Zalman CNPS9500 CPU Cooler

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by Greg King on December 19, 2005 in Cooling

If you have been looking for a new CPU cooler that not only does it’s job well, but looks great in the process, then the 9500 may be exactly what you need. Made of pure copper, the 9500 utilizes 3 heatpipes which effectively does the work of 6! Let’s see how it compares to other heatsinks we have tested.

Page 3 – Results & Conclusion


Let’s take a look at my results:

As I stated in my last cooler review, I keep my ambient temperatures low. My home is constantly around 70* F. This not only keeps me rather comfortable but keeps my PC somewhat cooler than most. Regardless, I retested all of my other coolers as to keep the trials even Steven.

As you can see, the Zalman preformed admirably. A full seven degrees cooler at idle and eight degrees under load. Now that is what I am talking about. The Zalman heat pipe cooler did its job and them some.

I can’t help but respect Zalman for what they do and the ingenuity that possess. The 9500 is a beautiful cooler and does exactly what it says that it will. The temps were by far, the best out of the 4 that I used for comparison. As much as I am impressed with this cooler, there are some negative comments that I do have. The thing is a beast, easily beating out the other coolers in sheer size.

There is nothing wrong with the size but people with SFF setups will not be able to use this cooler. Another gripe of mine is the sound. The 9500 is absolutely dead silent when used with the Fan Mate 2 at a low speed but when full on, it is on par with the stock fan that AMD bundles with their chips. While this does not bother me, I am sure that it will bother others. Another thing I noticed was how much better copper is at cooling than aluminum. Both of the Zalman coolers were copper, and the stock cooler and Spire were aluminum.

Overall, this is an impressive cooler and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for an air cooling solution. The gripes that I had with the cooler were nothing to be worried about but I did want to inform you that while this is a damned good cooler, it is not perfect. If you either do not want to mess with water cooling or can’t afford it, I highly recommend this. I have no problems giving this cooler a hard 8 out of 10 on our Techgage meter o’ truth.

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