Zalman CNPS8900 Extreme CPU Cooler Review

Test System & Temperature Results

Here are the parts that make up our Intel Core i5-2500K LGA1155 test system:

Component	Brand/Model	Pricing
Processor	Intel Core i5-2500K	Price
Motherboard	Biostar TPX67E (B3)
Memory	Mushkin Blackline DDR3-1600 8GB	Price
Video Card	Sapphire Radeon HD 4870	Price
Hard Drive	Western Digital Caviar Blue 160GB	Price
Power Supply	Ultra X3 800W
Chassis	NZXT Switch 810 Black	Price
Operating System	Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit	Price

Here are the GPU-Z details of the system that shows the settings of our system:

Test Procedure:

The system will be left to idle for 30 minutes and the temperature of each core will be recorded. It will then to 5 passes on the Very High setting with the Intel Burn Test tool and the temperatures will be recorded again. The test room is kept at a constant 72/22.2C. The CPU will be run at its base clock of 3.3GHz and with an overclock of 4.0GHz. Temps on each core will be monitored with CPUIDs HW Monitor and the temps of the 4 cores will be averaged to get the final reading. The thermal paste used on all coolers is Arctic Silvers Alumina and the CPU and cooler will be cleaned with Arctic Silvers 2-part Arcti-Clean solution.

CPU Coolers tested:

• Intel retail box cooler
• Corsair H50
• Zalman CNPS 8900 Extreme

At stock speeds you can see the Zalman CNPS 8900 Extreme performs very well. Its just a few degrees shy of the Corsair H50 and a full 24C better than Intels stock cooling solution. The PWM function of the CNPS 8900 Extreme keeps the fan speeds in check automatically which is a nice touch. At idle the fan is near silent and under full load at stock speeds its noticeable but not crazy noisy.

With an overclock of 4.0GHz the cooler is perfectly able to keep up with the i5-2500K. The gap between it and the H50 widened slightly to 5.5C under full load. Notice the Intel stock cooler wasnt even able to handle the heat at these speeds and the CPU kept throttling down to reduce temps. Under full load at these temps the fan on the Zalman CNPS 8900 Extreme is loud to say the least. The H50 stock fan is loud but the Zalman unit makes the Corsair fan sound like a hummingbird.