Need help deciding. (Zalman)

B

Borgschulze

2[H]4U
Joined
Feb 28, 2005
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Ok, so it's winter.. my computer runs nice and cool, but I know in the summer it's going to be able to cook eggs.

I can't find any descent reviews comparing the 9500 and 7700-Cu, and I can't justify just jumping on the 9500 because it sits very close to the video card, which gets very hot, and it is much more expensive.

It would be amazing if someone with a similar setup to mine had a 9500 to tell me how it performs.

Maybe someone has both coolers and could post the temperature difference.

If someone can convince me that the $25 difference is worth it, then I will get the 9500, and probably swap the fan on it for my friends 7000B fan, because I don't like LEDs very much.

I am also considering a Thermalright cooler, any advice on what the best one is, because I know most are much cheaper than the Zalman coolers, and I will also need a fan for it.

Thanks for any help, much appreciated.
 
this paired with a good fan is supposed to be one of the best, if not the best heatsinks on the market. I would shop around as you could probably get it cheaper
 
LongShotHero said:
this paired with a good fan is supposed to be one of the best, if not the best heatsinks on the market. I would shop around as you could probably get it cheaper
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I live in Canada.

And I don't want an Iron Cross in my case... even though I don't have a case window.. I still don't want that thing in my case. Plus it's quite a bit taller than a 9500.. which I might not even want... is it not?
 
Check out my system specs in my sig... very similar to yours. I would definately recommend the 9500 over the 7700. Any large heatsink is going to sit close to your video card, there's no avoiding that. The benefit of the 9500 is that it exhausts hot air out the back of the case. Keeping your case air cool can help a lot with your max overclock. Also, the heatpipes on it really do work... and they work very well. Mounting it was a snap since it uses the stock 939pin socket mounting bracket and screws. No taking the motherboard out of the case.

The blue fan isn't very bright. It really only illuminates the inside of the heatsink and shines out the front side a bit. I have some red lighting inside my case and it looks pretty slick with the red lighting up the fins on the outside and the inside of the 9500 glowing a dim blue.

I'm currently only running a slight overclock of 2.6GHz on my 146 @ 1.4volts, but even with the fan on the 9500 down around 6-7volts, as I'm typing this right now it's idling at 34C. Before I did any overclocking it was idling at 29C :) It gets up to about 43C when running Prime95.

I like a quiet system so I undervolt all my fans. Stock voltage I could hear the fan on the 9500, but when I turned it down it's whisper quiet, and still gives me the results above.

I had it up to 2.75GHz @ 1.475v and it only went up to about 45C under load (it fluxuates) even at reduced fan speed.

I use Arctic Silver 5 and prepped it with Arctic Cleaner. No lapping done.

This thing is pretty impressive, plus I like the way it looks better than the car radiators like the Scythe or Thermaltake designs.

Hope that helps.
 
Hey Astral how come you never used the backplate that was supplied? Or is there one on the dfi already? I'm looking to buy this hsf pretty soon so i want to make sure. :)


Sorry about the thread hi-jack, thought i might as well ask in an existing thread on the same topic rather than making a new one. ;)
 
Get the 7700cu... my friend's 3700+ was overheating (75c+) with stock fan (which is TOTAL shit)... I put in a 7700cu in it and now it never passes 50c.... the temps are high probably because the heating was really high but still you'd think the AMD stock fans would be better. Granted I don't know what the 9500 performance is like but that Zalman sure fixed everthing up... Just make sure there's clearance it's a massive almost 1 kilogram heatsink.
 
Another vote for the 9500. The 7000 or 7700Cu's tend to blow the hot air around inside the case. The 9500 improves on that design and really functions well. Looks bad ass too.
 
another vote for the 9500, its lighter and it cools better

D
 
Wow, It looks way heavier... but weight means nothing to me, as well as LED's, I only have the green LED fan in my PSU and thats overkill for me by itself.

Looks like I will go with the 9500 so I can exhaust the air out of my case a bit better.
 
Borgschulze said:
Wow, It looks way heavier... but weight means nothing to me, as well as LED's, I only have the green LED fan in my PSU and thats overkill for me by itself.

Looks like I will go with the 9500 so I can exhaust the air out of my case a bit better.
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yes they built it very nicely (looks huge, but weighs about half the 7700)

I didnt recommended it cuz it has a led, for me leds are a minus, I recommended it cuz it performs well

D
 
I'm personally a fan of Thermalrights SI-120 + Panaflo 120x38mm fan . . . however, if you only want Zalman, 9500 - hands down.
 
Neurotic-Turtle said:
Hey Astral how come you never used the backplate that was supplied? Or is there one on the dfi already? I'm looking to buy this hsf pretty soon so i want to make sure. :)


Sorry about the thread hi-jack, thought i might as well ask in an existing thread on the same topic rather than making a new one. ;)
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The DFI (and most 939 motherboards) comes with the standard screw down (as opposed to push-pin) mounting bracket. There is no replacement bracket supplied with the 9500 for this installation type, as you are expected to use the bracket that comes with the motherboard. The supplied brackets are for other sockets and mounting types.
 
Astral Abyss said:
The DFI (and most 939 motherboards) comes with the standard screw down (as opposed to push-pin) mounting bracket. There is no replacement bracket supplied with the 9500 for this installation type, as you are expected to use the bracket that comes with the motherboard. The supplied brackets are for other sockets and mounting types.
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I think I want the 9500 even more now, I hate taking my motherboard out of my case.

But I will swap the fan out for the one my friend has, I sold him my old CPU, Motherboard, and Video card, and I gave him my Zalman 7000B-AlCu, I don't think he will mind the Blue LED :)
 
Borgschulze said:
I think I want the 9500 even more now, I hate taking my motherboard out of my case.

But I will swap the fan out for the one my friend has, I sold him my old CPU, Motherboard, and Video card, and I gave him my Zalman 7000B-AlCu, I don't think he will mind the Blue LED :)
Click to expand...

or you could get this http://www.svcompucycle.com/fba09a12u.html and do this http://www.silentpcreview.com/article284-page1.html :D

or actually just get this http://www.svcompucycle.com/si-120.html and this http://www.svcompucycle.com/fba09a12u.html

D
 
Borgschulze said:
I'm swapping the fans because I don't want to spend more money.. I don't have alot disposable income, I'm 16 with no job.
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well just thought Id point out the options, the decision is yours, but its nice to know what the options are IMO :)

D
 
ChronicTrees said:
In weight yes.
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I'm not worried about weight, my case is too heavy itself to be lugged around that an extra pound isn't going to affect it, I might be thin, but I'm not weak.

Although the stock cooler is Aluminum, so I think I want something with Copper.. and heatpipes, not just another Aluminum cooler with Aluminum heatpipes.
 
I refuse to support Tt, and all of their aluminum cases, flashy products.. etc...

I like my stock cooler better.
 
wow I'm 0 for 2. First you didn't like the ninja, and now you don't like the typhoon. hahaha
 
Borgschulze said:
I'm not worried about weight, my case is too heavy itself to be lugged around that an extra pound isn't going to affect it, I might be thin, but I'm not weak.

Although the stock cooler is Aluminum, so I think I want something with Copper.. and heatpipes, not just another Aluminum cooler with Aluminum heatpipes.
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XP90C

D
 
I have a zalman 7700cu in my HTPC. I replaced the stock fan with a 120mm yate loon fan

it's almost completely silent, and keeps my stock 3200+ venice at 33* C at full load, with poor ventilation

edit: its running at 1.3v, 2ghz
 
DyNe__ said:
I have a zalman 7700cu in my HTPC. I replaced the stock fan with a 120mm yate loon fan

it's almost completely silent, and keeps my stock 3200+ venice at 33* C at full load, with poor ventilation
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Wow, you should undervolt that! I can see sup 30c temperatures with it.
 
DyNe__ said:
I have a zalman 7700cu in my HTPC. I replaced the stock fan with a 120mm yate loon fan

it's almost completely silent, and keeps my stock 3200+ venice at 33* C at full load, with poor ventilation
Click to expand...
damn it must be cold in your house
 
Borgschulze said:
I think I want the 9500 even more now, I hate taking my motherboard out of my case.

But I will swap the fan out for the one my friend has, I sold him my old CPU, Motherboard, and Video card, and I gave him my Zalman 7000B-AlCu, I don't think he will mind the Blue LED :)
Click to expand...


i took the fan apart on my 9500 and clipped the LEDS as i don't like blue leds.
took me about 10 minutes or so. main thing you need is a tool to get the c-clip off of the fan so it comes apart.

my computer was on in this pic but i guess my shutter speed on my camera was too fast to make it look like it was running.


computerpicslowre.jpg
 
Borgschulze said:
Looks good, that cooler isn't nearly as big as it seems.
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You're right, it isn't... everything I'd heard and seen led me to believe it's massive. Then I got it and hooked it up and said "gee, it's no bigger than my old xp90 with a 92mm fan". It's not all that heavy either, like someone else mentioned.
 
The way the 9500 can be positioned to align with your case fan like that did wonders for my case temps.
 
jnick said:
It's 400 Grams . . . You call that heavy?
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I'm arrogant, never cared to look up the weight, but now that I think about it's design, it should be light.
 
Ah! I hit the reply instead of the quote button. I was referring to the SI-120.

Sorry about the confusion
 
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