Bah... what a disappointment. It couldn't even beat the 7000 at either noise or cooling. And reviews on other sites seem to suggest the thing is quite alright. All I have to say is... Go SPCR!

Thanks for the review, Devon.

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Zalman seem to have totally lost the plot on this one. Tightly-spaced fins need high static pressure to cool effectively, so you need high fan RPM, which = noise, and lots of it. Was this made while all the engineers were on holiday?????

What would happen if you bend the fins out some like a flower and tie on a quiet 90mm fan with wire ties or something? Or is it just pointless?

Damn, I had high hopes for this HSF

Was planning to use it in a conroe build (E6600) in an Antec NSK2400.

What HSF would be recomended for Socket775 in an NSK2400? Does the Ninja fit? If not, then what do I go for?

Thanks

Daniel

yep...terribly dissapointing, especially when you consider how much it costs.

alas...I am still at a loss at a light, low profile effective HS/F combo for a Conroe 6600.

Although I might bite at the Thermalright MST -9775

Well, I don't think it's a total disappointment. Yes, there are far better heatsinks than 8000, but for a heatsink of this size, I think it manages to keep the temperature down to a reasonable level, albeit a bit high and at somewhat high noise level.


What makes me wonder, is how much better 8000 would have performed if the heatpipes were directly touching the base. Right now the heatpipes do not touch the base, instead they are attached to the fins which in turn are glued/soldered to the base. This is an inferior solution that lessens heatpipes effectiveness because heat must go through the base plate, then through the thin aluminum fins which have a limited capacity to carry heat and only then to the heatpipes. Pity...

I am very disappointed with Zalman and very satisfied with the review.

This was one of the heatsinks, together with the AC Alpine that I had thought of as useful in a low noise, low profile HTPC (the NSK2400 for example).

Too bad both of them are really poor performers. Atleast the Alpine is quiet (which brings hope to cooler CPUs)

I think the photo is misleading you Jazz. It's true that the heatpipes pass through the outer fins, but the heatpipes do make direct contact with the base. The fins in the middle of the heatsink are cut away to allow this.

However, I do think that the base-to-heatpipe contact is a problem, not because there is an extra layer, but because the heatpipes only get about half the contact area they normally do. The bottom sides of the heatpipes are soldered directly to the base, but the top sides are reserved for the fins, which do not carry heat.

Unfortunately, I was unable to take a photo that could show the construction to my satisfaction; it's very difficult to photograph.

I'd say the grain of metals is nearly impossible to see with the naked eye...

Yes, the photos mislead me, looking at them I can't say that the heatpipes are touching the base. Even so, you are probably right about poor contact with base. As far as I can see (and I hope I'm not being mislead here again) the heatpipes are not "flattened out" as for example Scythe has done with ninja to improve contact. Even if proper soldering helps contact I would think flattening heatpipes would have helped even more.

The main flaw of the design is high backpressure, so it simply can't work well with a low speed fan.
If Zalman engineers would have asked themselves why a TR SI-120 is better than a TR XP-120 (or SI-97 better than XP-90),
they would have thought twice about going ahead with this design.

I think the main selling point for the CNPS8000 is that it will fit in an Aspire QPack case. It beats the heck out of the stock AMD cooler in that configuration. I put one on an ASUS A8N-VM CSM miniATX motherboard in my QPack. It's a tight fit but it works.

Yes, that is supposed to be the main selling point... but Zalman's own CNPS7000 is the same height, costs $20, and is arguably just as good a performer. So, why buy the 8000?

Gee, I'd forgotten all about that heatsink. Wish I'd have thought of it.