Zalman 9900+i7 920 fun... anyone else installed/used this?

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paco16

Limp Gawd
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Dec 20, 2007
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I just got the Zalman 9900 for my new i7 920. I haven't seen many postings on this but have read (Maximum PC) that this is a surprising imporvement over an already solid cooler; the 9700.
Is there anyone that has installed this cooler and/or overclocked the new i7's with it?
How difficult is the installation? How about over-clocking potential?
Thanks in advance.
 
From what I've read it does well with dual core, lower TDP CPUs, but even when used with LGA775 quads, it was only mediocre. I imagine that with the much higher heat output of i7s over C2Quads, it'll only perform worse. You can get much better for that price.
 
From the review "Test system consists of a stock-clock Q6700 processor". Stock i7s put out more heat than stock C2Quads and their heat output increases vastly when they're overclocked. It'll certainly do better than the stock cooler, but it will be destroyed by many other superior air coolers.
 
So worst case scenario... this cooler sucks... Then what? $59.99 is a bit much on a cooler that works great on C2D/CQD, but sucks on the i7's...
Am I having buyer's remorse...? We'll see tonight.
note- bought on newegg.
 
If you're not happy with performance, you'll certainly be able to return it to newegg, they often bend over backwards to make their customers happy. If you don't like it, then you'll probably want to get a TRUE120 or a Prolimatech Megahalem.
 
The S1283V is very popular, due to the relatively low price for something that gives results pretty close to the most expensive coolers available.

The part I like least is the fan mount. You have to screw the cooler into the board first, then use the rubber mounts to install the fan. With a cooler that big, it can end up being a pretty tight squeeze (I have a Cooler Master RC690). The thru-bolt mounting kit is nice, it's just annoying that you can't get to the bolts with the fan installed, plus it's so big it's tight around my case fans too.

The base was pretty flat, but had a few imperfections in the finish/coating. I lapped it with some fine sandpaper (1000 grit was the roughest I used) and basically just took the finish off, which did smooth it out some and dropped my temps a little bit.

Some people have complained about the fan being noisy, but it's still quieter than my GTX285 at 40%.
 
InvisiBill said:
The S1283V is very popular, due to the relatively low price for something that gives results pretty close to the most expensive coolers available.

The part I like least is the fan mount. You have to screw the cooler into the board first, then use the rubber mounts to install the fan. With a cooler that big, it can end up being a pretty tight squeeze (I have a Cooler Master RC690). The thru-bolt mounting kit is nice, it's just annoying that you can't get to the bolts with the fan installed, plus it's so big it's tight around my case fans too.

The base was pretty flat, but had a few imperfections in the finish/coating. I lapped it with some fine sandpaper (1000 grit was the roughest I used) and basically just took the finish off, which did smooth it out some and dropped my temps a little bit.

Some people have complained about the fan being noisy, but it's still quieter than my GTX285 at 40%.
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how would that cooler compare to say this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608007
 
I actually used the zalman 9900 led heatsink before I installed my watercooling. I had no issues with it. Overclocked to 3.8 ghz rock solid. Idle Temps - 37C - Load Temp 75C of Prime after 6 hours.
 
For the best un-bias review of cpu coolers. Go here. Pure facts! then look up the price of the units. On the Frostytech site. look under "top 5 Heatsinks".

http://www.frostytech.com/

The Sunbeem Core Contact Freezer is the second best performing Cpu cooler. and you can get it for $34. you could OC to 4.0, and run it all day with that cooler.
 
Had the CNPS 9900 LED on a 920 i7, It had decent temps idle/load ~29C/~60C -- no oc. But It was a bit loud for my tastes. Mounting wasn't too bad. It is pretty big, but then again most heatsinks today are. If only it wasn't as loud, I would've kept it on... I ended up going WC instead lol.

For the price though, I should've gotten a Noctua. If you have it already and aren't OCD about noise, you'll be happy
 
techie254 said:
how would that cooler compare to say this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608007
Click to expand...

The NH-U12P is a good cooler but carries a heavy price, you can get the TRUE for that kind of money and most of the time less, and its a better cooler.

Eppidemic said:
For the best un-bias review of cpu coolers. Go here. Pure facts! then look up the price of the units. On the Frostytech site. look under "top 5 Heatsinks".

http://www.frostytech.com/

The Sunbeem Core Contact Freezer is the second best performing Cpu cooler. and you can get it for $34. you could OC to 4.0, and run it all day with that cooler.
Click to expand...

FrostyTech is pretty good with being truthful about their testing, however I don't like how they do the testing, as they do not use a CPU, they use a heat plate and so has very little to do with real world testing.
 
BlueFireIce said:
FrostyTech is pretty good with being truthful about their testing, however I don't like how they do the testing, as they do not use a CPU, they use a heat plate and so has very little to do with real world testing.
Click to expand...
Exactly. A lot of their results are actually quite odd, like the Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme being outperformed by the older Ultra-120 (which is obviously not the case in a real-world situation).
 
People are still paying for Zalman coolers? There a far better options for less money out there.
 
Ok so here are the stock results so far. (I'll get screen-shots soon)
19-22 degrees celcius at idle
30-37 degrees celcius load- (running 3dMark06, Prime95, and an Avira scan for giggles)

So... why is this cooler so "crappy"? Granted I'm using some Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste, but this is half of what I was performing at with the stock cooler.
Yes, I have a Xclio A380 case and had to remove the 250mm side window fan. No big deal. It is a bit loud for my taste but not something I can't get used to. (Not nearly as bad as the old Thermal-Take Volcano's ... lol *ZZSHHHHHHHHHH* sounded like a freakin' jet engine)

I'll overclock soon. Just re-installed XP and interestingly having no issues booting into triple channel like I did with Vista. (Vista randomly decided to go into a reboot loop) Unfortunately I forgot to slipstream my disc (XP pre-SP1) so I've got 127gb hard drive instead of the terabyte Samsung I just bought. Regardless it looks like this cooler is exactly what the doctor ordered.
Yes, I probably over-paid for it. I'll ask here first next time. Thanks for everyone's help... Now to find my Partition Magic disc...
I'll post results here.

EVGA x58 Tri-SLI
Intel i7 920 @ stock
3 Gigs OCZ Platinum 10666 DDR 3(triple channel of course)
Enermax Infiniti 720
2xPNY 8800GT's
Sceptre 24" 1080P(non-HMDI) wide screen LCD
X-Fi Fatal1ty Champion Series
Turtle Beach HPA2 5.1 Surround Sound/Logitech x-240 2.1 speakers
1xSamsung Spinpoint 1 Terabyte 32mb cache SATAII HDD
2xSamsung Spinpoint 750 GB 32mb cache SATAII HDD
1xSamsung DVD/CD RW 203N SATAII
Logitech G15 Keyboard
Logitech MX518 & G7 Mice
 
The only way you're possibly seeing 19-22C idle temperatures is if your room temperature is absurdly low. 19C is just above 66F. There's no way that an air cooling setup can lower temperatures below the ambient air, so either your room is super cold or those temperature readings are off. What program are you using to monitor temperatures (if it's not CoreTemp or RealTemp then it's not the right program)?
 
dealmaster said:
The only way you're possibly seeing 19-22C idle temperatures is if your room temperature is absurdly low. 19C is just above 66F. There's no way that an air cooling setup can lower temperatures below the ambient air, so either your room is super cold or those temperature readings are off. What program are you using to monitor temperatures (if it's not CoreTemp or RealTemp then it's not the right program)?
Click to expand...

Agreed. The only time I saw temps that low with my S1283 cooled machine is when "someone" in my house accidentally put the A/C on full blast overnight in the winter. My PC was idling at 20c when I woke up.
 
Sorry all... I'm seeing this in the BIOS... I'll install better monitoring apps today and post screens. I thought it was a bit low... should've done more testing/research prior to posting. Won't happen again...:D
 
Sucks cuz 2 of the best quad core coolers are both only 40 shipped at newegg. Sunbeam core contact and Xigmatek 120mm rifle (among others).

The core contact + awesome airflow of my antec 300 (3 120's and a 140), I can seemingly bleed off infinite heat and stay damn quiet (=

The airflow is perfect, through the hsf and out the 120 rear exhaulst fan.
 
I have got to say that the air flow on my box since installing this cooler is much better. Even after I had to remove the 250mm size window fan to be able to close the case. :) But seriously, just from a "lick-finger and observe" test, the air flow is so fluid now. And there's cool air coming out of the back via a Silverstone 120mm fan. Front of the case houses a 250mm turbine fan blowing over the hard drives as well.
Here it is.
 
Sorry guys... It's an old fan speed monitor/temp gauge... Obviously it's waaaaaaaay off. I installed realtemp and will get back to this thread once I begin taking screen-shots.
Just a quick note. Last night all 4 cores were 31, 34, 33, and 36 degrees celcius. I ran Prime95 for 20 minutes and they all never went above 43 degrees. My GPU on the other hand runs at a crispy 62 degrees @ idle...
 
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