FrostyTech Mk.II Synthetic Thermal Heatsink Test Results Intel Pentium D / Extreme Edition & Quad Core class heatsinks tested at 150W Intel Core 2 Duo / Pentium 4 / Celeron class heatsinks tested at 85W Results based on readings from a 30x30mm copper interface die with 150W and 85W heat loads applied on the LGA775 version of the Mk.II Test Platform. Temperature results listed for each heatsink were calculated by determining the rise over ambient temperatures at time of test. Information on Frostytech's test methodology is available here. Socket 775 compatible CPU heatsinks
manufacturer:	model no.:	fan speed:	150w thermal test* (°c)	85w thermal test (°c)	noise level (dba)
Thermalright	Ultra 120		17.8	10.6	53.7
Zalman	CNPS9700 LED	high	19.0	10.4	56.5
Apack	Zerotherm BTF90		21.8	12.7	52.1
Apack	Zerotherm BTF80		22.8	13.9	51.9
Zalman	CNPS9700 LED	low	25.2	15.7	37.5
Thermalfly	F1-IACSHA	high	29.0	18.3	60.4
Zalman	CNPS9500 AT		29.6	17.3	53.3
Alpha Novatech	PRE9060M92P	high	29.9	18.5	51.5
Akasa	AK-961		30.0	18.7	60.7
nPowertek	NPH-775-1		30.1	18.8	50.1
Sunon	Waturbo		30.6	18.3	57.5
Apack	CF800	high	31.4	20.7	48.4
Thermaltake	Jungle512	high	31.6	20.4	60.8
Zalman	CNPS7700-Cu	high	32.9	19.7	50.7
Apack	CF900	high	32.9	20.3	48.3
Evercool	PT02-9232CP		33.3	19.9	63.3
Zalman	CNPS7700-Cu LED	high	33.5	20.6	49.8
Intel	Stock Pentium D	high	33.8	20.7	47.5
Akasa	AK-960E		36.1	21.4	56.3
Thermalfly	I75DUH		37.8	22.8	48.7
Intel	Stock Pentium D	low	40.3	23.9	40.5
Zalman	CNPS7700-Cu LED	low	41.3	25.0	34.9
Apack	CF900	low	67.4	39.0	34.7
			150w thermal test (°c)	85w thermal test (°c)	noise level (dba)
*heatsinks are ranked according to the 150w thermal test results column (rise over ambient temp.). low temperatures with low noise levels are considered best. for reference heatsinks with variable-speed fans, only the high speed (12v) fan test result is included in the comparison sheet; more detailed results reside in each specific heatsink review.

the heat output from intel processors varies widely between single and multi-core processors, so we've settled on two values which represent the upper limit (150W and 85W) of both existing CPU families.

With a 150W heat load applied by the Intel LGA775 version of FrostyTech's synthetic thermal test platform, the Zalman CNPS9700 LED heatsink maintains a excellent rise above ambient temperature of just 19.0°C! For this thermal result, there was 56.5 dBA noise from the 110mm fan spinning at its full speed of 2800RPM. The CPU equivalents of this test would be an Intel Pentium D / Extreme Edition or Core 2 Quad class chip. At the much quieter fan speed of 1250RPM, temperatures rise by only a few degrees to 25.2°C (37.5 dBA) over ambient.

The Zalman CNPS9700 LED heatsink was next tested with the reduced heat load of 85W. In this case the heatsink produced a 10.4°C rise over ambient at full fan speed. When the fan speed is once again reduced to quiet mode (1250RPM), the CNPS9700 LED heatsink achieves a temperature of 15.7°C over ambient.

Bottom Line - Quiet & Cool!

At stock fan speeds, the Zalman CNPS9700 LED heatsink is one of the best socket 775 Intel Pentium & Core 2 Duo heatsinks FrostyTech has tested to date. When running in its quiet 37.5 dBA mode, the Zalman CNPS9700 LED operates only 5°C warmer, again giving it the distinction of top of the line quiet socket 775 operation.

The results of Frostytech's tests with the Zalman CNPS9700 LED underscore its capabilities as an excellent low noise thermal solution. This is one heatsink that operates best when the fan is running at its slowest speed and generating barely any noise at all.

From the results listed above, it's clear that the Zalman CNPS9700 LED is all around one of the best multi-CPU heatsinks on the market at this time, handling AMD and Intel thermal loads with equal grace (at full fan speed). When used in its quietest mode, the Zalman CNPS9700 LED is demonstrably better than the stock Intel Pentium D, and stock socket AM2 AMD heatsinks. The competition is a little fiercer on the socket 939/AM2 synthetic thermal test platform, perhaps indicating the CNPS9700 LED has been tuned more for Intel processors... Either way, the Zalman CNPS9700 LED is so good at what it does that it's the only Zalman heatsink you should be considering for your processor right now. Performance cooling and quiet performance cooling all in one package, impressive!

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