Zalman CNPS9500 LED CPU Cooler

Zalman CNPS9500 - GREAT!

Posted Feb 12, 2006 - I bought this cooler/fan unit when I purchased my AMD X2 4400+. I've used it from the beginning and it's never given me problems. But instead of using the cooling goop that came with the fan, I purchased Arctic Silver 5 to bond between my CPU and the heat sync. The fan also comes with the FANMATE2, but I don't use it, and my bois does a great job controlling the speed of the fan itself. - Since using this CPU, I have yet to be able to put it under a complete full load. But when running virus scanning, BOINC Seti@Home, downloading from Azureus, Firewall Software, playing F.E.A.R. at 1280x1024, and burning a DVD+R DL at the same time, speedfan has only recorded my cpu reaching up to 44*C! On average, my CPU sits around 35/36*C when idle. THIS FAN IS A MUST for a great system! - Installation wasn't too difficult. But when you have 4 drive bays, 4 hard drives, and multiple slots to use with pci and pci express; you tend to run out of room after running data and power cables everywhere, because the heat sync does take up a lot of space. I used a few twisty ties to keep some cables under control so they wouldn't lean against the heat sync or fan. Everything works great and I still have great air flow!

100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

This cooler rocks!

Posted Aug 4, 2007 - I was having CPU cooling issues on my P4 Prescott, so I popped off the ineffective Vantec Aeroflow 2 heatsink/fan and dropped in this large badboy - had to remove my power supply to get to the mounting screws, but it went on in 5 to 10 min altogether. Also had to tie-wrap some cables away from the fan (especially the CPU fan cable). What a difference! Note: I have not overclocked this CPU. Temps with Vantec Aeroflow 2: 50C idle, topping 70C loaded (triggering monitor alert) Temps with Zalman CNPS9500LED: 44C idle, only 54C loaded! And this is day 1, with new application of thermal paste (Artic Silver 5). I could not be more pleased - these temps remind me of days running my P4 2.4ghz.

100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

Quiet and cool

Posted Aug 3, 2006 - I recently built a new machine: Pentium D 930 3.0GHz, 1GB PQI 533MHz, 250GB Maxtor SATA, XFX 6800XT 128MB, Intel D945GNTLR, Antec P180 case. I had serious problems cooling this chip down. I was running idle at around 145 degrees fahrenheit. I put this in the other night and have dropped about 30 degrees at idle. That is a remarkable difference. Also, my case has the power supply on the bottom which allows for a 120mm fan to be placed at the top of the case. I installed this fan a bit differently than suggested. I aimed the airflow straight up through the top fan. Love this thing so far. Worth every penny!!!

100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

Very Cool w/ E6750 - Colors fun to see

Posted Dec 1, 2007 - I finally got a chance to install my Zalman cooler on my hot new E6750. First does it cool. Excellently so far. I haven't seen how far I can push/OC this setup as its brand new to me. But more than happy with the cooling & air it pushed through the system. ----------------------------------------------------------- It marries up nicely with the Antec 900 in where its all about airflow. --I remember when this thing came out. I bought it back in 2005 X-mas & have been sitting on it since. It was stunning. Still is.-------------------------------------- The heatsink surface was level and pretty smooth. I found the attachment of the backplate & stand that it is clamped to fine. But when i applies the thermal grease and began to attach the cooler to the stand. First off, its not easy with one side 1" up off of the stand, but after you get the two sides tightened down there is still a lot of play in the unit. I am used to heatsinks being much tighter or less movable. We are talking about a heat dissipation system which relies on metal to metal or Thermal compound as a conduit to exchange heat...the tighter the better. So I decided I'd use the extra (L-Type Clip and mount that over the top of the other one for a tighter fit). Hopefully there will be no consequences negatively, however the heatsink doesn't move anymore and is tighter to the CPU so that is better IMHO. -WOULD BUY THIS ONE OR 9700 AGAIN, but only with price discounts

100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

Zalman Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler CNPS9500 LED

Posted Feb 25, 2006 - The Zalman Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler delivers ultimate performance, minimal weight, and ulta quiet operation; all the top aspects to look for in a performance CPU cooler. Along with ease of instillation and compatibilty, this makes the CNPS9500 LED an excellent choice.

100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

this is the best CPU cooler

Posted Nov 19, 2005 - I use it on the Pentium D w/arctic silver5 and get about 36C idle. Before I have Thermaltake Polo 735 and get 50C idle!! This is the best and it look great too. I like this cooler.

92% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Performane Update

Posted Nov 24, 2005 - This is an update to my original review....and I'm even happier now. After reading about the concave/convex issue I couldn't resist pulling mine off to take a closer look since I didn't notice anything weird on install. Mine is fine, however, I did feel I had probably applied too much Artic Silver on install so put a little less on this time. Temps idle at 32-34 C and after several hours of COD 2 the CPU (Athlon 64 3800) is at 48C. The idle temp is closer to a 15 degree drop and can't make a comparison after COD 2 because didn't have it with old heatsink but I'm guessing it would have been closer to 60 C. I also installed the Fan Controller and on the recommendation of a friend drilled a little hole in one of the CD Drive Bay covers on case so only the little black knob is visible on front of case...very cool and easy to use.

88% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

CNPS9500 LED CPU Cooler

Posted Jan 29, 2006 - This thing is awesome! My CPU under load max temps went from 62C down to a max of 47C. I would recommend this to anyone. The CPU is a P4 3.4GHz 478pin in a P4C800E-Deluxe board. I can't wait to overclock and see how well it performs.

83% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

Zalman CNPS9500 LED CPU Cooler

Posted Jan 28, 2006 - Wow. Just wow. First off, my stock Intel D 820 just wasnt cutting it and if you have the same chip with the stock hsf, i recommend u swap it out. After doing some research, i decided to go with this hsf. i like the way i could rotate it so that it would be able to displace the hot air directly into a exhaust fan. The hsf is a tad heavy though. so just keep that in mind if you are planning to travel with ur computer anyway. But other than that, i noticed that the temperature inside my case had dropped quite a few C. Recommend arctic silver 5 with this also. Can't go wrong with that combination

80% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

Great CPU cooler

Posted Dec 1, 2005 - First, i was thinking about using water cooling but after reading some reviews about the CNPS5900 i decided to give it a shot. It was a good decision. The stock heat sink (that comes with the AMD 64 X2 4200+) was keeping the temperature at 36c idle and 52c load (playing F.E.A.R) with stock cpu speed at 2.2GHZ (1.36V). The 5900 is keeping the idle temperature at 32c and load at 45c (at stock cpu speed). The Zalman gave me more room to overclock the cpu up to 2.64GHZ (1.475V) and still keeping a healthy temperature of 34c idle and 49c under load (Prime95 torture test and F.E.A.R). The installation was quite easy.

75% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

Best buy in the heatsink market

Posted Nov 9, 2005 - I put this on a friend's dual core X2 3800+ chip and overclocked the system to 2500MHz (2.5GHz). During 3d Mark 2005, the core temperature never rose above 31 degrees Cel the whole time. That is impressive. A significant number of defective units have concave or convex bases. Make sure your base plate is flat. Set the unit on a flat surface (e.g. a table) and see if it sits perfectly flat. If perfectly matches a flat surface, your are ready to rock and roll. If not, return it immediately for an exchange. The defect units do not make good surface contact with the chip, and do not siphon off nearly enough heat. The proper units make great contact and keep the temperature low.

75% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

The Best

Posted Nov 29, 2005 - Very easy to install on my ASUS motherboard. It keeps my p4 3GHZ socket 775 at around 25C at idle. Make sure before you get it to go to Zalmans web site and look at the motherboard compatibility list. I have not had any other none stock heat sinks to compare it to but the silance and the performance are the best I've seen. I would buy it again in a second.

63% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

Bad experience

Posted Mar 7, 2006 - Put this in and tightened it all the way down, appeared to still be 'loose' fitting. Could never get it any better no matter what I tried. The cooling on this was no better than the copper & aluminum heatsink fan that I got with my Intel 3.0e CPU. I put a Zalman All Copper with 120 mm fan (CNPS7700-Cu)in my other 3.0e CPU computer, & the idle dropped to 28C idle, & in the 30'sC running under full load. Appears to be running cooler with Zalman Thermal paste (included) than when I tried Arctic Silver 5??? Strange.

33% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

Great HSF!

Posted Nov 29, 2005 - I got this to use on my Opteron 170 and have around low 40'sC on load! The thing is great and looks good compared to other high quality HSFs. No problems installing it. This is a top notch product.

17% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

Uber-cooler

Posted May 15, 2006 - This cooler is outstanding. It dropped my idle and load temps on a P4 3.4ghz from 44/52 to 33/43 before the thermal paste was even cured. Can't wait to see how low it goes...

0% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review