high | 26.9 | 56.7 |
| Zalman | CNPS7700-Cu | high | 27.0 | 50.7 |
| Gigabyte | 3D Cooler-Pro | high | 27.0 | 62.5 |
| nPowerTek | NPH-Big K8 | | 27.8 | 54.0 |
| Zalman | CNPS7700-Cu LED | high | 28.1 | 49.8 |
| Akasa | AK-873 | high | 28.2 | 59.2 |
| Spire | SP601B3 | | 28.3 | 48.9 |
| Ajigo | MF064-074 | high | 28.8 | 60.3 |
| Gigabyte | 3D-Rocket | | 28.9 | 50.7 |
| Zalman | CNPS9500 AM2 | low | 29.2 | 36.0 |
| Vantec | Mach1 | high | 29.2 | 56.9 |
| AVC | Z7U7414001 (stock AM2) | low | 29.6 | 48.1 |
| CoolJag | SFO-D(18SC) | | 29.6 | 64.0 |
| Zalman | CNPS9500 LED | low | 29.7 | 36.2 |
| Antazone | AS-C1000 | | 30.2 | 57.6 |
| Arctic Cooling | Alpine 64 | | 30.5 | 43.9 |
| Zalman | CNPS7000A-Cu | high | 30.3 | 45.2 |
| Dynatron | SK-V24 | | 30.3 | 56.4 |
| Verax | Quattro 1 | high | 30.7 | 55.4 |
| Zalman | CNPS7000-Cu | high | 31.0 | 45.2 |
| Coolermaster | Hyper48 | | 31.7 | 43.6 |
| Scythe | Kama SCKK1000 | | 31.9 | 47.5 |
| Scythe | Samurai SCSM1000 | high | 32.1 | 51.6 |
| Zalman | CNPS7000B-CU | high | 32.3 | 44.9 |
| Thermaltake | Silentboost K8 | | 32.3 | 49.7 |
| Jetart | JAX801 | | 33.2 | 53.5 |
| Dynatron | A22 | | 34.5 | 44.5 |
| nPowertek | NPH K8-1 | | 34.6 | 52.2 |
| Ajigo | MF043-044 (stock 754) | | 35.0 | 45.4 |
| Zalman | CNPS7700-Cu LED | low | 35.6 | 34.9 |
| Arctic Cooling | Silencer 64 Ultra TC | | 37.5 | 55.5 |
| Gigabyte | NeonCooler 8-BL | | 37.7 | 42.0 |
| Titan | TTC-K8ATB/825/SC | | 38.7 | 63.1 |
| Zalman | CNPS8000 | low | 39.0 | 36.4 |
| Akasa | AK-860SF | | 39.4 | 45.2 |
| Evercool | K802-715 | | 42.1 | 51.5 |
| Spire | SP741B3 | | 43.2 | 45.6 |
| Zalman | CNPS7000B-CU | low | 44.9 | 33.2 |
| Evercool | Magic Cooler | | 46.6 | 55.5 |
| ASUS | Starice | low | 92.4+ | 34.4 |
| | | 125w thermal test (°c) | noise level (dba) |
| *heatsinks are ranked according to the 125w thermal test results column (rise over ambient temp.). low temperatures with low noise levels are considered best. for reference heatsinks with variable-speed fans, only the high speed (12v) fan test result is included in the comparison sheet; more detailed results reside in each specific heatsink review. |
With a 125W heat load applied by the AMD K8 version of the FrostyTech synthetic thermal test platform, the Zalman CNPS9700 LED heatsink yields an excellent rise above ambient temperature result of just 16.5°C at its stock fan speed! That is the second best test result of all the heatsinks in this AMD K8 heatsink reference list!
Considering that the CNPS9700 LED maintains this low a temperature with a noise output of 56.5 dBA, that's quite competitive with the Thermalright Ultra-120 heatsinks' results. When we turn the dial of the Fanmate2 all the down, so the 110mm fan is spinning at 1250RPM, the heatsink maintains a remarkably low temperature of just 22.5°C above ambient - really amazing when you consider the next quietest heatsink is the Verax Helado. At this lower fan speed, the CNPS9700 LED is whisper quiet with 37.5 dBA noise.
The Zalman CNPS9700 LED heatsink is very well suited as a low noise, and high performance heatsink for the K8 AMD platform. At its default fan speed, this Zalman heatsink is among the best heatsinks FrostyTech has tested to date.
The results for this heatsink on the Intel LGA775 version of FrostyTech's synthetic thermal test platform are up next. The heat output from Intel processors varies widely between single and multi-core processors, so we've settled on two values which represent the upper limit of both existing CPU families. That's next...