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
Enzotech	Ultra-X	high	20.0	8.5	59.1
Apack	Zerotherm BTF90		21.8	12.7	52.1
Apack	Zerotherm BTF80		22.8	13.9	51.9
Akasa	AK-920	high	24.3	14.1	52.9
Thermalfly	F1-IACSHA	high	29.0	18.3	60.4
Thermalfly	I75DUB	high	29.5	16.8	68.5
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
Rosewill	RCX-Z2-EX	high	30.1	18.7	45.9
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
Xigmatek	AIO-S80DP	high	32.4	21.4	55.0
Rosewill	RCX-Z2		32.6	19.3	59.9
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
nPowerTek	SF775-2	high	34.7	21.1	64.6
Akasa	AK-960E		36.1	21.4	56.3
Thermalfly	I75DUH		37.8	22.8	48.7
Cooljag	OAK-H	high	38.5	22.9	55.7
Cooljag	OAK-H2	high	38.6	24.1	55.6
LS Cable	SHS-T700		38.7	22.8	48.5
Intel	Stock Pentium D	low	40.3	23.9	40.5
Rosewill	RCX-Z2-EX	low	51.7	30.5	35.4
Cooljag	OAK-H	low	95.3	54.5	29.5
			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.

Intel processors vary widely in heat output between single and multi-core processors, so we rely on two values which represent the upper limit of both existing CPU families to test thermal solutions. With a 150W heat load applied by the Intel LGA775 version of FrostyTech's synthetic thermal test platform, the Rosewill RCX-Z2-EX heatsink yields a rise above ambient temperature of 30.1°C, with 45.9dBA noise. This is of course with the 92mm fan spinning away at its full speed of 2400RPM.

When fan speed is dropped down to 800RPM, the temperature on the 150W test die rises to 51.7°C over ambient, which is satisfactory and not particularly impressive. Noise levels fall to a whisper quiet 35.4 dBA.

The Rosewill RCX-Z2-EX heatsink was also tested with an 85W heat load. In this situation at stock fan speeds the heatsink maintains a good 18.7°C result over ambient temperature. When the fan is again dialed down to 800RPM, the Rosewill RCX-Z2-EX reacts in a predictable manner and the synthetic CPU die temperature increases to 30.5°C over ambient.

Taking into consideration the AMD and Intel test platform thermal results, it's pretty clear that the Rosewill RCX-Z2-EX heatsink is an effective model when its fan is spinning away at the full 2400RPM. At the ultra low fan speed of 800RPM, which is very quiet, thermal performance suffers enough to bring the heatsink down a peg or two. Thus, we'd recommend using the Rosewill RCX-Z2-EX heatsink on either CPU platform at its top fan speed, or very close to that for the best thermal results. On the plus side, even at full speed the heatsink remains remarkably quiet under power.

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