A Roundup of High-end SocketA Coolers. Q1-2`2003
Zalman CNPS6000 Cu
The Korean company Zalman can by right be regarded as a leader at battle against noise. All of its solutions are somehow or other targeted at reduction (or elimination) of this factor. However, to stay at the leadership the company has to work continuously at improving the produce. The company has done a good job of it for Intel Pentium4 processors (see the roundup of Zalman 7000Cu), but for AMD processors there hasn't been any novelties released so far. The best what Zalman can offer is the 6000Cu model.
The cooler sells in a smart box with a transparent window. Here are the contents:
- Radiator
- Fan of the fastening frame
- Pack of screws
- User's manual
- Fastening clip
- A tub of proprietary thermopaste
- Installation fixture
- Speed regulator: FanMate
The box may also contain a pack of silica gel so as to prevent the transparent window from misting during shipment through hot-weather countries :)
First, look at the radiator: it is heavy (462 g), made fully of copper (only the joining plates made of aluminum) and offers a good quality of the base.
All in all, as per AMD's specifications, the maximum admissible mass of the cooler should not exceed 300 g. Therefore, it's not recommended to transport the CPU unit with the radiator fit in place. Regarding that, there is an explicit warning for the users at the manufacturer's website saying that Zalman shall not be responsible for any damage to the system which may arise from inadequate transportation.
I said the "good" quality on purpose because first Zalman models (Zalman CNPS3000 Plus) used to have "superb" quality, almost mirror-like. But in our specimen it's simply smooth with grinding traces.
The base is made of plate edges joined with pins underneath, with the upper part branching like a sheaf (or a flower - Flower Heatsink). Therefore, a very large surface area is reached, which amounts to ~2900 sq. cm.
However, the design like this is not perfect, although it allows reaching greater surface area. The major shortcoming is this - the closer we move to the radiator base, the narrower the gaps between the fins are. As a result, this produces a "dead spot" in this place where air circulation is minimum.
In fact, a good radiator is still half the success - good-quality cooling is necessary. Zalman has also done a great job of that: the package bundle has a 92 mm fan whose rotation speeds vary between 1300 rpm and 2500 rpm. The airflow fluctuates between 31 CFM and 38 CFM, with the noise being between 20 dBa and 38 dBa.
I specify the ranges on purpose - the thing is, the package bundle has a device of speed regulation - FanMate. We have covered it repeatedly: a small plastic box with variable resistance. This regulator allows varying the fan's rotational speed very smoothly.
The FanMate also has a couple of shortcomings: the tiny handle makes the regulation uncomfortable. Besides, every time adjustment is needed you have to uncover the CPU housing since the FanMate is right close to the radiator. From this viewpoint, solutions made by Thermaltake and Cooler Master are more attractive because they allow bringing the cooler speed control off the housing boundaries.
The fan is mounted on a metal plate which is fastened straight to the PC housing. I have already mentioned the advantages of this cooling method - it's possible to fit additional fans on this plate in order to cool the other system components (e.g., it's the way I cool the video card and the system memory).
On the plate, there are long cuts for fastening the fan. The thing is because of different positioning of the processor socket on various motherboards, you have to adjust the fan's position. This can be done very fast since the fan is fastened by a big screw with special incision for fingers.
Thus, owners of the Zalman 6000Cu cooler can safely wait until Athlon 64 is released, because whatever processor AMD creates for the SocketA platform, its efficiency will be quite enough.
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