Synthetic Temperature Test Results: *Ranked according to 100W interface die test results.

FrostyTech Synthetic Temperature Test Platform Results
Mfg.	Model	Ambient Temp.	27mm large copper block		27mm large copper block	Thermal pad	No. Fans	Fan Noise	Clip force
			50W		100W
AVC	117140	22.6	37.8		50.4	none	1	med	med
Coolermaster	IHC-H71	23.0	37.0		51.1	none	1	loud	stiff
Arkua	8568	22.4	37.8		51.7	none	1	med	med
NengTyi	XPC5000	23.8	38.4		53.9	none	1	med	loud
Alpha	PAL8942	27.9	42.6		54.0	none	1	med	med
Zalman	CNPS6500-AlCu	23.1	40.3		57.4	none	1	low	easy
Glacialtech	Igloo 3300	22.4	40.5		58.8	silver	1	low	easy
Chauh Choung	DTA-478	22.4	42.1		59.0	carbon	1	low	med
Taisol	CEP426151A	24.3	43.7		59.7	none	1	med	easy
Intel	Socket 478	22.4	41.8		59.8	carbon	1	low	med
Dynatron	DC1207BMW	23.2	42.7		61.1	none	1	med	easy
Titan	TTC-MT3AB	22.8	41.5		61.2	none	2	loud	stiff
Dynatron	DC1206BM-S	22.4	43.2		62.0	none	1	med	med
AVC	117160	22.4	42.7		62.2	white pad	1	med	med
Zalman	CNPS5700D-Cu	25.7	44.6		64.0	none	1	med	easy
Vantec	CCK-7025	27.0	45.4		64.1	none	1	med	med
Cho-Liang	CL-CB00881	23.6	41.2		65.0	none	1	med	easy
Cho-Liang	CL-CB0307Z17	24.2	45.6		65.7	none	1	med	easy
Cho-Liang	CL-CB0094-1A	23.2	39.5		67.9	none	1	med	easy
Globalwin	VA476	28.7	49.5		68.0	grey	1	med	easy
Dynatron	DC1206BMV	23.1	45.1		68.2	none	1	low	easy
ChoLiang	Cl-CB0309Z17	24.3	46.7		68.6	none	1	med	stiff
Vantec	GSN-7015	22.4	47.5		69.0	none	1	loud	stiff
			50W		100W

Zalman heatsinks fall under the low-noise category even though the CNPS5700D has shown us it is a bit louder under normal operation. The first set of temperature results in this list of reference heatsinks seems to show us that the Zalman is just a little shy of the stock Intel heatsink. What these results do not indicate is the effect the air duct will have to overall case temperatures since the hot exhaust air is pushed right towards the exhaust case fan.

In any case, let's have a look at the final rise above ambient temperatures to see where things really stand.

Rise Above Ambient Temp. (c)
Mfg.	Model	27mm large copper block		27mm large copper block
		50W		100W
Alpha	PAL8942	14.7		26.1
AVC	117140	15.2		27.8
Coolermaster	IHC-H71	14.0		28.1
Arkua	8568	15.4		29.3
NengTyi	XPC5000	14.6		30.1
Zalman	CNPS6500-AlCu	17.2		34.3
Taisol	CEP426151A	19.4		35.4
chauh Choung	DTA-478	19.7		36.6
Glacialtech	Igloo 3300	18.1		37.1
Intel	Socket 478	19.4		37.4
Dynatron	DC1207BMW	19.5		37.9
Zalman	CNPS5700D-Cu	18.9		38.3
Vantec	CCK-7025	18.4		38.4
Titan	TTC-MT3AB	18.7		38.4
Globalwin	VA476	20.8		39.3
Dynatron	DC1206BM-S	20.8		39.6
AVC	117160	20.3		39.8
Cho-Liang	CL-CB00881	18.2		41.4
Cho-Liang	Cl-CB0307Z17	21.4		41.5
Cho-Liang	CL-CB0309Z17	22.4		44.3
Cho-Liang	CL-CB0094-1A	16.3		44.7
Dynatron	DC1206BMV	22.0		45.1
Vantec	GSN-7105	25.1		46.6
		50W		100W

Given the actual size of the metal heatsink component hidden behind all that plastic, the results of the Zalman CNPS5700D-Cu are pretty good. As a low noise cooling solution the Zalman heatsink has a lot to offer, but other heatsinks like the Vantec CCK-7025 managed a bit quieter operation in stock configuration.

Still, it is the overall design we are looking at here, and the results are pretty good for a low noise heatsink of this size. The full-size Zalman fan heatsinks have a larger surface area and tend to operate a little more effectively that this design, but in terms of style, and easy of use the Zalman CNPS5700D-cu is pretty remarkable.

The fan duct is an important addition to this line of heatsinks and brings to light an interesting question which hasn't really been addressed by the cooling industry. By directing warm exhaust air directly to the case fans the goal is moved away from cooling the processor to new levels, and shifts to cooling the processor reasonably well, and decreasing the overall case temperatures by a larger quotient.

This is difficult to fully test, but under ideal conditions this concept should equate to an overall increase in cooling capability which is very cool indeed.

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1. Zalman CNPS6500B-Cu P4 Heatsink
2. Alpha PAL8942 Pentium 4 Heatsink
3. Zalman CNPS6500b-AlCu Pentium 4 Heatsink Review
4. Globalwin VA476 Pentium 4 Heatsink Review
5. Vantec CCK-7025 Pentium 4 Heatsink Review