Like I have mentioned in my previous Zalman reviews, when I went to their grand opening they gave me a lot of their products to review. This is the Zalman CNPS 5100-Cu, it is made of pure copper and is a radial design heatsink which is more “congenital” at least compared to their flower coolers. CNPS (Computer Noise Prevention System) is a system that cuts traditional computer system’s noise of 30dB or higher to 20dB or lower, which is below what a normal user can usually notice.
This heatsink uses a 60mm fan and the heatsink comes with a fan mate which is a RPM controller for the fan. This heatsink requires the 4 holes in the motherboard to mount it, rather than using the clips on the socket. This heatsink works with both AMD and Intel setups so that is another big bonus for those who are not sure what CPU they want to use or are thinking about changing brands.
The box of the Zalman CNPS 5100-Cu is pretty plain but I like that it has a lot of information on it about what it can handle and how loud it is.
Like all Zalman heatsinks the CNPS 5100-Cu comes with a lot of extras. They provide all of the mounting hardware that will be needed, along with spare parts incase you lose some. They include thermal compound and they also include a fan mate which is a fan control device. With the fan mate connected to the fan you will be able to change the speed of the fan from normal speed to silent mode. There is a big difference in sound from normal mode to silent mode so if you are looking for a very quiet heatsink you will like this.
As you can see the Zalman CNPS 5100-Cu is kind of like a mix between an orb and a standard square heatsink. It’s an oval shape with fins that come out of the side. You can see in the picture the gold posts at the bottom of the heatsink which are used to mount it to your motherboard. You can see also that there are 8 different holes for the screws so that it can fit both AMD and P4 setups.
I took off the fan to see that the inside of the heatsink is really cool looking. All of the fins are basically compressed into a block in the middle which acts as the core. The fins radiate all around the core of it which will help to dissipate the heat really well. Also a cool thing about this design is the fact that it is concave which will work to its advantage because all of the air will be trapped within it. The base of the heatsink is finished really well, only the copper in-between the 2 aluminum parts will come in contact with the core of the CPU.
I then took the shroud off the heatsink to get a better look at all of the fins, as you can see its really cool looking and there is a lot of surface area. Also from the side view of this heatsink with the shroud removed you can see that there are a lot of fins which are about 1 inch in height.
The fan off this heatsink is a 60mm fan, with the fan mate you can adjust the speed of the fan to your preference. At the lowest setting it is called silent mode, when on silent mode the fan is only putting out about 20dB which is hardly noticeable. When the fan is at the highest setting is called normal mode, while at this speed the fan is putting out about 36dB which is not very much still and very tolerable.
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GM1206PTVX-AF
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Silent Mode
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Normal Mode
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Dimensions(mm)
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60(L) X 60(H) X 25(W)
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Weight (g)
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55
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RPM
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3000 RPM +-10%
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5200 RPM +-10%
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Noise Level (dB)
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20.0dB +-10%
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36.0dB +-10%
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Bearing Type
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Vapo
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To install the Zalman CNPS 5100-Cu you will need 4 of the small screws and put them through the backside of the motherboard through the holes. You will then need to screw the 4 lugs that are on the heatsink to the screws that are through the motherboard holes. After you have the lugs attached to your motherboard you will need to screw the heatsink to the lugs so that they are nice and tight to ensure good contact with your CPU.
Like always I will be using Artic Silver 3 for testing, I will also be using an external Compunurse thermal probe for the temperature readings. To get the idle temperatures I booted up the computer and let it idle for about 20 minutes. To get the load temperatures of each speed I used Prime 95 for about 20 minutes.
Test Bed
- AOpen AK77-333
- 1.2Ghz Thunderbird
- 256MB Crucial PC2100
- Asus Geforce 2 GTS 64MB
- Globalwin YCC-8870 case
I first tested with the heatsink with it on silent mode, the fan is really quiet on this setting and performs good. Zalman heatsinks are not really designed for overclocking, especially while on silent mode. They are designed to be quiet while keeping your CPU at a good temperature which this does really well and is quiet.
I then shutdown the computer and let it cool back down and rebooted it. I set the fan mate to the highest setting which would be considered normal mode and retested. Even at normal mode the fan is not very loud and as you can see the results are really good with the load temperature only being 45 degrees Celsius.
Conclusion
This is just another example of a great Zalman product which has a lot to offer to someone who is looking to make their computer very quiet. Not only is this heatsink very quiet but it comes with a lot of extras and spare parts which is very useful. There is a good and bad to the mounting system that this heatsink uses, the good is that if you have a broken tab on your socket this heatsink will still work and the bad is that it is more difficult to install compared to a conventional heatsink and if your motherboard does not have the holes needed you will not be able to use it. I really like this heatsink thought because I really like quiet systems and it can be used with both AMD and Intel systems. Overall I would give this heatsink a 9/10 and am awarding it the OCmodshop Seal of Approval. I would like to thank Zalman USA for giving me this product to review and you can buy this and every other Zalman product from Sharka Corporation
Pros
- Very cool looking
- Very quiet
- Good performance
- Thermal compound included
- Fan control device included
- Spare parts included
- Works on AMD and Intel setups
Cons
- Installation not as simple as a clip