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Zalman 7000A copper cooler...disappointed?



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 14th 04, 09:31 AM
Sydtech
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Default Zalman 7000A copper cooler...disappointed?

Today I installed a Zalman 7000A copper cooler in my P4 2.8ghz machine
w/Antec Sonata case. The idea was to replace the noisy stock Intel heat sink
and fan with something quieter and - hopefully - cooler (unfortunately no
place that was open today had a Zalman Northbridge heatsink, or I would've
gotten one of those as well). The system has an Abit IC7-G motherboard and a
Leadtek FX5200 graphics card (until my 9800 Pro arrives). I'm not doing any
overclocking at all (yet).

So far I'm not sure that I'm thrilled with the Zalman, and I'm wondering if
I installed it poorly, or I just was expecting too much...

With the stock Intel heat sink and fan installed, at idle, I was getting
49-50 degrees celsius on the CPU.

With the Zalman hsf installed and the case on, at CPU idle, I'm getting
around 47degrees with the fan running at the full 2400rpm, and at 50 with
the fan at the lowest setting.

I "torture tested" the setup by running prime95 and ripping some random CDs
with iTunes to max the CPU out. This pushed the CPU temp up to about 64
degrees (with the Zalman fan on max) and a scary 68 degrees (with the fan on
the minimum setting). These numbers seem kind of high to me.

As far as I can tell, I've installed this properly:


- I removed the stock hsf, and thoroughly cleaned the existing thermal
compound off the top of the CPU with 91% rubbing alcohol.

- I installed the brackets on the motherboard.

- I then followed the instructions on the Arctic Silver website (rather
than Zalman's) and applied a small dollop of Arctic Silver in the center of
the CPU.

- I then did my best at installing the (huge and heavy) Zalman HSF on top of
the chip. I think I did OK, although it did slide around a little bit as I
got it situated.

- Getting the screws lined up with the aluminum brackets was a bit of a
bitchkitty. I got one of them in OK, but I managed to drop the other one
down next to the CPU, forcing me to remove the Zalman so I could fish it
out. When I did, I noticed that the Arctic Silver had spread into a nice
rough shape on top of the CPU, but that it was off-center to the right.
Before I put the Zalman back on top, I added another very tiny drop of AS on
the center of the chip.


As far as I can tell at this point, I've got the thing installed properly,
but there's no easy way to check and see if the Arctic Silver is evenly
centered without actually uninstalling the Zalman, which I'd like to avoid
doing unless it's absolutely necessary.

So...did I botch the install, or were my expectations simply too high?

Thanks...


  #2  
Old March 14th 04, 09:59 AM
David Maynard
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Sydtech wrote:

Today I installed a Zalman 7000A copper cooler in my P4 2.8ghz machine
w/Antec Sonata case. The idea was to replace the noisy stock Intel heat sink
and fan with something quieter and - hopefully - cooler (unfortunately no
place that was open today had a Zalman Northbridge heatsink, or I would've
gotten one of those as well). The system has an Abit IC7-G motherboard and a
Leadtek FX5200 graphics card (until my 9800 Pro arrives). I'm not doing any
overclocking at all (yet).

So far I'm not sure that I'm thrilled with the Zalman, and I'm wondering if
I installed it poorly, or I just was expecting too much...

With the stock Intel heat sink and fan installed, at idle, I was getting
49-50 degrees celsius on the CPU.

With the Zalman hsf installed and the case on, at CPU idle, I'm getting
around 47degrees with the fan running at the full 2400rpm, and at 50 with
the fan at the lowest setting.

I "torture tested" the setup by running prime95 and ripping some random CDs
with iTunes to max the CPU out. This pushed the CPU temp up to about 64
degrees (with the Zalman fan on max) and a scary 68 degrees (with the fan on
the minimum setting). These numbers seem kind of high to me.

As far as I can tell, I've installed this properly:


- I removed the stock hsf, and thoroughly cleaned the existing thermal
compound off the top of the CPU with 91% rubbing alcohol.

- I installed the brackets on the motherboard.

- I then followed the instructions on the Arctic Silver website (rather
than Zalman's) and applied a small dollop of Arctic Silver in the center of
the CPU.

- I then did my best at installing the (huge and heavy) Zalman HSF on top of
the chip. I think I did OK, although it did slide around a little bit as I
got it situated.

- Getting the screws lined up with the aluminum brackets was a bit of a
bitchkitty. I got one of them in OK, but I managed to drop the other one
down next to the CPU, forcing me to remove the Zalman so I could fish it
out. When I did, I noticed that the Arctic Silver had spread into a nice
rough shape on top of the CPU, but that it was off-center to the right.
Before I put the Zalman back on top, I added another very tiny drop of AS on
the center of the chip.


As far as I can tell at this point, I've got the thing installed properly,
but there's no easy way to check and see if the Arctic Silver is evenly
centered without actually uninstalling the Zalman, which I'd like to avoid
doing unless it's absolutely necessary.

So...did I botch the install, or were my expectations simply too high?

Thanks...


Are you sure you have the fan aligned with the heatsink the way they
show? There's no airflow from the fan's "hub," ya know.


  #3  
Old March 14th 04, 10:30 AM
Sydtech
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"David Maynard" wrote in message
...
Sydtech wrote:
Are you sure you have the fan aligned with the heatsink the way they
show? There's no airflow from the fan's "hub," ya know.


The fan was already installed inside the heatsink on this particular
model...


  #4  
Old March 14th 04, 01:23 PM
David Maynard
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Posts: n/a
Default

Sydtech wrote:
"David Maynard" wrote in message
...

Sydtech wrote:
Are you sure you have the fan aligned with the heatsink the way they
show? There's no airflow from the fan's "hub," ya know.



The fan was already installed inside the heatsink on this particular
model...



Sorry. I was thinking of the Zalman Flower.

  #5  
Old March 14th 04, 10:27 AM
ElJerid
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"Sydtech" wrote in message
...
Today I installed a Zalman 7000A copper cooler in my P4 2.8ghz machine
w/Antec Sonata case. The idea was to replace the noisy stock Intel heat

sink
and fan with something quieter and - hopefully - cooler (unfortunately no
place that was open today had a Zalman Northbridge heatsink, or I would've
gotten one of those as well). The system has an Abit IC7-G motherboard and

a
Leadtek FX5200 graphics card (until my 9800 Pro arrives). I'm not doing

any
overclocking at all (yet).

So far I'm not sure that I'm thrilled with the Zalman, and I'm wondering

if
I installed it poorly, or I just was expecting too much...

With the stock Intel heat sink and fan installed, at idle, I was getting
49-50 degrees celsius on the CPU.

With the Zalman hsf installed and the case on, at CPU idle, I'm getting
around 47degrees with the fan running at the full 2400rpm, and at 50 with
the fan at the lowest setting.

I "torture tested" the setup by running prime95 and ripping some random

CDs
with iTunes to max the CPU out. This pushed the CPU temp up to about 64
degrees (with the Zalman fan on max) and a scary 68 degrees (with the fan

on
the minimum setting). These numbers seem kind of high to me.

As far as I can tell, I've installed this properly:


- I removed the stock hsf, and thoroughly cleaned the existing thermal
compound off the top of the CPU with 91% rubbing alcohol.

- I installed the brackets on the motherboard.

- I then followed the instructions on the Arctic Silver website (rather
than Zalman's) and applied a small dollop of Arctic Silver in the center

of
the CPU.

- I then did my best at installing the (huge and heavy) Zalman HSF on top

of
the chip. I think I did OK, although it did slide around a little bit as I
got it situated.

- Getting the screws lined up with the aluminum brackets was a bit of a
bitchkitty. I got one of them in OK, but I managed to drop the other one
down next to the CPU, forcing me to remove the Zalman so I could fish it
out. When I did, I noticed that the Arctic Silver had spread into a nice
rough shape on top of the CPU, but that it was off-center to the right.
Before I put the Zalman back on top, I added another very tiny drop of AS

on
the center of the chip.


As far as I can tell at this point, I've got the thing installed properly,
but there's no easy way to check and see if the Arctic Silver is evenly
centered without actually uninstalling the Zalman, which I'd like to avoid
doing unless it's absolutely necessary.

So...did I botch the install, or were my expectations simply too high?

Conclusion is in fact that the stock Intel cooler is not so bad !
There is a lot of marketing and advertising about all kind of esoteric
coolers, but best of them will not decrease the cpu temp by more than 3 to
5°C compared to the original boxed Intel. And it's always a trade off: you
have to make a choice between noise or cooling (with all steps between). I
believe the best solution for air cooling is a huge Cu cooler (like
Thermalright), if possible with heat pipes, an a large, low speed rotating
fan (Papst 120 mm) fitted on the cooler via a diameter adaptor. This
combines excellent cooling with low noise.
Be also aware that sometimes a slower but overclocked cpu dissipates less
heat than a faster cpu at the same speed. I experienced that a P4C 2.4 Ghz
overclocked at 3.0 GHz runs 3°C cooler than a 2.8 overclocked at 3.0 GHz,
with the same cooler !!!


  #6  
Old March 14th 04, 02:26 PM
Max
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"ElJerid" wrote in message
...
Conclusion is in fact that the stock Intel cooler is not so bad !
There is a lot of marketing and advertising about all kind of esoteric
coolers, but best of them will not decrease the cpu temp by more than 3
to
5°C compared to the original boxed Intel. And it's always a trade off: you
have to make a choice between noise or cooling (with all steps between).




Bull****.

I have an Aero Iv and it knocked 9°C off.Its quiet too so stick tht in ya
pipe

max




  #7  
Old March 15th 04, 12:11 AM
~misfit~
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Max wrote:
"ElJerid" wrote in message
...
Conclusion is in fact that the stock Intel cooler is not so bad !
There is a lot of marketing and advertising about all kind of
esoteric coolers, but best of them will not decrease the cpu temp by
more than 3 to
5°C compared to the original boxed Intel. And it's always a trade
off: you have to make a choice between noise or cooling (with all
steps between).




Bull****.

I have an Aero Iv and it knocked 9°C off.Its quiet too so stick tht
in ya pipe


You have good air-flow through your case though Max?
--
~misfit~


  #8  
Old March 15th 04, 12:15 AM
end user
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

The original poster does have the right to post his results. Due to
his system configuration/hardware his end results may be way diff
than yours.

Locust

On Sun, 14 Mar 2004 14:26:55 +0100, "Max" wrote:


"ElJerid" wrote in message
...
Conclusion is in fact that the stock Intel cooler is not so bad !
There is a lot of marketing and advertising about all kind of esoteric
coolers, but best of them will not decrease the cpu temp by more than 3
to
5°C compared to the original boxed Intel. And it's always a trade off: you
have to make a choice between noise or cooling (with all steps between).




Bull****.

I have an Aero Iv and it knocked 9°C off.Its quiet too so stick tht in ya
pipe

max




  #9  
Old March 15th 04, 09:56 AM
ElJerid
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"Max" wrote in message
...

"ElJerid" wrote in message
...
Conclusion is in fact that the stock Intel cooler is not so bad !
There is a lot of marketing and advertising about all kind of esoteric
coolers, but best of them will not decrease the cpu temp by more than 3
to
5°C compared to the original boxed Intel. And it's always a trade off:

you
have to make a choice between noise or cooling (with all steps between).




Bull****.

I have an Aero Iv and it knocked 9°C off.Its quiet too so stick tht in ya
pipe

Thanks for the bull****.
But I tested different Aero models thouroughly in my system. I had been
disappointed with the average performance of the Aero 4, so I ordered the
top model Aero 7 - 478 (not socket 478!). This is an Aero 7 with heatpipes,
which was not available in Europe and had to come from Japan. Tested in
exactly the same circumstances as the stock Intel and measured with Asus
Probe, the results were as follows (for an ambient temp of 20°C):
Idle mode:
Intel: 29°C, Aero at 60%: 29°C, Aero at 100%: 28°C
Stressed:
Intel: 43°C, Aero at 60%: 42°C, Aero at 100%: 38°C
I've tested many coolers, and this last figure is the best I got with
"off-the-shelf" coolers. However, at 100% rpm, the Aero is very loud, and
that's why I finally decided to switch to a home-made assembly (ThermalRight
CU cooler with papst 120 cm fan). In stressed mode, I get only 2 °C better
than the Aero at 100% rpm, but it's really quiet!



  #10  
Old March 15th 04, 05:44 PM
Max
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"ElJerid" wrote in message
...

"Max" wrote in message
...

"ElJerid" wrote in message
...
Conclusion is in fact that the stock Intel cooler is not so bad !
There is a lot of marketing and advertising about all kind of esoteric
coolers, but best of them will not decrease the cpu temp by more than
3
to
5°C compared to the original boxed Intel. And it's always a trade off:

you
have to make a choice between noise or cooling (with all steps
between).




Bull****.

I have an Aero Iv and it knocked 9°C off.Its quiet too so stick tht in ya
pipe

Thanks for the bull****.
But I tested different Aero models thouroughly in my system. I had been
disappointed with the average performance of the Aero 4, so I ordered the
top model Aero 7 - 478 (not socket 478!). This is an Aero 7 with
heatpipes,
which was not available in Europe and had to come from Japan. Tested in
exactly the same circumstances as the stock Intel and measured with Asus
Probe, the results were as follows (for an ambient temp of 20°C):
Idle mode:
Intel: 29°C, Aero at 60%: 29°C, Aero at 100%: 28°C
Stressed:
Intel: 43°C, Aero at 60%: 42°C, Aero at 100%: 38°C
I've tested many coolers, and this last figure is the best I got with
"off-the-shelf" coolers. However, at 100% rpm, the Aero is very loud, and
that's why I finally decided to switch to a home-made assembly
(ThermalRight
CU cooler with papst 120 cm fan). In stressed mode, I get only 2 °C better
than the Aero at 100% rpm, but it's really quiet!

You dirty lying *******.

NO aero 7's fit on intel chips.

The numbering is simple : Aero 4 for P4's

Aero 7's For amd k7's, Ie athlon XP.

SO just to clarify you have never bought a turbo charged, super Duper, heat
pipe modified, go faster stripe painted Aero 7 for an Intel chip have you,
in future get you facts straight you half witted pillock.

Now if you stopped wasting your money on the "many off the shelf coolers"
that you CLAIM to have bought, and padded your case with some decent Baffle
material then sound wouldn.t be an issue would it.

You really are a complete fool; please don't waste my time again..

max



Ps



( to other post, yes I do have a good airflow)






 




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