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Product: Zalman CNPS9500 LED Heatsink
Provided By: Zalman USA
Price: ~$80CDN (Pricegrabber.ca)

Introduction:

Up until recently I hadn't looked at aircoolers for a few years.  To be honest if you're running an AMD Athlon 64 system, aftermarket Heatsinks don't really decrease noise or increase performance - unless your overclocking.  Athlon processors run cool enough with stock cooling for the most part, however there are a lot of toasty Intel processors out there as well as the rise of Dual Core AMD processors.  Today we are looking at how well the Zalman CNPS9500 LED can cool a 3800+ Dual Core processor from AMD, and then we'll take it up a notch to 4600+ speeds and see how well it works with a 400MHz per core overclock (800MHz of extra processing heat).  Things are bound to be interesting so keep on reading.

I contacted Zalman a few weeks ago and they were happy to send me the Zalman CNPS9500 LED cooler to test out on our Dual Core setup, and seemed quite confident that it could keep up to other heatsinks from Asetek and Thermaltake.  That's pretty bold of them considering Zalman hasn't been in the performance cooling market much.  Traditionally Zalman's focus had been on silence not killer performance.  With the CNPS9500 LED they went with a different design and use some nifty heatpipe configurations in this unit.  Will it have what it takes?

First Look:

The Zalman CNPS9500 LED cooler comes in a very nice retail box that shows off the design of the cooler.  The box also showcases the features of the cooler as well as some performance numbers and specifications.  What I really like about the info on the box is that it tells you the weight, size, power consumption and loudness of the fan.  These are good figures that many enthusiasts want to know before they shell out $80CDN for a cooler.

The bundle gives you everything you really need to get started.  It includes a set of motherboard brackets for Socket 775 installation as well as steel brackets for securing the heatsink down on several other platforms.  There are enough screws and other hardware to install this heatsink on Socket 478/775 Intel processors as well as Socket 754/939/940 AMD platforms.  You also get a nice case badge and the all important Fan Mate 2 fan controller.

What I didn't get in the box was a set of detailed installation instructions.  For that you have to head on over and grab the PDF manual at Zalman's website here.

The bundle is all-inclusive as far as hardware goes so that you won't have to run out and grab an extra bracket for a different platform.  One package does everything made in the last 2 years - other than Socket 462 gear.

	- Dimensions	: 70(L) x 26(W) x 26(H)mm
	- Weight	: 20g
	- Output Voltage	: 5V ~ 11V ± 2%
	- Allowable Power	: 6W or lower
	- Connector	: 3-Pin
	Directions for Use

As far as features go, there are a few. . .

1. 100% copper heatsink with aerodynamically optimized “tunnelâ€� design for maximum cooling efficiency.
2. Innovative and patented, curved heatpipe design for a heat transfer capacity of up to 6 heatpipes with the use of just 3.
3. Optimized heatsink layout for maximum cooling efficiency with minimal materials.
4. 0.2mm ultra-slim fins for minimized weight and reduced airflow resistance.
5. Ultra quiet CNPS 92mm opaque fan with blue LEDs.
6. Aerodynamically optimized heatsink for smoother airflow and minimal noise.
7. Compatible CPUs - Intel:  All Dual Core Pentium CPUs (Socket 775) - All Pentium 4 CPUs (Socket 775/478) - AMD:  All Dual Core AMD Athlon 64 X2 CPUs (Socket 939)
All AMD Sempron/AMD64 CPUs (Socket 775/939/940)
8. Adjustable fan speed controller (FAN MATE 2) enables control of noise and fan speed.

Closer Look:

One of the big features of almost any Zalman Cooler is the minimal acoustic impact they have on their environment.  Yeah, they're quiet.  In order to achieve custom performance and silence most Zalman CPU coolers have a fan controller.  The CNPS9500 LED comes equipped with the Fan Mate 2 controller.  This controller isn't required for operation as the fan on the heatsink comes with a standard 3-pin connector, but to custom control the fan speed, it is recommended.

As mentioned in the above specs, the Fan Mate 2 regulates voltage from 5v to 11v and must be used with the included cable above.  This cable plugs into the motherboard - controller - fan, and allows RPM monitoring as well as full speed control.  The CNPS9500 LED bundle includes some double-sided sticky foam tape so that you can mount the controller and prevent it from sliding around.

As most new heatsinks, the CNPS9500 LED uses heatpipes to increase and accelerate thermal transfer from the base of the heatsink to the fins.  Zalman uses three heatpipes in a "Figure 8" pattern to increase the effiency of the heatpipes.  Whether this works or not will be discovered when we head on into testing.  The finish of the base is very good, as the base appears to be flat, smooth and pretty shiney.  The base was free of blemishes and I was quite impressed with the quality.

Of course you can have a tonne of fins, and some nice heatpipes, but you still need a fan to get the job done best.  Zalman uses dual ball bearings in this fan as it spins between 1420 rpm and 2520 rpm.  At low speed the fan is silent in the case and it remains silent until about 2250 rpm.  When running at full 2520rpm, it makes some noise that can be heard over other case fans, but it's not whiney or that noticeable.  Thankfully, there is not thermal interface material pre-applied to the CNPS9500 LED as Zalman includes a small tube of white silicon based compound.

On the next page we'll cover installation, our test rig, and testing methodology.