Zalman CNPS 9700 NT Cooler

Installation

This Zalman cooler is cross compatible between Intel's LGA 775 and AMD's sockets AM2 and K8.  The two applications installations are different and have pros and cons associated with each.  Intel first:  Motherboard removal is required to allow installation of a mounting bracket above and below the board to handle the added weight.  While motherboard removal sucks, what decidedly does not is that the cooler can be pointed in any direction you choose.  The mounting clip (shown below) is screwed down to opposing sides of the bracket.  Each side of the bracket has mounting points allowing you to attach the cooler based on where you want the exhaust to go.  Up towards a PSU, down, toward the case front or to the rear for a case's exhaust fan depending the end user's mood.

  

AMD installation doesn't require motherboard removal but with the clips using the motherboard's factory mounting bracket, the fan's orientation when mounting is limited.

Here are a few shots of the green glow of the big Zalman plugged in.  Notice in the third shot below the overall height in relation to the VGA cards.  Our testing was done on our open rack but we want to let you know we installed this cooler in cases to include a Lian Li PC-65 and a NZXT Hush and had clearance similar to that of the large Gigabyte Rocket II Cooler we looked at a few months ago.

     

Performance

Testing will be done on the Zalman CNPS 9700 NT in our Intel Core 2 Duo test bed.  For comparison purposes, we are going to use the Tt MaxOrb with its fan speed set to high.  Both coolers will be installed and run five times by placing both processor cores at 100% load by way of SiSoft Sandra's XI Burn In Module for 30 minutes with a final temperature reading taken at the end.  The highest and lowest results will be thrown out and the remaining three will be averaged and graphed.  The Zalman cooler will be run in two modes; one with it's fan speed set to its 2800 RPM max and the other at 60% which is roughly 1700 RPM via an ASUS software program.  This will give you an indication of the cooler's maximum ability as well as its performance with a more tolerable noise level.  ThermalRight Chill Factor Thermal Paste will be used in all tests.   Ambient room temperature at time of testing remained within one half a degree of 22.5 degrees C.

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