Zalman cnps8900 installation

Since I'm suffering the whims of a sinus clogging flu, I'll just tell you straight up that Zalman's CNPS Extreme is the best submm tall low profile heatsink Frostytech has tested to date. Compared to full fledged heatsinks the CNPS Extreme is a good-to-average performer, but in this case it's the low profile cooling capability which dominates. Based on Zalman's proven "flower heatsink" design, the CNPS Extreme is an all aluminum heatsink with two 6mm diameter copper heatpipes conducting heat from the base to the entire fin circumference.

The two looped copper heatpipes and hundreds of aluminum fins are soldered to a cast aluminum base plate that exposes the heatpipes to direct contact with a CPUs integrated heatspreader. At the center of the diminutive 60mm tall heatsink is a mm PWM fan that operates at RPM and generates low-to-modest noise. And no, that repeated mention of aluminum is not a typo brought on Kleenex induced coma.

A little nick with an X-Acto blade is an easy way to check this sort of thing. Heatsink performance aside, you've got to hand it to Zalman's thermal engineer for coming up with such a nice looking cooler. With the internal fan removed we get a better look at the fin structure and elements of the copper plated cast aluminum base plate which help relieve hot spots from developing behind the fan motor. Topics Components. See all comments I knew the noctua was going to win before I even looked at the results.

It is really nice to see a low profile round up when a year ago it was hard to find low profile coolers at all. I have to ask though, were these tested on an open bench or in an enclosure?

I think to really judge them you have to put them in a box. It looks like it will bend if you look at it wrong. NOT the case.. Also, if you are worried about the gaps in the contact base.. It's machined pretty well, and thermal compound will easily fill the gaps. I have no issues clearing RAM. B mm Asetek LC 90mm all-in-one kit, required case modification. I have fitted Enermax T. Silence case fans 15dBa and this cooler is not audible over them under load.

The loudest fans in the case are my two GTXs under load. The cooler is extremely easy to assemble. The manual could be reduced to a single page; looking at the pictures is more than sufficient. Anyone with difficulty installing this likely did not measure out available space properly before trying to slap it on an MITX, or is just flat out incompetent in life and erroneously gave themselves "5" for Tech Knowledge.

Cons: Captive thumb screws would work much better and remove the need for a screwdriver, but this is not worth an egg deduction. It takes real effort to misalign the screws. The fan cable ending in a mini 4-pin makes no sense. There is an adapter cable terminating in a 4-pin PWM fan connector which is unnecessary, but this is not worth an egg deduction. The first package I opened had a dead fan motor.

I've had some incidents in the past with dodgy fans from Zalman, but this was remedied by a quick exchange. Still not worth an egg deduction. Cooler uses a proprietary, non-replaceable mm fan. Not that big a deal.

I am seeing minimal difference between this and the Asetek LC, which admittedly is an inferior watercooling solution. Considering the cramped dimensions, airflow issues, and high heat given off by an i, it performs admirably; even better than the Scythes I used previously. Pros: - Quiet - even when fan spins at full speed I can't hear it in the case above the background noise of the room - Interesting design helps cool motherboard components and CPU - I like the all-copper look.

Cons: - Installation instructions not very clear. This is my biggest, and so far, only complaint. When I followed the instructions and placed the black plastix square with Zalman on it between the backplate and motherboard, there was too much space and I had to try and force the screws to catch with the backplate.

This put uneven stress on the CPU. I was able to line the cooler up with the CPU as recommended in the docs, and everything works as intended. With an iK, I get 55 average under load and 35 under idle, with a max at 60 under stress test. This is all with standard clock - no overclock. I recommend it. Cons: Included thermal paste isn't the greatest, but this is a review for the cooler.

This cooler when configured with proper airflow keeps CPU at 32 idle, ish under load, and the board in the range. Very quiet, overhangs the VRM nicely to provide additional cooling support to surrounding components.