Randumb,
I did some google research on the '94:
Comparison
Thermalright___________vs. _______Zalman
No fan in base config............................Integrated 92mm, variable speed fan
Optional fan 55 dBA..............................20 dBA (silent mode) / 25 dBA (normal mode)
Details from Thermalright's website
Thermalright doesn't give any thermal resistance numbers on their website, so it's hard to give a comparison of cooling efficiency.
Zalman's Thermal Resistance(Deg.C/W) is: Silent Mode 0.27 / Normal Mode 0.20
The lower the thermal resistance number, the better. On the Zalman, the better lower number for "Normal Mode" is because the fan is running at a higher and louder speed.
The optional 92mm "stock" fan has a noise level of 55 dBA vs. 20 dBA for the Zalman. Systemcooling.com used a 92mm Panaflo fan in place of that for their review, but even it was rated at 35 dBA.
Having said all of that, the SP94 looks impressive, and Zalman uses the same heatpipe principle for it's video heatsink. If anybody (markfw900?) can find the thermal resistance numbers for the thermalright, I'd be interested to see them.
Pabst (and Zalman) make some ultra-quiet case fans
shown here, that might make a better alternative for cooling the SP94 in terms of noise.
Metron