Best/easiest way to cool a P4 1600 Northwood?

martinlk · Post by **martinlk** » Fri Sep 24, 2004 12:38 am

Hello all

I'm getting tired of my old intel stock cooler, so I need a quick and easy way to quiet my P4 1600A. I considered purchasing the Zalman 7000B AlCu because it's relatively cheap and it gets a good review on this site. Anyone have any better suggestions or should I just go ahead and buy the Zalman?

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Fri Sep 24, 2004 5:02 am

You couldn't do any better than the Zalman 7000AlCu. It's got plenty of poop to quietly cool your relatively low heat output P4 1.6A.

Oh, and WELCOME TO SPCR!!!

martinlk · Post by **martinlk** » Fri Sep 24, 2004 6:51 am

Thanks, glad to be here.

I read somewhere on this forum that the Zalmans get noisier as they get older because they have ball bearing fans attached. Is this something I have to worry about or is it barely noticable? Let me emphazise that I'm not a "silent system enthusiast", just a guy who wants a fairly quiet computer.

icancam · Post by **icancam** » Fri Sep 24, 2004 9:16 am

I have a 2.0 GHz Northwood and was about to buy the Zalman 7000Cu when the Scythe NCU-1000 passive cooler was released. The Scythe works very well in my modified Dell Optiplex but there is no doubt that it was more expensive and required much more effort to tune the overall system for a relatively modest decrease in sound over the Zalman. Since you're not a "silent system enthusiast", Ralf's endorsement of the Zalman 7000AlCu is a very safe and effective choice and is the one I've recommended to friends who, like you, just want a "fairly quiet computer". They are all extremely pleased with their decision to follow my advice (which came straight out of the pages of SPCR and for which I can claim absolutely no credit).

I can't comment on the Zalman's fan noise increasing over time but it is characteristic of any electro-mechanical device to be subject to wear. How soon you'd notice an increase in noise would depend on your utilization rate and environmental conditions (humidity, dust, etc) as well as the luck of the draw due to manufacturing inconsistencies. Considering the price and relative ease of assembly, I'd be inclined to simply replace the whole cooler if it ever became an issue.

The only caution concerning the Zalman would be that it fits on your motherboard. Here's a link to Zalman regarding P4 compatibilty: http://www.zalmanusa.com/product/cooler ... st_eng.htm

martinlk · Post by **martinlk** » Sat Sep 25, 2004 3:57 am

OK, Zalman it is then. I already have a Seagate Barracuda hard drive, so I'm pretty excited about how silent this thing can get.

My MB is an Asus P4B266, which is not on the incompatibility list. Let's hope it fits on there.

Edward Ng · Post by **Edward Ng** » Sat Sep 25, 2004 5:50 am

There's always XP-90 if you're concerned over fitment.

icancam · Post by **icancam** » Sat Sep 25, 2004 11:11 am

Edward Ng wrote:There's always XP-90 if you're concerned over fitment.

Good point. Based on your "preview" before your formal review, how does it compare as far as performance with the Zalman?

The fan being separate from the Thermalright, rather than integral as with the Zalman, would answer your concern, martinlk, about the 7000AlCu's fan getting noisier over time. If the separate fan ever required replacement, it would certainly be simpler to exchange it as compared to replacing the Zalman (re-application of thermal compound, etc) but the XP-90 and a suitable fan would cost more than the Zalman.

As always, one needs to make compromises to achieve the desired results while staying within the budget.

Edward Ng · Post by **Edward Ng** » Sat Sep 25, 2004 11:18 am

Only finished one pass so far (need three passes before results can be tabulated for the review), but...

Using my standard P4 Testbed (same as for CoolGate and Vortex Dream reviews), with a 92mm Panaflo L1A, I have, under full load with a 24C ambient:

(Fan at) 12 Volts: 41C

7 Volts: 43C

5 Volts: 47C

Which works out to 4C, 3C and 1C better, respectively, than CNPS7000A-Cu, also tested on this platform, at this ambient temperature.

Again, that's only in the first pass so far, but things look real good for this cooler; it is, indeed, XP-120's little brother.

-Ed

icancam · Post by **icancam** » Sat Sep 25, 2004 11:31 am

Thanks for taking the time to give us an advance look, Ed!

Edward Ng · Post by **Edward Ng** » Sat Sep 25, 2004 11:39 am

Erhm...

You're welcome.

Post by **MikeC** » Sat Sep 25, 2004 8:55 pm

For the record, the first DIY system article on this site (by yours truly) is Silencing a P4-1.6A oc'd to 2GHz

icancam · Post by **icancam** » Sat Sep 25, 2004 10:04 pm

Wow, Mike, reading that article is like going back to Genesis and reliving Creation.

Since those far off times, SPCR has become a revered site with a world wide reputation in its field.