Today I’m going to test two different heatsinks, The mighty CNPS7700-CU from Zalman, a big chunk of copper that weighs in at a hefty 918g. That’s about 2 Lbs for you not familiar with the metric system, then we have the A64 Freezer from Arctic Cooling, a much lighter Cu/Alu heatpipe solution that weighs in at 460g (1.01Lbs) - that’s half the weight of the zalman.

First up in this test is the Zalman CNPS7700-CU

Here are the features according to the Zalman webpage:

1	Does not generate noise or vibration in Silent Mode.
2	Pure Copper base material ensures excellent heat dissipation.
3	Intel P4 (Socket 775), Intel P4 (Socket 478), and AMD64 (Socket 754/939/940) compatible design for broad compatibility.
4	The large 120mm fan inside the FHS maximizes cooling performance by providing sufficient airflow even at slow rotation speeds.
5	The large 120mm fan provides air flow over a large area, cooling not only the CPU, but the VGA card, Northbridge, FET, and RAM.
6	The adjustable fan speed controller (FAN MATE 2) enables control of noise and fan performance.

And the complete list of specifications:

CNPS7700-Cu - Dimensions : 136 (L) x 136 (W) x 67 (H) mm - Weight : 918g - Base Material : Pure Copper - Dissipation Area : 3,268 cm2 - Bearing Type : 2-Ball - Speed : 1,000 ~ 2,000rpm ± 10% - Thermal Resistance : 0.19 ~ 0.24°C/W - Noise Level : 20 ~ 32dB ± 10%

FAN Speed Controller (FAN MATE 2) - Dimensions : 70(L) x 26(W) x 26(H)mm - Weight : 20g - Output Voltage : 5V ~ 11V ± 2% - Allowable Power : 6W or lower - Connector : 3-Pin

What options do you have with the Zalman CNPS7700-Cu?

Well, the CNPS7700 comes bundled with every accessory you need to fit it on almost every platform currently available.

It fits on Intel sockets 478 and 775 and on Amd sockets 754/939/940, it won’t fit on Amd socket A, however I wouldn’t try and put almost 1kg of solid copper on the exposed AXP core!

The fanmate 2 that comes with the package allows the user to power the fan from 5v "silent operation" to 12v "performance mode".

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The installation:

I will be installing the heatsinks on to this system:
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe (Bios 1007)
AMD A64 3500+ Newcastle core
2x512MB G.Skill 4400LE
His Radeon X800XL
WD Raptor 36GB
Maxtor 200GB
OCZ Powerstream 520W
Cooler Master Stacker
Arctic Silver Ceramique was used on all heatsinks.

I had to remove the motherboard to install this HS, at first I thought that I could use the stock back plate on the A8N but this was not the case. Asus use a different model of back plate in which the screw holes protrude a little bit more on the motherboard. So it was necessary to switch to the Zalman plate.

Place a small washer on the motherboard, then put a nipple over it and fasten until the back plate is firmly attached to the motherboard on the opposite side of the CPU.

Apply some thermal grease to the Cpu (I used AS Ceramique) and place the heatsink onto the Cpu. Align the screw holes with the nipples on the motherboard and screw the supplied bolts down a few turns at a time while alternating between the two until the nipples are completely pressed against the grips.

Voila! The Zalman CNPS7700 installed in the Case. This has to be one of the largest heatsinks ive seen.

Next: Artic Cooling Freezer