Zalman Cooling

[KeepItRed]

I see lots of people here use that fancy CPU Zalman fan/heatsink, I want to put one on my AMD Athlon 4400+ X2 but the AMD instruction video said that thermal pads are better, and grease is to be only used for testing, not long periods of time. My question is:

1) How much more heat dissapation can I expect between a stock AMD heatsink/fan and a Zalman CPU heatsink/fan?

2) Is grease ok to use compared to thermal pads? (grease comes with the Zalman)

 

[Elcs]

Originally posted by: KeepItRed
I see lots of people here use that fancy CPU Zalman fan/heatsink, I want to put one on my AMD Athlon 4400+ X2 but the AMD instruction video said that thermal pads are better, and grease is to be only used for testing, not long periods of time. My question is:

1) How much more heat dissapation can I expect between a stock AMD heatsink/fan and a Zalman CPU heatsink/fan?

2) Is grease ok to use compared to thermal pads? (grease comes with the Zalman)

1) Id say quite a bit. Zalmans 7700 range is popular for a reason. Its performance/noise ratio is one of the best and ranked alongside others like the Thermalright XP90 as a high-end heatsink.

2) In short, grease is better than pads (especially Arctic Silver 5 (AS5)) but is more difficult to get right. An application of AS5 is said to last roughly 6 months I believe so after those 6 months, it should be reapplied.

Id say AS5 could drop you up to 5C compared to a pad depending on how well its applied (can be difficult to get "perfect") but this is just a guess.

If you value low temperatures and low noise output, Id recommend the Zalman and a tube of AS5 to go with it plus this combo should allow for some overclocking 'down the road if you so wish to do so'.

 

[Deinonych]

Originally posted by: Elcs
2) In short, grease is better than pads (especially Arctic Silver 5 (AS5)) but is more difficult to get right. An application of AS5 is said to last roughly 6 months I believe so after those 6 months, it should be reapplied.

You shouldn't have to reapply AS5 unless you feel you didn't apply it correctly. Once AS5 'cures' after about 100 hours or so, you don't need to mess with it again.

 

[Bona Fide]

Well it'll eventually wear down and not perform as well, but you've got a good 4-6 months till then. Just get the 3.5g tube, it'll last you for at least a year. And YES get the 7700 if your motherboard can support it.

 

[crizzar]

Originally posted by: Deinonych

Originally posted by: Elcs
2) In short, grease is better than pads (especially Arctic Silver 5 (AS5)) but is more difficult to get right. An application of AS5 is said to last roughly 6 months I believe so after those 6 months, it should be reapplied.

You shouldn't have to reapply AS5 unless you feel you didn't apply it correctly. Once AS5 'cures' after about 100 hours or so, you don't need to mess with it again.

umm yeah... 6 months? A proper installation is good for years

 

[imported_Kensai]

Get a Thermalright XP-90 and a medium Panaflo instead.

 

[Deinonych]

Originally posted by: crizzar
umm yeah... 6 months? A proper installation is good for years

That's what I thought. I have a system with AS5 + Zalman 7000AlCu that has been running pretty much 24/7 for well over a year. I haven't seen the thermals degrade one iota.

 

[imported_t0ast]

On my X2 4400 the Zalman 7700AlCu (running at medium speeds, kicks into high at 40C) and AS5 gets me a 32C idle.

And one thing the 7700 can get you that the stock HSF can't is additional cooling to nearby components (like the RAM, northbridge, video card, etc) since it blows down over that wide area.

 

[NatePo717]

Zalmans are great. They do a great job of keeping the CPU cool and the surrounding components as well.

 

[KeepItRed]

Jeez that thing looks huge...Doesn't it ever get in the way or RAM or other components?

 

[WobbleWobble]

It can get in the way. That's why you need to look at Zalman's motherboard compatibility list. It should fit the majority of motherboards nowadays though. One of the benefits of the Zalman coolers is that it can cool RAM and surrounding components.

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: Elcs

Originally posted by: KeepItRed
I see lots of people here use that fancy CPU Zalman fan/heatsink, I want to put one on my AMD Athlon 4400+ X2 but the AMD instruction video said that thermal pads are better, and grease is to be only used for testing, not long periods of time. My question is:

1) How much more heat dissapation can I expect between a stock AMD heatsink/fan and a Zalman CPU heatsink/fan?

2) Is grease ok to use compared to thermal pads? (grease comes with the Zalman)

1) Id say quite a bit. Zalmans 7700 range is popular for a reason. Its performance/noise ratio is one of the best and ranked alongside others like the Thermalright XP90 as a high-end heatsink.

Actually, you can get quieter, better performance. It's the price that makes it popular. You can beat the performance and noise, but not with anything else around $40. The XP-120, Ninja, and that monster from Coolermaster, can all best the 7700...and none of them are under $60 with a good fan. The XP-90 can do a good job, but the 7700 can defintiely beat it at lower noise levels.

2) In short, grease is better than pads (especially Arctic Silver 5 (AS5)) but is more difficult to get right. An application of AS5 is said to last roughly 6 months I believe so after those 6 months, it should be reapplied.

Cheap pads > cheap grease. Arctic Silver anything > cheap pads. I'd go for Ceramique. Easy to apply and use, good temps, and I've had no trouble going more than a year now on a single application. Six months for a TIM is probably a conservative estimate--if I was hauling it to LAN parties all the time, I'd consider a new application after 6 months a good idea.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Fan-noise aside, the ThermalRight XP-120 has a thermal resistance of 0.167 with air-throughput (CFMs) characteristic of a 120mm fan spinning above 2,000 rpm.

The CNPS-7700-Cu has a thermal resistance of 0.19, and the CNPS-7000-Cu is rated closer to 0.21. The lower the thermal resistance, the better the cooling performance, and the narrower the spread between idle and load temperatures.

These ratings, as far as I remember, were taken with the fans spinning in their upper ranges. There is a limit of CFMs beyond which these heatpipe coolers do not show any further reduction in thermal resistance.

Believe it or not, I have a DELTA fan (120mm x 38mm) on my XP-120, spinning at idle temperatures at 2,800 rpm. The CPU fan and cooler are augmented with foam-board ducting. I cannot hear the DELTA until the CPU approaches its load temperature, and the fan spins up to 90% of its top end of 3,700 rpm.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: BonzaiDuck
Fan-noise aside, the ThermalRight XP-120 has a thermal resistance of 0.167 with air-throughput (CFMs) characteristic of a 120mm fan spinning above 2,000 rpm.

The CNPS-7700-Cu has a thermal resistance of 0.19, and the CNPS-7000-Cu is rated closer to 0.21. The lower the thermal resistance, the better the cooling performance, and the narrower the spread between idle and load temperatures.

These ratings, as far as I remember, were taken with the fans spinning in their upper ranges. There is a limit of CFMs beyond which these heatpipe coolers do not show any further reduction in thermal resistance.

Believe it or not, I have a DELTA fan (120mm x 38mm) on my XP-120, spinning at idle temperatures at 2,800 rpm. The CPU fan and cooler are augmented with foam-board ducting. I cannot hear the DELTA until the CPU approaches its load temperature, and the fan spins up to 90% of its top end of 3,700 rpm.

Theres alot more variables than what you just listed that goes into making a solid highend CPU cooler!

You cant explain away performace based on equations and such!!
Thats why Zalman is so highly regarded!!