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Rosewill RCX-Z3 Heatsink Review
Rosewill RCX-Z3 Heatsink Review
  74%   
Abstract: Three interchangeable base plates allow the Rosewill RCX-Z3 heatsink to be installed on a variety of motherboards, while its' 92mm PWM fan spins at speeds of 600 to 3000RPM.

 Manufacturer  Category  Published  Author 
Rosewill   Cooling / Heatsinks   Jun 21, 2007   Max Page  

Home > Reviews > Page: Intel 775 Heatsink Temperature Comparisons
FrostyTech Mk.II Synthetic Thermal Heatsink Test Results
Intel Pentium D / Extreme Edition & Quad Core class heatsinks tested at 150W
Intel Core 2 Duo / Pentium 4 / Celeron class heatsinks tested at 85W

Results based on readings from a 30x30mm copper interface die with 150W and 85W heat loads applied on the LGA775 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 775 compatible CPU heatsinks
manufacturer: model no.: fan speed: 150w
thermal test* (°c)
85w
thermal test (°c)
noise level (dba)

Thermalright Ultra 120 17.8 10.6 53.7
Zalman CNPS9700 LED high 19.0 10.4

56.5

Thermalright Ultra-90 high 19.6 13.0 56.2
Enzotech Ultra-X high 20.0 8.5 59.1
Apack Zerotherm BTF90 21.8 12.7 52.1
Apack Zerotherm BTF80 22.8 13.9 51.9
Cooljag Falcon 92-AL high 23.2 14.2 52.1
Rosewill RCX-Z3 high 23.3 14.0 58.6
Scythe Mine Rev. B 23.6 15.0 36.8
Cooljag Falcon 92-Cu high 23.6 14.8 52.8
Akasa AK-920 high 24.3 14.1 52.9
Asus Arctic Square high 24.9 14.9 44.9
Akasa AK-922 (EVObue) high 25.5 15.4 60.3
Thermalfly F1-IACSHA high 29.0 18.3 60.4
Thermalfly I75DUB high 29.5

16.8

68.5
Zalman CNPS9500 AT 29.6 17.3 53.3
Alpha Novatech PRE9060M92P high 29.9 18.5 51.5
Scythe Kama Cross 30.0 18.8 40.0
Akasa AK-961 30.0 18.7

60.7

Rosewill RCX-Z2-EX high 30.1 18.7 45.9
nPowertek NPH-775-1 30.1 18.8 50.1
Sunon Waturbo 30.6 18.3 57.5
Apack CF800 high 31.4 20.7 48.4
Thermaltake Jungle512 high 31.6 20.4 60.8
Xigmatek AIO-S80DP high 32.4 21.4 55.0
Scythe Katana II 32.5 18.6 37.9
Rosewill RCX-Z2

32.6

19.3 59.9
Zalman CNPS7700-Cu high 32.9 19.7 50.7
Apack CF900 high 32.9 20.3 48.3
Evercool PT02-9232CP 33.3 19.9 63.3
Zalman CNPS7700-Cu LED high 33.5 20.6 49.8
Intel Stock Pentium D high 33.8 20.7 47.5
nPowerTek SF775-2 high 34.7 21.1 64.6
Akasa AK-960E 36.1 21.4 56.3
Thermalfly I75DUH 37.8 22.8 48.7
Cooljag OAK-H high 38.5 22.9 55.7
Cooljag OAK-H2 high 38.6 24.1 55.6
LS Cable SHS-T700 38.7 22.8 48.5
Rosewill RCX-Z3 low 42.4 25.4 45.6
Cooljag OAK-H low 95.3 54.5 29.5
150w
thermal test (°c)
85w
thermal test (°c)
noise level (dba)
*heatsinks are ranked according to the 150w 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.

intel processors vary widely in heat output between single and multi-core processors, so frostytech relies upon on two different thermal values to represent the upper limits of existing intel single and multi-core cpu families. first off, a 150w heat load was applied by the intel lga775 version of frostytech's synthetic thermal test platform to the Rosewill RCX-Z3 heatsink. This yielded a rise above ambient temperature of 23.3°C, with 58.6dBA noise. That's a good result, but not low enough to be considered top of the line... and nearly 60 dBA is somewhat loud.

When the 92mm PWM fan speed was dropped down to about 1200RPM, temperatures rose to 42.4°C over ambient, while noise levels fell down to a much more reasonable 45.6 dBA. When faced with a 150W heat load, Rosewill's RCX-Z3 heatsink handles it well, so long as air flow is sufficient.

The Rosewill RCX-Z3 heatsink was next tested with an 85W heat load. In this case the heatsink maintained a good 14.0°C temperature over ambient at full fan speed. As fan speed was reduced to low noise mode, the heatsink reacted in a predictable manner - the synthetic CPU die temperatures rose to 25.4°C.

Clearly as we can see from the synthetic thermal test results here, the Rosewill RCX-Z3 heatsink is only really able to shine when its fan is loudly spinning away at full RPM. As the volume of airflow passing through its many aluminum fins decreases, the heatsink quickly looses effectiveness and the plastic fan shroud starts trapping the heat in. In the end, we're left wondering if it would be better ditching the blue LEDs and plastic fan shroud entirely so the heatsink could potentially be operated with a quieter fan. As it stands, the Rosewill RCX-Z3 is only worthwhile when going at full tilt, and then it is just too loud for modern day computer users to accept.

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 Previous Page ° Heat Sink Review Index  

Table of Contents:

 1:  Rosewill RCX-Z3 Heatsink Review
 2:  360° View - Rosewill RCX-Z3 Heatsink
 3:  Acoustic Comparisons and Base Surface Quality
 4:  AMD K8 Heatsink Temperature Comparisons
 5: — Intel 775 Heatsink Temperature Comparisons

List all Rosewill heat sinks that Frostytech tested?

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