Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu good for OC'ing Athlon 64?

[sickcamry]

I need a fan/heatsink for my Athlon 64 3000+ and I do plan on OC'ing it as best as possible. I noticed many people recommend this fan/heatsink and it's also extremely quiet which is important to me. Would this unit fit my needs or is a poor choice for moderate to high OC'ing? Any other recommendations based on my needs? Thanks.

 

[Ikonomi]

I recommend the CNPS7000A-AlCu over the pure copper. The performance is the same, if not better, and it's lighter and cheaper. The cooler is indeed extremely quiet, though wind noise can be heard running the fan at full speed, as you would probably want to do for significant overclocking (ignoring that I'm running it at 1400 RPM on an overclocked XP 2700+).

Really, the AlCu is a great cooler, and it looks sweet in your case, too. Highly recommended.

 

[sickcamry]

Okay thanks. I wonder why the AlCu would cool better than the pure copper? :confused;

 

[Ikonomi]

No clue, but I've seen at least two tests that show the AlCu as the better performer. Of course, it's possible that the differences are within the margin of error for thermal tests. I've seen the purportedly increased performance attributed to the AlCu version having a more efficient fan, but I can't substantiate that. It's just what I've read somewhere.

Either way, though, the performance is at the very least identical.

 

[User1001]

Its a close call and differs from case setup to case setup. If you have a lower case flow go with the cu.

 

[hytek369]

i heard that the AlCu has a more efficient fan, hence the better performance.