X2 4400+ | Should I get a Zalman?

[Mr Bob]

I was just wondering if I should upgrade my fan/heatsink for my x2 4400+ CPU. Newegg is having a sale on the CNPS7700 for $52 shipped, but for another $15 I can get the CNPS9500.

Should I upgrade to this the CNPS7700 or the CNPS9500?

Core Center screenshot: http://s29.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0EBN5J8SXNE173OAH6XVLSVNA1

 

[Vegitto]

If you plan on overclocking, yes. If the choice was mine to make, I'd always spend the extra $15 to have the top of the notch .

 

[Mr Bob]

What if I don't plan to OC?

I've heard some people say that these huge fans/heatsinks end up causing space issues with not being able to take out ram sticks without removing the fan/heatsink. Would I have the same issue?

 

[drwngflies]

Since I run the Zalman 7 series, I can attest that it doesn't kool much better than the stock heatpipe HS/F, so if ya gonna spend any $, go for the 9500.
I already had the 7 series from earlier CPU, and it only koolz abt 4-5 C' under stock at max loads.

 

[HO]

I have a stock cooler on my 4400+ and I am not happy with it at all: 43 at idle and ~60 running dual instances of Prime95. The 9500 is my choice... on my board it won't block anything.

 

[Mr Bob]

I run the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum nForce4 Ultra board... but if I am going to have the same issue as someone else mentioned, it would be too much of a pain to do that....

Did you OC your 4400+? Mine hasn't ever reached 55+ running a lot of programs....

 

[drwngflies]

I'm OC'd to 2.48GHz, and max temp (2xP95's) 52'C, amb. (case) max 41'C, which isn't worth $50 over stock kooling.

 

[letdown427]

I have a 4400+ at 2.51Ghz, and use an Akasa EVO120. I think it's a damn good HSF, I've only got the stock thermal paste crap on it, but in a cold room, idle is about 26-29degrees! and the fan is as good as silent at low RPMs. I run it at 1400rpm, and under load it goes as high as ~45 in a warm room.

And it wasn't very expensive either, paid around £30, so about $50-$55?

I find it oddly entertaining that at idle, it would get hotter if i held it in my hand!

 

[Griswold]

If you dont overclock, it would be a waste to buy an aftermarket cooler. I'm running my 4400+ at 2.4GHz with the stock heatpipe HSF and it never breaks 46°C with both cores stressed at a room temperature of 24°C. And all that while staying below 2000rpm, which is silent enough.

 

[jc9970]

Get this with this

It's a killer combo, Im running at 250x10 @ 30c idle, 36c load. Pics in my sig if you wanna see how it looks mounted.

and don't forget the Arctic Silver 5.

 

[VooDooAddict]

The 9500 is lighter then the 7700.

You'll also be able to get at RAM easier with the 9500.

If you are just ordering the cooler you might want to check out ZipZoomFly.com ussualy I order from the egg. But orderd a 9500 and a Promise SX400 Lite RAID card from ZipZoomFly due to large price and shipping differances

 

[ribbon13]

Retail Opteron 175 FTW.

 

[Mr Bob]

Originally posted by: ribbon13
Retail Opteron 175 FTW.

How does that relate to this thread?

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: VooDooAddict
The 9500 is lighter then the 7700.

You'll also be able to get at RAM easier with the 9500.

If you are just ordering the cooler you might want to check out ZipZoomFly.com ussualy I order from the egg. But orderd a 9500 and a Promise SX400 Lite RAID card from ZipZoomFly due to large price and shipping differances

The 9500 is no where near as good as the 7xxx series was. It is noisy, and only cools marginally better. Right now none of the Zalman coolers seem to be a good bargain, as they are all particularly expensive right now.

I would look at any Thermalright coolers, as well as Scythe.

-Kevin

 

[Wentelteefje]

Stick with the Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro... A lot cheaper than the Zalmans, and it cools better...

 

[VooDooAddict]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek

Originally posted by: VooDooAddict
The 9500 is lighter then the 7700.
You'll also be able to get at RAM easier with the 9500.

The 9500 is no where near as good as the 7xxx series was. It is noisy, and only cools marginally better. Right now none of the Zalman coolers seem to be a good bargain, as they are all particularly expensive right now.

I would look at any Thermalright coolers, as well as Scythe.

-Kevin

All the reviews that I had read had the 9500 doing better then the 7700's. (Reviews from the sticky at the top of the forum.) True that the 9500 was louder then the 7700. Silence wasn't listed as a requirment

Performance wise ... they both have worked better then stock coolers. No personal experience with the the new Thermalright or Scythe coolers.

 

[Wentelteefje]

Watch high-end coolers battling each other here... For its price, the Freezer pwns the rest...

EDIT: Newegg...

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: VooDooAddict

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek

Originally posted by: VooDooAddict
The 9500 is lighter then the 7700.
You'll also be able to get at RAM easier with the 9500.

The 9500 is no where near as good as the 7xxx series was. It is noisy, and only cools marginally better. Right now none of the Zalman coolers seem to be a good bargain, as they are all particularly expensive right now.

I would look at any Thermalright coolers, as well as Scythe.

-Kevin

All the reviews that I had read had the 9500 doing better then the 7700's. (Reviews from the sticky at the top of the forum.) True that the 9500 was louder then the 7700. Silence wasn't listed as a requirment

Performance wise ... they both have worked better then stock coolers. No personal experience with the the new Thermalright or Scythe coolers.

Yeah as i typed my response i realized how that could be interpreted. The 9500 while performing better doesn't quite live up to the reputation the that 7 series has layed out.

-Kevin

 

[GTaudiophile]

Originally posted by: Griswold
If you dont overclock, it would be a waste to buy an aftermarket cooler. I'm running my 4400+ at 2.4GHz with the stock heatpipe HSF and it never breaks 46°C with both cores stressed at a room temperature of 24°C. And all that while staying below 2000rpm, which is silent enough.

Good to know.

I don't plan on OCing but was worried about how loud the stock HSF is.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile

Originally posted by: Griswold
If you dont overclock, it would be a waste to buy an aftermarket cooler. I'm running my 4400+ at 2.4GHz with the stock heatpipe HSF and it never breaks 46°C with both cores stressed at a room temperature of 24°C. And all that while staying below 2000rpm, which is silent enough.

Good to know.

I don't plan on OCing but was worried about how loud the stock HSF is.

ITs actually not bad. The throttling on the stock fan is pretty decent. If OCing isn't involved...or even if it is, then i would take a look at an XP-90 ($24 from SVC) and a nexus fan (Thats what i am running). You should have slightly better cooling, but quieter system.

-Kevin

 

[ribbon13]

Originally posted by: Mr Bob

Originally posted by: ribbon13
Retail Opteron 175 FTW.

How does that relate to this thread?

the stock cooler uses heat pipes and doesn't need replacement.

 

[JEDIYoda]

I would iether do as ribbon13 says or I would get the zalman 9500...alot of people say they are noisy but I have no sisiues with my zalman 9500 and alot of prople say it is a very quiet heatsink giving better than satisfactory results!!

The zalman 9500 temp for temp will hang with all other heatsinks!!
The Ninja as well as the XP series and the SI series by thermalRight!!

All the top heatsinks are within 1c -3c temp wqise of each other!!
Depending on the your particular set up the 9500 could be the berst choice for you!!
Its all so subjective based on so many variables as well as temps inside and outside your case...

You cannot do any wrong going with the Zalman 9500 or even the thermalRight series of which I use a XP 120 on another rigg of mine and I am getting almost the same temps....under load the zalman appears to be better tewmp wise!!

Good luck!!

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
I would iether do as ribbon13 says or I would get the zalman 9500...alot of people say they are noisy but I have no sisiues with my zalman 9500 and alot of prople say it is a very quiet heatsink giving better than satisfactory results!!

The zalman 9500 temp for temp will hang with all other heatsinks!!
The Ninja as well as the XP series and the SI series by thermalRight!!

All the top heatsinks are within 1c -3c temp wqise of each other!!
Depending on the your particular set up the 9500 could be the berst choice for you!!
Its all so subjective based on so many variables as well as temps inside and outside your case...

You cannot do any wrong going with the Zalman 9500 or even the thermalRight series of which I use a XP 120 on another rigg of mine and I am getting almost the same temps....under load the zalman appears to be better tewmp wise!!

Good luck!!

IT doesn't cool any better. In fact it is marginally worse, and it is most definitely loudER. Not necessarily loud but louder than some of the options for the Scythe and Thermalrights. Additionally, the Scythe and Thermalrights are typically $15-25 cheaper.

-Kevin

 

[JEDIYoda]

IT doesn't cool any better. In fact it is marginally worse, and it is most definitely loudER. Not necessarily loud but louder than some of the options for the Scythe and Thermalrights. Additionally, the Scythe and Thermalrights are typically $15-25 cheaper.

-Kevin

I`m sorry but the zalman 9500 isn`t loud at all!!
Sure the peeps at SPCR say otherwise but thats what they are suppose to do...when they did there reviews there whole review of the Zalman 9500 was skewered...
I have posted my experiences with the zalman 9500 and I will do so again...

When i first installed the Heatsink....and powered up my computer i said to myself damn this is loud.....the noise was loud for about the first 30-45 minutes.
Then all of a sudden I could not hear the 9500...so i siad oh carp don`t tell me my heatsink`s not working...
So I checked it and it was just purring along silent as all get out...
In fact it was so silent I kept checking just to make sure it was running.

You see the problem with the SPCR review was simple...they fired up the zalman right away after install and didn`t allow any time or to be fair ample enough time for this particular heatsink to settle down....
they started testing immediately...thus the skewered results.....

Again you`ve been around you talk about price..well the zalman is well worth every penny from the temperature to how beautiful the heatsink looks.
Not everybody shops for the cheapest products!

You talk about the XP 120 which I also have tested and am using in one of my computers.
I also have tested the zalman 9500 in the same computer under the exact same conditions including ambient temps and inner computer temps were the same for both heatsinks.

The Zalman and the XP 120 were both the exact same temperature at idle!!
The zalman was 2c cooler under load than the XP 120.......
yet I also had the zalman post a low temp from this computer.....

So they are both fine heatsinks.....I have both and use both.
But i am of the iopinion niether has the edge on the other.

Also nowhere did i say the zalman was a better cooler...did I??
I said--The zalman 9500 temp for temp will hang with all other heatsinks!!
The Ninja as well as the XP series and the SI series by thermalRight!!

If I did say that it cooled better please show me......

Thank You!!

 

[Gamingphreek]

ou see the problem with the SPCR review was simple...they fired up the zalman right away after install and didn`t allow any time or to be fair ample enough time for this particular heatsink to settle down....
they started testing immediately...thus the skewered results.....

Ummm no. How do you think they ran the software needed to test under load? How do you think they measured fan speed? Need i go on. The Scythe is hands down a better option. Less money, better cooling, and quieter (when coupled with a quality fan)

-Kevin