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Zalman CNPS 6500B-Cu


Date
: 12/24/02 – 05:06:34 PM

Author
:

Category
: Cooling

Page 1 : Index

Manufacturer: Zalman Tech
Price: $45.95

Thanx to Zalman Tech and QuietPC.com for supplying us with review samples!

Introduction

It has been a while since O² reviewed a heatsink or CPU cooler from Zalman. A couple of months ago, this manufacturer released a new set of CPU coolers for Intel Pentium4 Northwood processors, the CNPS6500B series. In this line-up, we find the 6500B-AlCu (which is made out of copper + aluminum) and the 6500B-Cu (which is entirely made out of pure copper). The latter is Zalman's top range P4 cooler and also the one we're about to review in today's article.

Sit back, relax, have a glass of soda and read on to find out more about this giant all-copper P4 cooler …

Page 2 : Specifications

Specifications

As usual, we took a small copy/paste from the 6500B-Cu website to show you the most important specifications of Zalman CNPS6500B-Cu cooler :

HEATSINK

Part Number : ZM6568CE-AlCu
Dimensions (mm) : 115~120 (L) x 83 (W) x 65 (H)
Dissipation Area (cm²) : 3300~3400
Base Material : Pure Copper
Weight (g) : *
898

Thermal Resistance(Deg.C/W) Silent Mode : 0.33
Thermal Resistance(Deg.C/W) Normal Mode : 0.28

* The maximum weight of a heatsink is specified as 450g for use with Intel's Pentium 4 processor. If a heatsink which exceeds the relevant weight limit is installed in a computer, special care should be taken while the computer is being moved. Zalman Tech. Co., Ltd. is not responsible for any damage to a system or a CPU occurring when moving a computer with an overweight heatsink.

FAN
(PS92252H)

Dimensions(mm) : 92 (L) X 92 (H) X 25 (W)
Weight (g) : 88
Rot. Speed Silent Mode : 1600 RPM +- 10%
Rot. Speed Normal Mode : 2500 RPM +- 10%
Noise Level (dB) Silent Mode : 20.0
Noise Level (dB) Normal Mode : 33.0
Bearing Type : Sleeve

FAN RPM Controller

Dimensions (mm) : 200 (L) X 21(H) X 23 (W)
Weight (g) : 20
Output Voltage : 5 ~ 11 V +-2%
Allowable Wattage : 6W or lower

A Closer Look At The Specifications

First, let's have a look at what you can expect to find inside a 6500B-Cu package. Here's a list :

- the ZM6568CE-Cu heatsink
- NP FAN & FB123 Bracket
- 6 bolts for placing
- some thermal grease
- two blue clips
- one adjustable fan speed controller (the FAN MATE)
- one tiny instruction manual

The Zalman CNPS6500B-Cu CPU cooler ("CNPS" stands for Computer Noise Prevention System) has been designed for Intel Pentium4 Socket478 CPUs like the P4 "Willamette" 2.0GHz and all of today's "Northwood" P4 CPU including the newly released 3.06GHz Pentium4 processor!

If you look at the pictures of the heatsink, it looks pretty much the same as the typical Zalman flower heatsink. The FHS measures 120mm x 83mm x 65mm and weights a massive
898 grams
! That's right, when you buy this product, you'll get close to 1 kilo of copper!

The heatsink features 52 fins which each are about 0.5mm thin. According to the specs on the Zalman website, these fins result in a maximum heat dissipation area of about 3300cm². All fins shake hands at the bottom to create the all-copper base plate which will touch the heatspreader of your P4 CPU.

I already mentioned that the heatsink (without cooler!) weighs almost 1 kilo. This made the Zalman engineers go back to the drawing boards to design a solid retention clip. And that's exactly what they delivered. The engineers came up with a set of plastic blue-colored clips to mount the heatsink into the stock P4 retention mechanism. Is this easy or what?

The high-quality polished copper base measures 62mm x 25mm and makes very good contact with the CPU heatspreader. To make sure you don't lose the advantage of the base plate shine, you should never use too much thermal grease with this type of quality heatsinks. By the way, the thermal grease is supplied in the package ;)

The aluminum pieces on each side of the copper base area will be used to mount the FSH onto the motherboard. We will get to that part in just a minute.

The CNPS6500B-Cu also comes with a 92mm fan mounted on an adjustable bracket and one adjustable fan speed controller that Zalman likes to call "the FAN MATE".

The fan and the FAN MATE both have three-pin connectors that you can hook up on your motherboard. The FAN MATE allows you to adjust (read "decrease") the power output to the fan from between 5V to (the default) 12V. A lower power output to the fan results in a lower airflow but also a much more quiet system. You'll have to find the perfect balance between all these terms …

Now let's see how this beast performs in real life circumstances! …

Page 3 : Installation & Testing

Installation & Testing

Test System :

- ABIT BD7 motherboard
- Intel Pentium4 1.6A @ 2.13GHz CPU (1.5V)
- 256MB Crucial DDR PC2100 memory
- ABIT GeForce3 Ti200 video card
- Maxtor60GB 7200RPM hard disk
- Windows XP Professional + latest drivers

INSTALLATION

Attaching the heatsink on the motherboard is very easy, does not require any tools and can be done in 3 quick steps :

1) You apply some thermal grease on the heatspreader of your Pentium4 CPU.
2) Put the Zalman FSH on top of the heatspreader inside the stock Pentium4 retention system on the motherboard.
3) To finish, just push the two blue retention clips down the holes to fasten the heatsink.

And now a picture with the clips installed :

Now you have to install the fan and fan bracket and set it up to blow over the flower heatsink. Just as installing the heatsink, this process is also almost too easy to explain ;) Just remove the screws that fasten your AGP video and the first two other slots, put the bracket in place and screw it down until it can't move anymore. After connecting the FAN MATE with the fan, you need to plug it in a free three-pin connector on the motherboard. I'd like to note that you do NOT loose the RPM monitoring capability.

If you happen to need some visual support about the installation process I described above, just have a look at this cool flash animation.

TESTING

All temperatures were measured one hour after a reboot using the P4 built-in diode at full load, without a case and with a room temperature of between 22 – 24 degrees Celsius. We used RC5-72 and continuous 3DMark2k1 loops to warm up the CPU (and the heatsink ;)).

Page 4 : Conclusion

Conclusion

Good

- Quiet P4 cooling
- Looks good
- High-quality finish
- Adjustable fan speed controller
- Quick and easy retention mechanism
- Comes with a 92mm fan (relatively quiet even when not using the FAN MATE)

Bad

- Heavy heatsink (898gr)
- Performance doesn't justify the price

We all know that each heatsink has its strong and weak points. That's simply inevitable. The Zalman CNPS6500B-Cu P4 cooler manages to outperform the stock Intel P4 cooler by several degrees and does exactly what it is supposed to do : it keeps any P4 CPU running at stock speed cool enough to let it handle any task without any hiccups! On top of all that, the cooler is one of the most quiet cooling solutions available to P4 users. The high-quality finish, the adjustable fan speed controller and the easy retention system offer more than a plus to the package. The most important question however remains : "Is it worth the $$$?" Well, if you're looking for a performance cooler that allows you to overclock that P4 to its limits, then you should look elsewhere. On the other hand, if silent cooling is what you need and overclocking is not your cup of tea, the 6500B-Cu is probably one of the best cooling solutions for you!

You can get one of these beauties over at QuietPC.com for $45.95