Zalman 9500, 9700, or Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro

[bug]

Which is best and most likely to fit on a Gigabyte GA-EP35C-DS3R in the Antec Sonata III case?

I know that the Zalman 9500 is suggested as the "sweet spot" on the main page, but the 9700 is now available for the same price.

I've also read a lot of good reviews for the AC Freezer 7, and it's almost half the price.

I've also seen a lot of good reviews for the Thermaltake Big Typhoon...

[The Wise Monkey]

Check this tomshardware article out - long (it is in three parts), but very good:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-cooler-charts-2008,1779.html

If you can't be bothered to read all of that, then the recommendations are the Thermalright IFX-14 or the Cooler Master Hyper TX2. :)

[bug]

That's a very nice article! I'm reading it now (speedreader, so it won't take long :cool:) and will take it into consideration.

I found this on overclock.net:
(from http://www.overclock.net/air-cooling/146814-answer-whats-best-cpu-cooler.html)


Arctic Cooling's Freezer 7 Pro is Arctic Cooling's LGA775 cooler. They have some new ideas present in this cooler, such as the lower fins being bent downward. This will help cool the motherboard at the same time as you cool the CPU. The fan is also attached with rubber, lowering the noise considerably.

The Zalman 9500 is a strong cooler. On a Pentium 4 clocked at 4.06Ghz The temperatures reached 60C under load. The ambient was kept at 30C. More tests on the 9500 below.

X-Bit labs tested this cooler on a Pentium 4 516 overclocked from 2.93GHz to 4.02 GHz. They compared it with the Big Typhoon and Zalman 9500. The Freezer 7 did not perform well at all in a case. Under heavy load, the CPU ran at 70C. In a game it ran at 60C. In the same test, the Big Typhoon ran at 62C (heavy load) and 54C (game). The Zalman with the fan on high was the best (on low speed it was also the coolest), running at 53C under heavy load and 48C in a game. In an open case, the Freezer 7 performed much better in an open case, running at 58C under heavy load and 50C in a game. The Big Typhoon ran at 55C under heavy load and 47C in a game. The Zalman again came out on top on both the high and low settings.

Looks like the Freezer 7 is out of the running...

Thanks for the link... It should answer my question. I'll post a reply with my decision! I'm getting really close to ordering my parts, so thanks again for all of the help!

[The Wise Monkey]

Well, you say out of the running, but it is still a very good cooler. Also, that post is from the first of August 2007, nearly a year ago, and new coolers are being brought out on a regular basis.

Not to say that it doesn't raise some good points though. :)

[RickyTick]

Here's some more reading for you, and its more current.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=45&Itemid=62

[The Wise Monkey]

I knew you'd posted that link somewhere Ricky, just couldn't find it. :)

[bug]

I have decided to go with either the Zalman 9500 or the OCZ Vendetta 2. I'll take a review's advice and buy a new/better fan for the Vendetta if I choose that one. They would end up being about the same price, so I can't make that a deciding factor.

[RickyTick]

The Vendetta I and II are identical except the II is a little taller. Check the room in the Sonata case and verify you have enough space.

Here's another review. Look on about page 4 for an excellent comparison between the Vendetta I and II.

http://www.xtremecomputing.co.uk/review.php?id=417&page=1

[wowguy]

Would the Zalman CNPS 9700 LED fit into the "recommended" build?

It is recommended that one would need 150mm of room above the motherboard, and I am guessing 132mm left to right and 98mm front to back of room.

Will this cooler fit onto the Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4?

Thanks in advance!