Performance
To test the cooling efficiency of the new cooler, we assembled the following system:
| Test configuration | |
| Processor | Athlon XP (Barton core) overclocked to 2GHz (12×166) Power supply voltage (Vcore) = 1.75V |
| Motherboard | Asus A7N8X rev2.0 (nForce II Ultra 400) |
| Video card | Ti4200(315/600) based on the NVidia GeForce4 64Mb chip nVidia Detonator v40.72 |
| Sound card | Creative Live 5.1 |
| HDD | IBM DTLA 307030 30Gb |
| Memory | 2х256 MB PC2700 DDR SDRAM made by Kingston |
| Case | Inwin506 with PowerMan 300W power supply unit |
| OS | Windows XP SP1 |
We took the following coolers as the contenders: Thermaltake Volcano 7+, Igloo 2500 Pro.
Here are the results:
The green bars stand for the data on the sensor under the socket. Repeating it – it’s absolutely wrong to make any conclusions basing on its readings. If the user of a motherboard like Epox 8RDA3+ (which doesn’t show the real core temperature) changes the Igloo 2500 Pro with Zalman 7000A-Cu, he would notice a 1-2 C deg gain whereas the real core temperature has dropped by over 10C.
At the maximum rotational speed of the fan, the Zalman 7000A-Cu showed excellent results – the cooling is as good as that on the Thermaltake Volcano 7+. And the noise level is much lower (merely 25 dBa versus 47 dBa in V7+). For comparison – the noise from the Zalman CNPS6000 in the normal mode is about 32 dBa.
But the major advantage of the Zalman 7000A -Cu is in this: as the fan’s rotational speed goes down to the minimum, the cooling efficiency stays practically the same (by merely 2 C). And the cooler noise goes off completely!
Conclusions
So, wrapping it all up: no doubt the Zalman 7000Cu is a fantastic cooler that exhibits the cooling efficiency as good as that in the best air coolers. The noise level is very low both in the “quiet” and “standard” modes of the fan operation.
It’s a pity though that this cooler appeared at the decline of the SocketA platform. The progress of cooling devices could have been going at much faster pace, had the cooler emerged in the times of the higher-end Thunderberd models.
Besides, the position of many motherboard manufacturers who gave up making assembly holes over the socket edges is distressing.
Conclusion
Pros:
- Excellent cooling efficiency;
- Very quiet operation in all the modes;
- Designed for Intel Pentium4, AMD SocketA and AMD Athlon 64;
- Large surface area (over 3000 sq.cm);
- Good processing quality of the base;
- The cooler comes with a Fanmate.
Cons:
- The overall dimensions of the cooler may hinder installation of the cooler (if not make it absolutely impossible);
- Lack of the strengthening plate to fasten on a SocketA motherboard;
- High price.
The board’s specific features:
- To install the cooler on a SocketA board, assembly holes are necessary (otherwise, installation is impossible)
