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
3Rsystem	Iceage 120	high	18.2	12.1	47.9
Zalman	CNPS9700 LED	high	19.0	10.4	56.5
Thermalright	Ultra-90	high	19.6	13.0	56.2
Enzotech	Ultra-X	high	20.0	8.5	59.1
Apack	Zerotherm BTF90		21.8	12.7	52.1
Xigmatek	HDT-S963	high	21.9	13.7	50.2
Akasa	AK-965	high	22.2	13.8	48.1
Apack	Zerotherm BTF80		22.8	13.9	51.9
Cooljag	Falcon 92-AL	high	23.2	14.2	52.1
Rosewill	RCX-Z3	high	23.3	14.0	58.6
Scythe	Mine Rev. B		23.6	15.0	36.8
Cooljag	Falcon 92-Cu	high	23.6	14.8	52.8
Akasa	AK-920	high	24.3	14.1	52.9
Asus	Arctic Square	high	24.9	14.9	44.9
Akasa	AK-922 (EVObue)	high	25.5	15.4	60.3
Thermalfly	F1-IACSHA	high	29.0	18.3	60.4
nPowertek	TTIC NPH1000		29.3	16.8	47.5
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
Scythe	Kama Cross		30.0	18.8	40.0
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
Coolage	Frozen Orb F0-Z924AL	high	32.0	19.9	48.9
Xigmatek	AIO-S80DP	high	32.4	21.4	55.0
Scythe	Katana II		32.5	18.6	37.9
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
Zalman	CNPS7500-Cu LED	high	36.4	22.9	50.9
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
Zalman	CNPS7500-Cu LED	low	43.1	27.7	32.5
Intel	Stock Core 2 Duo		49.2	29.0	36.7
Spire	Fourier IV SP607B3-C		63.6	18.7	60.2
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.

the heat output from intel processors varies widely between single and multi-core processors, so frostytech tests heatsinks with two thermal values which represent the upper limits of each breed. to start with, a 150w heat load was applied by the intel lga775 version of frostytech's synthetic thermal test platform. The Zalman CNPS7500-Cu LED heatsink yielded a rise above ambient temperature of 36.4°C (50.9dBA) at a stock fan speed of 2300RPM. The CPU equivalent of this test would be an Intel Core 2 Quad, Pentium D/EE class processor.

The speed of the 105mm fan in the CNPS7500-Cu LED heatsink was then reduced to about 1150RPM. With a reduced fan speed noise levels fell sharply to 32.5 dBA, and the test temperature rose to 43.1°C over ambient. An 85W heat load was next applied the Zalman CNPS7500-Cu LED heatsink. In this situation it was able to maintain a 22.9°C rise over ambient temperature at full fan speed, and 27.7°C over ambient at the lower fan speed.

As a low noise heatsink for socket 754/939/940/AM2 AMD Athlon64 processors, the Zalman CNPS7500-Cu LED heatsink is clearly better suited to that CPU than it is to the smaller IHS size of the Intel platform. Still, with the advent of heatpipes and towers of thin cooling fins from every major CPU cooler maker out there, the CNPS7000-series is no longer top of its game. The CNPS7500-Cu LED does handle things very nicely at full fan speed on the AMD K8 test platform, but other models still surpass its best.

On the socket 775 Intel platform, the Zalman CNPS7500-Cu LED is an average heatsink at full speed. When operating as a low noise heatsink, it's clear the design is satisfactory but long since replaced by the likes of the Zalman CNPS9700 LED and CNPS9500 LED heatsinks.

Where low noise is your main concern the Zalman CNPS7500-Cu LED heatsink will get the job done. The 'flower' design is not quite as advanced as some newer heatpipe based heatsinks out there however. From an ultimate low noise noise peformance standpoint, the Zalman CNPS7500-Cu LED has largely been superceeded on both acoustic and thermal fronts.

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