• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Zalman CNPS7000B-ALCu vs. Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro

S

Salvador

Diamond Member
I have the Arctic Cooling 64 Freezer Pro and I'm not all that impressed with it. It was a disappointment after reading all the great reviews. I'm thinking about replacing it with a Zalman CNPS7000B-ALCu that I picked up used.

Which cooler works better for cooling? Which cooler is quieter? I couldn't find any direct comparisons between these two coolers.

The disappointed of the Arctic Cooling 64 Freezer Pro is that it doesn't cool that much better than the stock AMD socket 939 cooler and it's not very quiet. Not nearly as quiet as I thought it would be. I haven't put a fan controller on it yet, but the stock fan speed is too noisy for me.

I'm using it with a 4200+ X2 s939 cpu at stock speeds btw.
 
The zalman is silent... unless you have no case fans... on low, and will out perform the Artic at the same speed.

It will also cool your surrounding mobo components.
 
I have the Zalman (on a socket 939 X2 4200+ as well...). It's a good cooler, but if you connect it directly to the motherboard, it's not completely silent.

When it spins up, I notice it over the 120mm and 2x 90mm fans I have running right now, but not by much. At idle, I can't hear it at all.
 
Originally posted by: CurseTheSky
I have the Zalman (on a socket 939 X2 4200+ as well...). It's a good cooler, but if you connect it directly to the motherboard, it's not completely silent.

When it spins up, I notice it over the 120mm and 2x 90mm fans I have running right now, but not by much. At idle, I can't hear it at all.
Click to expand...
How else would you connect it?

What speeds do you have the Zalman running at?

I find the Arctic Cooling Freezer noisy. I hope that the Zalman is at least quieter than the Freezer.

 
I have the Zalman CNPS7000B-Cu (identical to the B-AlCu except for having all-copper fins). It's not loud persay, but it is the loudest component in my system. Like Curse the Sky, I also have an additional 120mm and two 92mm fans, plus other fans in the PSU and the video card. The difference is that the noise from the Zalman is a higher frequency noise.

As for speed, mine's locked at 2600 RPM.

But again, the noise is not overly noticeable. In particular, if you have a normal case, unlike me (I have a case made with thin aluminum and modded mesh panels on three sides), I don't think the noise would be an issue.
 
I did some more research and it appears that the Zalman does a better job at the slower fan speeds for a non overclocked cpu, but the Freezer Pro appears to do a better job with the fan at normal speed and with an overclocked cpu. I plan to use this with an overclocked cpu, so the Freezer Pro might be the better cooler for my application.

At least that's what I got out of the articles that I've been reading on the internet. 😉 Tell me if I'm wrong.
 
I'm not sure about the speed, but I believe Zalman (at least used to) include a fan speed controller called the FanMate II, or something like that. It was small, but it worked. You could effectively keep it at 100% speed at all times if you wanted to, or slow it down to be nearly silent.

I would definately go with the Freezer 7 if you want overclocked performance. The down-blowing coolers really can't stand up to a tower setup.
 
I won't want to rain on anyone's parade. The Zalman 7000 Cu and AlCu show thermal resistances somewhere in a range between 0.16 C/W and 0.21 C/W. If the Freezer Pro shows an entry in the Anandtech May 4 comparison, it should give you a good idea what to expect. Look at OverClockers.com to see what thermal resistance shows in the benchmarks for it. I'd guess you're fine with it if it's somewhere between 0.09 and 0.13 C/W -- to do some limited over-clocking. Also, check again on the Zalman, because I could have it mixed up with an earlier model, but I know for sure that coolers showing 0.13 completely trump the copper flower 7000 -- and therefore the ALCU as well.

On the fan angle and improved CFM through the fins, there are ways to boost that . . . . . but don't let me get started . . . . on that topic.
 
Originally posted by: Salvador
I have the Arctic Cooling 64 Freezer Pro and I'm not all that impressed with it. It was a disappointment after reading all the great reviews. I'm thinking about replacing it with a Zalman CNPS7000B-ALCu that I picked up used.

Which cooler works better for cooling? Which cooler is quieter? I couldn't find any direct comparisons between these two coolers.
Click to expand...
AC Freezers are made for the flea market crowd... the get something-for-nothing zealots! If the price gets above 20 bones, there's wailing and gnashing of teeth, like the world is coming to an end!

Zalman flower fans are for quasi-n00bs, i.e. those that have spent two or more days Google'ing HSFs, e.g. a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. They are marketed to goose-steppers that think Koreans (the Mortimer Snerds of the Orient) are actually rocket scientists in disguise!

Thus, there is no direct correlation! That's why you cannot find any comparisons! Freezers are cheap POS coolers, and Zalmans are over-priced POS coolers...

I don't know if you're there yet - doesn't sound like it - but if it was me, I'd get a Tuniq Tower 120 and laugh it off... if you know what I mean! 😀
 
I'll "second" that motion -- I'd guess that the Tuniq C/W value is somewhere between 0.10 and 0.11 C/W.

If you read enough of our posts here and on other threads, and check the May 4 and other Anandtech comparison reviews, you'll get some insights.

I'm still in process of cleaning up the "Heatsink Review" sticky, and to avoid encouraging anyone to post "replies" to what is just supposed to be a database of reviews, I'm proposing an accompanying sticky called "Heatsink Reviews: Notes and Comments." I'll be posting some notes about how to compare heatsinks before buying, and how to use two or more reviews to get accurate assessments -- how to see through reviews which avoid top-end products in comparison of others when the choice of those others may be tainted by who pays the reviewer or magazine top-dollar for advertising pages.

Even the reviews that have this subtle bias contain useful information, but using reviews to pick heatsinks, like anything else, means that you shouldn't base your decision on a single review unless there are careful controls in testing and the comparison involves numerous competing products. If you want to understand the Kennedy Assassination, you don't just read the Warren Report or Posner's "Case Closed" and conclude -- like the news media still does-- that "LHO acted alone." And if you want to understand economics, you don't just pick up Galbraith's "New Industrial State" and suddenly become a Nobel candidate in the field. [But unlike Posner's, Galbraith's is a pretty good book.]

The corollary to "never believe everything you read in the papers" is "never read only one newspaper."
 
Originally posted by: VinDSL
Originally posted by: Salvador
I have the Arctic Cooling 64 Freezer Pro and I'm not all that impressed with it. It was a disappointment after reading all the great reviews. I'm thinking about replacing it with a Zalman CNPS7000B-ALCu that I picked up used.

Which cooler works better for cooling? Which cooler is quieter? I couldn't find any direct comparisons between these two coolers.
Click to expand...
AC Freezers are made for the flea market crowd... the get something-for-nothing zealots! If the price gets above 20 bones, there's wailing and gnashing of teeth, like the world is coming to an end!

Zalman flower fans are for quasi-n00bs, i.e. those that have spent two or more days Google'ing HSFs, e.g. a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. They are marketed to goose-steppers that think Koreans (the Mortimer Snerds of the Orient) are actually rocket scientists in disguise!

Thus, there is no direct correlation! That's why you cannot find any comparisons! Freezers are cheap POS coolers, and Zalmans are over-priced POS coolers...

I don't know if you're there yet - doesn't sound like it - but if it was me, I'd get a Tuniq Tower 120 and laugh it off... if you know what I mean! 😀
Click to expand...

I've owned both Zalman and AC products in the past and have been pleased with them. They've been better than stock for cooling and are quiet. I purchased the AC Freezer for $20 shipped and the Zalman for $10 plus shipping used. I would've never spent more than $30 for either cooler. I would've gone with a Thermalright instead.

I purchased the AC Freezer because of recommendations and price. I thought that it might be a good bang for the buck. Apparently, I was wrong. What should I get instead without spending $50 for a socket 939 cooler?

With socket A, I've had a few Thermalright (SLK800 and 900) coolers and I was very pleased with them. I even thought about picking up the 90 Ultra (very cheap these days). If I spend $50 or more for a cooler, it's going to be the Thermalright 120 Ultimate Extreme or the 90 Ultima (because of size and weight). In every test that I've seen, it outperforms everything including the Tuniq.

I'm not a huge fans of the ultra huge coolers though because of their size and weight. I just don't like the idea of hanging something that large off of the mobo. That's why the 90mm Thermalright's appeal to me.

OTOH, I should probably look at getting the Tuniq because it appears that a lot of people have been drinking the coolaid and I'd have no problem selling it for a good price later. It seems like the cult cooler around here.

 
Well, Sal, I understand your logic and predicament.

Weight is a factor that even causes me concern, which is the reason I ran a tubular duct between an intake fan, the TR U-120-Extreme, and the exhaust fan. That way, I don't have to hang another 200 grams of weight on a cooler that's already approximately 790g.

The matter of price also connects to the matter of performance. If a manufacturer even just proves to himself that his cooler outperforms someone else's, he'll charge "whatever the market will bear" and confidently wait for that market to vindicate his pricing decisions. So, there's certainly some truth in the expression "you get what you pay for," and we're only speaking here of a matter of between $10 and $40. One has to assess whether choosing a budget-model hardware-investment might really be "false economy."

Here among the members at Anandtech forums, we change hardware like some people change clothing through the business-week. That makes us more "consumers" than investors, except that we should be sharp enough to turn over our discards to others down the food chain on an auction-site like EBay.

But despite our absurdly spendthrifty behavior here, hardware is also an investment. To give an example, I gave my brother an overclocked P4 Northwood system fitted with some DDR500 modules -- all tuned and ready. But "Bro" is acting like a mainstream user, so he picks a well-worn surge-protector to buffer his wall-socket power-connection, and as we all know, the varistors in those items eventually go south. Even worse, though, for people living in the country, you can have power-outages. This is "not good" for even a mildly over-clocked system. Someone willing to provide an "insurance policy" for their system would spend a bit more and get an appropriately-rated battery-backup. Getting Bro to do that was almost like pulling teeth, but he finally saw the light.

On the matter of weight, my best guess is that you can exceed the Intel motherboard spec by as much as 100%, and you should be "OK," but I still would rather keep that weight down. Even so, the real problem would be "torque" -- determined by the distance that weight hangs from the motherboard. So a 790g heatsink with most of the weight near the base is not going to exert the sort of torque as adding a 250g fan to the same heatsink. If much of the weight for an 800 or 900g heatsink is in the base, and it sits less than half an inch from the surface of the motherboard, I'd say it has a negligible effect. By contrast, a top-end Panaflo 120x38mm fan weighs as much as 250g, with its center of gravity more than 2 inches from the heatsink mounts. With the mounting mechanisms the way they are on the slightly pricier tower coolers, I'd say that the torque is mostly in the fan, and rest of the weight is mostly near the motherboard, so I wouldn't worry too much.
 
What should I get then? Should I just bite the bullet and go for the Thermalright Ultima 90 or 120 Ultra Extreme or would the older Thermalright Ultra 90 do a good job for me?

The Thermalright Ultra 90 is at closeout prices at the moment. Is that because it sucks as a cooler? From what I've read, it cools as good or better than the XP90 (which was a good cooler for AMD socket 754/939) and it's about half the price right now.

I'm not nuts about the Tuniq Tower. It's so damn huge. I've seen photos if it in a case and it looks like it's crammed in the case. From what I've read, the Thermalright 90 Ultima is every bit as good as the Tuniq, but it's smaller and lighter.
 
On the matter of thermal resistance, the TR-Ultra-120 Extreme -- at approximately 0.097 C/W -- wins. On the matter of size, it breaks even. On the matter of a "simple shape" -- The TR wins again. On the matter of the flatness of the base, it may lose. You can compare the relative weights of the two coolers, and you also have my remarks there.

On the matter of price, I haven't checked. But for a small case, you can sacrifice a little performance while breaking even with the Tuniq, have a mounting mechanism that makes for easy removal, and resolve your case-real-estate hassles with the Ultima 90. You'll still want to lap it, even if you don't have to lap it. I can't speak firsthand on the Ultima, but the reviews and some reports from fellow members here make it seem like a safe bet -- if you're willing to engage in some patient DIY activity if or when you are less than satisfied with the motherboard mounting mechanism. Some don't have problems, others have complaints.

VinDSL is speaking firsthand on the Tuniq, but so is Anandtech.
 
Hey Bonzai,
Apparently the TR bases are convex as the spreaders on Intel chips are concave tp some degree. Supposed to fit them better, but then what do the AMD people do. I suppose our heat spreaders are flat, so we're stuck with lapping. Some other HS are also convex (has the name "bowed" now) for the Intels. I guess it's too much trouble for Intel to make their spreaders flat... 😕

.bh.
 
Originally posted by: Salvador
With that case, why aren't you water cooling?
Click to expand...
Yes, exactly! Thank you!

Back on you, bro... 😀

Why do you think I'm not water cooling?

More to the point, why do I have another Tuniq Tower 120 sitting in reserve?

That's the real thing sitting there (new) in the box, not a 'Photoshop'...

Think about it... 😉
 
Originally posted by: BonzaiDuck
VinDSL is speaking firsthand on the Tuniq, but so is Anandtech.
Click to expand...
Come on, BD...

This is one of MY favorite snappies...

Is this Tuniq Tower 120 sexy or what?!?!?!

Dude, this is my rig... and it's just a snapshot... not some AnandTech review photo, worked over by professionals!

I challenge anyone with a TR whatever product to come up with a similar snapshot...

Thermal resistance isn't everything, you know? 🙂
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top