The Zalman CNPS7500-Cu LED is a slightly more compact version of the CNPS7700-C LED heatsink - a massive cooler with a wingspan of nearly 140mm - and slightly lighter too. The heatsink is compatible with socket 478 & 775 Intel Core 2 Duo/Quad processors, and socket 754/939/940/AM2 AMD Athlon64 CPUs.

Zalman assemble the CNPS7500-Cu LED heatsink from about 60 individual copper fins which are joined together at the center with a pair of chunky aluminum blocks and some bolts. The copper fins are compressed under great pressure and bolted firmly together to create the resulting heatsink from good old metal origami.

The CNPS7500-CU LED follows in the footsteps of Zalman's famed 'flower' heatsink technology, and just like its predecessors provides low noise cooling. The technology is reliant on the thermal conductivity of copper, as each fin is in direct contact with the CPU. There are no solder joints or other connections, so that dramatically reduces elements of thermal resistance. Coupled with a large slow moving fan, the Zalman CNPS7500-Cu LED uses its sheer surface area with a steady volume of air to cool the processor quietly.

Zalman CNPS7500-Cu LED Heatsink

heatsink specsheet manufacturer: zalman model no.: cnps7500-cu led materials: copper fins, aluminum fan mfg: zalman zf1225bth fan spec: 1150-2300rpm, 12v, 0.4a fan dim: 25x105x105mm heatsink & fan dim: 65x121x121mm weight: 848 grams includes: fanmate 2 fan speed controller, multi-socket mounting hardware and retention frames, instructions, thermal compound. Compatible with Sockets: 478, 775, 754/939/940/AM2 Est. Pricing: $40USD ($45CDN)

Where a 90mm fan was used on the CNPS7000-series, the 848 gram CNPS7500-CU LED has a 25x105x105mm fan spinning at 1150-2300RPM. While abundant amounts of copper have always been looked upon favorably in heatsink, it does push the CNPS7500-Cu LED pretty close to 1 Kilo. The fan is internally illuminated with a couple of blue LEDs for visual effect.

In typical Zalman fashion, the CNPS7500-Cu LED is a low noise heatsink that can be made even quieter with the use of the included Zalman FanMate 2 fan speed controller. When used, the Fanmate 2 drops the speed of the integrated 105mm fan from default speed to as low as about 1100RPM. It does this by varying the voltage from 11V to 5V.

The CNPS7500-Cu LED heatsink comes with mounting brackets for Intel Core 2 Duo/Quad, and AMD Athlon64 processors. This means if you plan on switching from an Athlon64 socket AM2 chip to one of those fancy 1333FSB Core 2 Quad processors in the near future, this puppy has all the mounting hardware you already need.

As the Zalman CNPS7500-Cu LED is both a large and heavy copper heatsink, Zalman has developed a strong retention system for it. For socket 478 processors its a stainless steel bracket that clips into the motherboard heatsink retention frame, for socket 775 it's a screw-in-place mounting bracket. A simple spring clip mounts the heatsink in both cases, and with Socket 754/939/940/AM2 processors as well.

With socket 775 Intel processors, a special plastic heatsink retention frame is first screwed in place on the motherboard (it will need to be removed first), before the CNPS7500-Cu LED can be clipped on. An integrated flat spring mechanism holds the heatsink down and applies the correct mounting pressure to the processor core in each case.

Zalman Fanmate 2 Fan Speed Controller

The Zalman Fanmate 2 enables users to dial in the speed of a fan connected to the small device. It's a simple and effective tool for controlling the noise of a specific fan in your PC. The Fanmate 2 unit is rated for up to 6W power draw, and will output ~11V to 5V depending on where the dial is set to. Measuring 70 x 26 x 26mm in size, the device controls a single fan via a 3-pin power connector. It does not support 4-pin PWM fans.

At the Fanmate 2's maximum speed setting (loudest noise, fastest RPM) the unit offers a slight amount of resistance so the fan will not spin quite as fast as if it were not attached (the difference is about 5%). On the lowest speed setting (quietest noise, lowest RPM) the fan should be running essentially silently with just 5V being delivered. It is important to only use the Fanmate 2 with good quality fans that can restart by themselves if the fan stalls.

The Zalman CNPS7500-Cu LED heatsink will be tested on FrostyTech's Intel LGA775 and K8 version of the Mk.II synthetic thermal temperature test platform, and compared against several reference LGA775 and K8 heatsinks. The test methodology is outlined in detail here if you'd like to know what equipment is used, and the parameters under which the tests are conducted.

Now let's move forward and take a closer look at this heatsink, its acoustic characteristics, and of course its thermal performance!