Zalman CNPS7000A-CU Warning

[Doufuss]

There a lot of people interested in the new Zalman cooler, but I had an alarming experience with it. Read on...

I have an A7N8X 2.0 standard with a XP2500+ Mobile. I've used the stock HSF, which is OK, a Thermalright SLK 800, which is excellent, and now the Zalman CNPS7000A-CU.

After reading all the reviews I purchased the Zalman CNPS7000A-CU and bolted 'er up. The manual was well written and the kit was complete. Of course I was concerned about the weight, it's 2 1/2 times the recommended for a socket A mobo. I followed the instructions to the letter.

I use a little program called Everest Home edition as opposed to Sandra. It seems to report more accurate temperatures, very close to what is in the bios. With the 800, the temps of the cpu socket and diode were always within 1 or 2 degrees C. With the 7000, there was always a discrepancy with the diode temp 6 to 8 degrees C higher than the socket temp. The socket temp of the 7000 was similar to the 800, so the performance was acceptable.

Curious, I removed the cooler and removed and reapplied AS5, thinking maybe I'd done something wrong. There was no difference on firing up. Well I pulled everything out of the case and took a good look at it.

The motherboard was warped around the socket to the tune of 2-3 mm!!! I removed the cooler and the brackets and re-installed my trusty 800. Again the diode and socket temps are close, and there is no warpage.

While I can't recommend this cooler to anyone with a socket A mobo the way it stands, I'm not going to give up. There is a backing plate that comes with the kit that is drilled for the A64. I'm going to drill it, and the mobo tray, to fit the socket A brackets. Then I'm going to use long screws and nuts to support the mobo properly. I'll keep you posted.

I just think that Zalman should supply a backing plate for the socket A. This thing is so heavy that if you're not careful you might damage your mobo and cpu.

Be warned.

:Q

 

[Doufuss]

OK

I've drilled the backing plate. I did NOT drill the mobo tray because I do not have a tap to thread the openings. After a short trip to HD for longer screws (required), I hooked it all back up and all is well. Temps after 1 hour of CPU Burn-in are 34C CPU and 35C CPU Diode. (Mobo temp is 29 C) There is no warpage at all, due to the installation of the backing plate. Prepare to spend @ 1.5 hours on this project to do it right.

Good luck.

 

[zystro]

Zalman CNPS7000A-CU is the one that you ordered, but I believe Zalman makes one, part #CNPS7000B-CU, notice the only difference is the 7000A vs 7000B part number.This product is designed specifically for what you were looking for. (Disclaimer: If anything I said was completely wrong, I am kinda new at this.)

Link can be found here.


Zystro

 

[Doufuss]

Thanks for the input, zystro.

This product is slightly different, but the hardware is essentially the same. Check out the Zalman site. There is a little Flash installation guide for each type of socket.

You'll notice that the backing plate still has only 2 threaded inserts. The socket A mobo has 4 holes around the socket. The 2 small brackets, blue and silver, are used to mount the sink to the socket A mobo with 4 small screws and paper washers.

Thermalright makes a versatile, multi socket plate, called the neowin backing plate, to mount their heavyweights. Something like this would have been a good idea for Zalman to include in their kit. That URL is here: http://www.thermalright.com/product_default.htm

The big bonus, of course is that the noise level has dropped substantially. The downside is that there is a lot of monkey business to install this HSF properly on a socket A mobo.

 

[CraigRT]

might also be worth looking into the ALCU version, which should be lighter than the all copper version.