Zalman CNPS 8700 LED Heatsink Review

The newest member of the CNPS line comes in a standard blister pack with all of its assorted mounting goodies.  Included in the package is the cooler itself, an installation manual, semi-universal mounting braces, a Fanmate, and all the screws, gromits and clips needed for installation.

The CNPS8700 LED is made from 100% pure copper, just like all of the recent CNPS heatsinks, but at 475 grams is significantly lighter than the previous generation (the CNPS 7700 weighs in at a whopping 918 grams).  The new heatsink looks very similar to the 7700 at first glance, but has actually been redesgined to incorporate two heatpipes.  These heatpipes extend from the mirrored contact base and connect all of the cooler’s copper fins together. One side effect of having the fins soldered to the heatpipes is that the space between the fins is permanently set (it was very easy to bend the fins on the 7700 into a wad).

The heatsink’s profile is alot different, too.  It incorporates a 110mm fan at its center, but is only 67mm tall, so it can fit in more low-profile cases (although it won’t fit into a Shuttle or other tightly-packed enclosure).  The double ball bearing fan is made from clear plastic, so as to catch the blue light emmitted from the tiny blue LEDs in the fan’s hub.  The fan is secured to the sink above the base with two screws.

The contact plate of the heatsink is extremely smooth and polished to a mirror finish, just like the rest of Zalman’s recent cooling products.  There is no need to lap this contact plate, and will certainly make maximum contact with your processor without a lot of thermal paste.

Airflow is directed downwards over the fins, as the CNPS7x00 line does.  The advantage of this design is the added cooling benefit enjoyed by surrounding motherboard components.  Zalman’s 9×00 line directs airflow in one direction, usually towards the case’s exhaust fan, which neglects the mosfets and other warm components usually surrounding the CPU.