Zalman CNPS9500 CPU Cooler

Face it, processors aren’t getting any cooler. With higher clock speeds comes higher voltage and with voltage comes heat. The processors of today, whether they are AMD or Intel, are hot. Your sister hot.

/Enter Zalman.

Today I am going to take a look at the Zalman CNPS9500 LED. Zalman is known in the industry as a cooling giant. They have provided excellent cooling solutions for quite some time and I am setting out to see if the 9500 can continue the trend. Let’s get to work and see what this thing is made of.

The packaging of this cooler is top notch. The box is rather large but then again, this is a large cooler. As you can see in the pictures, the cooler comes in a blue box constructed out of sturdy cardboard. The center of the box is clear, allowing you to actually view the cooler and get a grip on its size. How about we take a look at the contents?

Once outside the box, the cooler is tucked safely away in a plastic case. I guess you can never be too careful. You can also see, in the picture on the left, a white box. What ever could be in the white box? Let’s see…

There are clearly a lot of goodies in the white box so let’s take a look and see just what we can find:

• CNPS 9500 LED
• Thermal Grease
• Fan Speed Controller (Fan Mate 2)
• Cable for the Fan Mate 2
• Double Sided Tape for the Fan Mate 2
• 1 S-Type Clip for Socket 775/478
• 1 L-Type Clip for Socket 754/939/940
• 4 Bolts for installing the cooler
• User’s Manual
• 2 Clip supports for Socket 478
• 2 Install Bolts for Socket 478
• 1 L-Wrench
• 4 Clip Support Fixing Bolts for Socket 478
• 1 Clip Support for Socket 775
• 1 Back plate for Socket 775
• 2 Nipples for Motherboards with Pushpin-type retention frame needed

Whew, that was a lot of stuff to fit into a small white box and God I love the word nipples :-D

/Immature laughter ensues.

Well, now that we have it out of the box and my lack of maturity has subsided; let’s get back into the review.