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TESTING
As time goes on, fewer and fewer heatsinks continue to support Socket 478,
which is rapidly fading into the history of computing. This is the case with
the CNPS8000, which does not fit on our standard 478 socket heatsink
testing rig.
Instead, our Socket 775 test bench was used. This is the same
system used to test the Freezer 7 Pro. Details of the system are outlined
below. So far, only five heatsinks have been tested on this system: The
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro, the
Spire Verticool II, the Scythe Ninja, and the Thermalright XP-120, and,
most recently, the Arctic Cooling
Alpine 7. No other heatsinks we have tested are directly comparable with
the results of this review. The Pentium 520 used in this test is cooler than
most of Intel's soon-to-be-forgotten Prescott and Presler chips, but it is still
15-20W hotter than the P4-2.8 Northwood used in our socket 478 HS testing platform.
On the other hand, it is also hotter than almost about every AMD processor on
the market, not to mention Intel's new Core 2 Duo chips, many of which draw
much less power than the Intel 520.
On the test bench...
Test Platform
Measurement & Analysis Tools
Noise measurements were made with the fan powered from the lab DC power supply
with everything else turned off to ensure minimal ambient noise. Airflow
measurements for this heatsink were not made due to the difficulty of measuring
the stock fan accurately.
Load testing was accomplished using CPUBurn to stress the processor, and the
graph function in SpeedFan was used to make sure that the load temperature was
stable for at least ten minutes.
The ambient conditions during testing were 16 dBA and 26°C. This is significantly
warmer than the usual lab conditions, and reflect a recent spate of hot weather.
Please keep this in mind when comparing results.
TEST RESULTS
| Zalman CNPS8000 with Stock
fan |
|
Fan Voltage
|
Temp
|
°C Rise
|
°C/W MP
|
°C/W TDP
|
Noise
(dBA@1m)
|
|
12V
|
49°C
|
23
|
0.23
|
0.27
|
40
|
|
9V
|
53°C
|
27
|
0.27
|
0.32
|
34
|
|
7V
|
55°C
|
29
|
0.29
|
0.34
|
29
|
|
5V
|
60°C
|
34
|
0.34
|
0.40
|
23
|
|
Load Temp: CPUBurn for ~20 mins.
°C Rise: Temperature rise above ambient at load.
°C/W MP / TDP: Temperature rise over ambient per Watt of CPU heat,
based on CPU's Maximum Power (100W) or Thermal Design Power (84W) rating
(lower is better)
Noise: SPL measured in dBA@1m distance with high accuracy B &
K SLM
|
Fan @ 12V: The 40 dBA@1m noise measurement says everything that is
necessary about the CNPS8000 at full tilt. The heatsink is not even close
to usable in a quiet system at this level. The noise was characterized by
a loud whine and a significant clatter of airflow and mechanical noise. To make matters worse, the performance also left much to be desired. With
the exception of the lowly $15 Arctic Cooling Alpine, every other heatsink
we have tested on this test bench was cooler at a lower noise level.
Fan @ 9V: The fan was still too noisy and too whiny to be usable at
9V, and the performance numbers continued to disappoint.
Fan @ 7V: It wasn't until the fan was at 7V that we would even consider
using the CNPS8000 in a quiet system, when it just barely slipped under the
30 dBA@1m threshold that we consider quiet. Even then, the whine was still
quite prominent, although lower in pitch than before. A significant amount
of turbulence noise was also audible.
Thankfully, performance did not drop much, although we would not want to
cool our 100W processor at this level. A cooler AMD chip would have a better
chance at this level. The small performance drop is somewhat of an empty
victory, since at this noise level most of the other heatsinks we've tested
perform as well as the CNPS8000 at 12V. The CNPS8000 cooled about as effectively as the much cheaper Arctic
Cooling Alpine at this noise level.
Fan @ 5V: The fan was finally quiet, though far from inaudible
or silent, and its noise character still left much to be desired. It still produced a deep growling hum.
The maximum temperature of 60°C was not enough to cause our processor
to throttle, although it was on the high side. Embedded in a case
with a higher ambient temperature, it's unlikely that the heatsink would cool
effectively at this fan speed. Once again, performance was not worth mentioning; at the 23~24 dBA@1m level
of noise, the CNPS8000 was thoroughly trounced by most of the other heatsinks we've tested.
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