Question(s) about the Zalman CNPS7000A-ALCU

silenceseeker · Post by **silenceseeker** » Thu Oct 30, 2003 6:51 am

I read MikeC's excellent review about the subject matter and I am still left with the following questions:

Zalman says the noise is 25dB in "Normal mode" and 20db in "Silent mode". What are these modes? Do they correspond to min/max settings in the "fan mate 1" that comes with it? How do they correspond to MikeC's fan voltage settings of 5V, 7V, 10V and 12V?
Why did Zalman choose not to implement a thermally controlled fan? Is it because the silence PC concept favors temperature increase (within safe margins) over noise increase?
Assuming I will be willing to run my CPU at 65C. Is it possible to feed the fan will less than 5V?
Anyone tried successfully to replace the stock fan? Is it worth the effort at all?

BTW, I also read the interesting solution described here. Very nice, but I don't think it is going fit my case.

Many thanks!
Sam

exrcoupe · Post by **exrcoupe** » Thu Oct 30, 2003 7:17 am

1. Normal mode is if you leave the fanmate at full speed. Silent mode is if you lower the speed of the fanmate. Either way it's quiet.

2. Ask Zalman.

3. I slowed my 7000ACU fan down to 1850rpm (not sure what voltage that is) and my overclocked XP1800 is running at 1903Mhz (173x11) and is at 42C at full load.

4. It seems kinda hard since you'd have to figure out how to mount the hacked up fan onto the heatsink somehow.

Hope that helps.

modman · Post by **modman** » Thu Oct 30, 2003 7:52 am

#1 @12V is hardly quiet. Mine at the lowest setting on the fanmate1 is clicky. Actually, I can now hear it click at all speeds. I haven't measured the voltage out of my fanmate1 but it's somewhere between 5V-6V.

#2 The desire is to control the fan speed (for low noise/cooling reqs), which contradicts the purpose of a thermal-diode fan. However, the fan uses a 3-pin connector to be regulated by the thermal-diode on the motherboard.

#3 #4 Haven't tried...yet.

exrcoupe · Post by **exrcoupe** » Thu Oct 30, 2003 8:08 am

Actually, when I put the fanmate on the lowest setting the fan actually stops.

Inexplicable · Post by **Inexplicable** » Thu Oct 30, 2003 8:40 am

Mine starts up with less than 3V.

modman · Post by **modman** » Thu Oct 30, 2003 12:21 pm

An easy mod to try is to remove the stock 92MM fan, and using a Zalman FB123 to suspend a 92MM L1A BX on top of the heatsink.

I like to experiment with 120MM fans too.

GamingGod · Post by **GamingGod** » Thu Oct 30, 2003 12:26 pm

im very happy with my 7000alcuA i run it at about 1800rpm and cant hear it over the other components, i could turn it down alot more if i wanted but i see no need to. And it keeps my 2.4c at 32idle to 42load

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Thu Oct 30, 2003 1:33 pm

My experiments with a 7000AlCu running at 5 volts on a P4 2.4C gave me max load (2 x CPUburn) temps of 54°C in my SLK3700BQE. Perfectly acceptable temps and the Zalman fan is damn quiet at the 5 volt setting.

silenceseeker · Post by **silenceseeker** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 6:07 am

Ralf Hutter wrote:My experiments with a 7000AlCu running at 5 volts on a P4 2.4C gave me max load (2 x CPUburn) temps of 54°C in my SLK3700BQE. Perfectly acceptable temps and the Zalman fan is damn quiet at the 5 volt setting.

Ralf, just curious: I just noticed in your signature that your Quiet Rig has the "SLK-900U + 8V 92mm L1ABX" as the CPU cooler. Is there a noise/performance reason why you chose the SLK-900U over the 7000AlCu for your own system?

Regards,
Sam

peerke · Post by **peerke** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 8:47 am

Does anyone know if the Zalman 7000A-AlCu an Cu are compatible with the ABIT nf7-s motherboard? The Zalman site says they are not but I can't imagine why, it has the required four mountingholes AFAIK.
Any owners of that board, or others, out there who can clarify this?
Want to put my 13th month salary to good use and upgrade my P(rehistoric)1/200 mhz system into a 'real' and quiet computer.

jeffster8 · Post by **jeffster8** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 8:52 am

Peeke,

I don't own the Abit... but there is more to it than just having the required holes. Since the heatsink is quite large, it presses against the surrounding capacitors on certain motherboards. In some cases, the capacitors won't even allow the proper mounting of the heatsink.

peerke · Post by **peerke** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 10:20 am

jeffster8 wrote:Peeke,

I don't own the Abit... but there is more to it than just having the required holes. Since the heatsink is quite large, it presses against the surrounding capacitors on certain motherboards. In some cases, the capacitors won't even allow the proper mounting of the heatsink.

Thanks, thats a quick reply.
I knew there was more to it and I checked the board-layout on the Abit-site. There seems to be a big clear area surrounding the CPU. Having searched for info on this board I have found a lot of favourable reviews about its features and quality. It's really my board of choice and I'd like to know if the 'Great Zalman' can be made to fit.

GamingGod · Post by **GamingGod** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 12:51 pm

just want to say again, on a p4p800 there are no issues with this heatsink, none, they work together great. nothing is touching anything else.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Sat Nov 01, 2003 6:59 am

silenceseeker wrote:
Ralf Hutter wrote:My experiments with a 7000AlCu running at 5 volts on a P4 2.4C gave me max load (2 x CPUburn) temps of 54°C in my SLK3700BQE. Perfectly acceptable temps and the Zalman fan is damn quiet at the 5 volt setting.
Ralf, just curious: I just noticed in your signature that your Quiet Rig has the "SLK-900U + 8V 92mm L1ABX" as the CPU cooler. Is there a noise/performance reason why you chose the SLK-900U over the 7000AlCu for your own system?

Regards,
Sam

I chose the SLK900U over the Zalman 7000 for 2 reasons. the first was because I could put any 80mm or 92mm fan on the SLK900U and with the Zalman I would be stuck with the factory fan (unless I wanted to mod the heck out of another fan). I wanted to be able to choose the optimal fan for my application.

The second was that I much prefer Thermalright's mounting method over Zalman's. The SLK900U is better engineered and bolts securely to the mobo. The Zalman uses the stock plastic Intel heatsink retention bracket along with a slightly flakey looking stamped metal bracket to supply the proper tension to the heatsink.

That being said, I will be trying a Zalman 7000AlCu on one of my systems in the near future.

MikeK · Post by **MikeK** » Sat Nov 01, 2003 12:10 pm

Yes the stock bracket is plastic, but man I could really tighten mine up. That thing isn't going anywhere. The metal things work fine. exrcoupe, your 7000 fan STOPS when you put the fanmate at lowest?! That is strange. Maybe your fanmate has more (or shifted) range than mine.

GamingGod · Post by **GamingGod** » Sat Nov 01, 2003 12:26 pm

mine doesnt stop at lowest and I just got it the other day so probably the newest revision.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Sun Nov 02, 2003 9:31 am

MikeK wrote:Yes the stock bracket is plastic, but man I could really tighten mine up. That thing isn't going anywhere.

FWIW, I have seen 2 broken Intel retention brackets over the past 2 years. I don't know what their story was but they were broken. That just leaves a little cloud of doubt in the corner of my obsessive (but very tidy) mind.

Post by **MikeC** » Sun Nov 02, 2003 10:34 am

Ralf Hutter wrote:FWIW, I have seen 2 broken Intel retention brackets over the past 2 years. I don't know what their story was but they were broken. That just leaves a little cloud of doubt in the corner of my obsessive (but very tidy) mind.

I broke one recently but it was the one on the mobo most used for HS testing -- ie, subjected to a couple hundred HS on/off procedures.

I found a couple replacement retention brackets, and these are much better than the stock ones on most boards. The thing is composed of 2 parts -- the bracket itself and a resin plastic underboard reinforcement piece. The latter has brass threaded inserts in the corners. The 2 pieces clamp together with the motherboard between them, 4 screws from the top holding it all together. This is much more secure than the 4 plastic pop-rivet type devices that held the original HS rentention bracket in place.

The plastic of the retention bracket is still about the same thickness & apparent strength as before, but if the pressure on the bracket is even, it's not likely to break.

silenceseeker · Post by **silenceseeker** » Sun Nov 02, 2003 6:53 pm

Ralf Hutter wrote:I chose the SLK900U over the Zalman 7000 for 2 reasons. the first was because I could put any 80mm or 92mm fan on the SLK900U and with the Zalman I would be stuck with the factory fan (unless I wanted to mod the heck out of another fan). I wanted to be able to choose the optimal fan for my application.

The second was that I much prefer Thermalright's mounting method over Zalman's. The SLK900U is better engineered and bolts securely to the mobo. The Zalman uses the stock plastic Intel heatsink retention bracket along with a slightly flakey looking stamped metal bracket to supply the proper tension to the heatsink.

Darn! you just complicated my life.

I was locked on the Zalman 7000A, but now I am not so convinced anymore. Initially I was inclined to take the 7000A because Zalman guarantees certain dBA rating (20/25 in silent/normal respectively) whereas for the SLK9000 I have no way of measuring/comparing my solution.

I tried SPCR's reference 80mm Panaflo before (replacing the annoying 40mm fan on the EPIA M10K CPU) and was so impressed that I would like to try it as my heatsink fan for the P4, too. Then again, you chose a 92mm over an 80mm, so perhaps you know something I don't know (yet)?

Sam

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Mon Nov 03, 2003 6:11 am

silenceseeker wrote:
Ralf Hutter wrote:I chose the SLK900U over the Zalman 7000 for 2 reasons. the first was because I could put any 80mm or 92mm fan on the SLK900U and with the Zalman I would be stuck with the factory fan (unless I wanted to mod the heck out of another fan). I wanted to be able to choose the optimal fan for my application.

The second was that I much prefer Thermalright's mounting method over Zalman's. The SLK900U is better engineered and bolts securely to the mobo. The Zalman uses the stock plastic Intel heatsink retention bracket along with a slightly flakey looking stamped metal bracket to supply the proper tension to the heatsink.
Darn! you just complicated my life. I was locked on the Zalman 7000A, but now I am not so convinced anymore. Initially I was inclined to take the 7000A because Zalman guarantees certain dBA rating (20/25 in silent/normal respectively) whereas for the SLK9000 I have no way of measuring/comparing my solution.

I tried SPCR's reference 80mm Panaflo before (replacing the annoying 40mm fan on the EPIA M10K CPU) and was so impressed that I would like to try it as my heatsink fan for the P4, too. Then again, you chose a 92mm over an 80mm, so perhaps you know something I don't know (yet)?

Sam

I just completed a series of A-B comparisons between the Zalman 7000 and the SLK900U. From what I've learned from these tests I will be removing the SLK900U from my P4 3.0C system and replacing it with a Zalman 7000AlCu. Even with my obsessive/complusive worries about the mounting system of the Zalman heatsink I'll be using it anyway.

silenceseeker · Post by **silenceseeker** » Tue Nov 04, 2003 5:45 am

Ralf Hutter wrote:I just completed a series of A-B comparisons between the Zalman 7000 and the SLK900U. From what I've learned from these tests I will be removing the SLK900U from my P4 3.0C system and replacing it with a Zalman 7000AlCu. Even with my obsessive/complusive worries about the mounting system of the Zalman heatsink I'll be using it anyway.

Ralf, I never thought that I had much charisma for influencing people's preferences...

But I am not complaining

- I certainly like the idea of paying much less for my heatsink (I believe the SLK900U costs about 50% more than the 7000AlCu).

Thanks!
Sam

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Tue Nov 04, 2003 5:57 am

silenceseeker wrote:
Ralf, I never thought that I had much charisma for influencing people's preferences...

It makes me feel bad to burst your bubble but actually you didn't influence me.

I finally got off my lazy ass and compared the 7000 and the SLK900 head-to-head for a review I was doing. I was suprised how much better the 7000 cooled compared to the SLK900. I repeated the tests 3 times just to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

silenceseeker · Post by **silenceseeker** » Tue Nov 04, 2003 6:29 am

Ralf Hutter wrote:It makes me feel bad to burst your bubble but actually you didn't influence me.

Don't feel bad - I was only kidding. Knowing the work that you do, I knew there must be a very good (read: technical/scientific) reason for you to prefer the 7000. And I was right:

Ralf Hutter wrote:I ... compared the 7000 and the SLK900 head-to-head for a review I was doing. I was suprised how much better the 7000 cooled compared to the SLK900. I repeated the tests 3 times just to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

I can't ask for more than that

GamingGod · Post by **GamingGod** » Tue Nov 04, 2003 11:11 am

I wonder if covering the side holes/gaps would help the cooling of the 7000. Like that guy did on his negative pressure fanless-cpu sideintake project. I havent tried because the top one blows the hot cpu air directly into my fortron psu, and the bottom one blows across the northbridge, cooling it.

exrcoupe · Post by **exrcoupe** » Fri Nov 07, 2003 10:57 am

MikeK wrote:exrcoupe, your 7000 fan STOPS when you put the fanmate at lowest?! That is strange. Maybe your fanmate has more (or shifted) range than mine.

Yeah, it's a bit disconcerting if it happens to get set to the lowest setting. But I'm very happy with it, even at full load, my CPU temp maxes out at 42C even overclocked to 173x11-1903Mhz (XP1800).

Lilla · Post by **Lilla** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 12:32 pm

Any P4 improvements with 7000A-AlCu over 7000AlCu?

On SVC.com 7000AlCu is $30 and 7000A-AlCu is only $1 more, but I just learned that they are sold out of the A.

I know that the main change with the A is that it adds support for AMD, but I suspect that they might have also made some little changes to P4 too. So for $1 I wanted the later package.

I just went to place my SVC.com order, which included the 7000A and that found it is sold out, you can't even back order it. But they still have the non-A version.

So are there any P4 install benefits with the A over the non-A? If not, I'll order the non-A.

Thank, Lilla

Post by **MikeC** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 12:35 pm

So are there any P4 install benefits with the A over the non-A?

Not AFAIK... unlikely anyway.

Lilla · Post by **Lilla** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 12:48 pm

MikeC, thanks for the information, I'll order the non-A fast before it's sold out too. Thanks for all of your help MikeC. This group is the greatest!

Lilla

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 12:49 pm

The difference between the 7000 and 7000A is just some extra mounting hardware for the Socket 462 boards. There shouldn't be any P4 performance difference at all.

Lilla · Post by **Lilla** » Mon Nov 10, 2003 1:45 pm

Arctic Ceramique (ASC) or Arctic Silver 5 (AS5) for my P4?

I a read a thread on this and I remember Ralf saying at this point it was a close call, and that he would perhaps lean towards the ASC over AS5 at this point.

I'm leaning towards ASC unless someone says otherwise in the next few minutes as it is part of my SVC.com order which I am entering now.

Thanks, Lilla

Question(s) about the Zalman CNPS7000A-ALCU

Question(s) about the Zalman CNPS7000A-ALCU

Any P4 improvements with 7000A-AlCu over 7000AlCu?

Re: Any P4 improvements with 7000A-AlCu over 7000AlCu?

Arctic Ceramique or Arctic Silver 5 for my P4?