Zalman CNPS10X Flex CPU Cooler
Feb 23rd, 2010 | By NivedhControl:
CPU: AMD Phenom 9950 X4 Black Edition 2.6 GHz, 1.3V (OC’d: 3.0 GHz, 1.4V)
Motherboard: Asus M3A78 Pro
PSU: FSP Power Mod 700W
Memory: OCZ Vista Upgrade Edition DDR2-800 (PC2-6400) 4GB (2×2GB)
Video Card: HIS ATI Radeon HD 3650 IceQ3 512MB
Hard Drive: Hitachi Deskstar T7K250 160GB SATA II 8MB cache
Optical: Samsung DVD±RW
Case: Antec P182
Control Fans: 2x Antec TriCool (1 inlet, 1 exhaust) set to medium
CPU Coolers: Zalman CNPS10X Flex w/ ZM-STG2, Noctua NH-U12P SE2 w/ NT-H1, AMD Stock HSF
CPU Cooler Fans used with CNPS10X Flex and NH-U12P SE2: Two NF-P12 fans @ 1100 RPM (low-noise adaptors used) in push-pull configuration
I will be measuring the CPU temperature at both stock and overclocked speeds. Temperature measurements were taken using Lavalys Everest Home Edition. The average temperature of the four cores was taken as the average CPU temperature. Idle measurements were taken with the computer idling at the desktop for 2 hours and no CPU or hard drive intensive programs, such as antivirus software, running. Load temperatures for the CPU were taken while running SP2004 Orthos for 2 hours three times and taking the average.
I went with the NF-P12 fans at medium speed using the low-noise adaptors because based on my findings, 1100 RPM represents a good performance vs. noise ratio. At that speed, each fan has airflow of about 46 CFM and a noise level of 16.9 dBA.
The ambient temperature was approximately 20ºC throughout all the tests.
First up we have the CPU temperatures at 2.6 GHz.
Both the NH-U12P SE2 and Zalman CNPS10X Flex outperform the AMD stock HSF. Although the temperatures are close, the Noctua manages to edge out the Zalman but only by a very small margin.
At 3.0 GHz, the increased speed and VCore bring increased temperatures. There isn’t much difference between the idle temperatures at 2.6 and 3.0 GHz, but the differences become apparent in the load temperature measurements. The Noctua and Zalman coolers seem to be evenly matched, and once again outperform the AMD cooler.
In terms of noise, the NF-P12 fans running at the medium setting were not very intrusive. In fact, you can barely hear them over the case fans. The Zalman CNPS10X Flex performed well.
