I need some help with understanding my cooler.

Jubilant Lancer

New member
Greetings :oc3d:!

As some of you may know I have begun my first PC build experience (you can follow my progress in my thread under Project Logs) and I would like some advice on the CPU cooler I decided to pick up.

First off what I purchased is a Zalman CNPS9500A-LED 92mm
( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118223 )
My reason for getting this was first off it is a pretty cost effective option (Amazon had it for only $40) but it had pretty good RPM's, a low decibel level, and it comes with a fan controller for switching between silent and low noise speeds. Another awesome thing was it has a blue LED which matches perfectly with my build. So my first question is; How do you guys/gals here feel about this particular cooler, what are things you like/don't like about it and why? Second question is how effective do you think this cooler will be for overclocking my system?(Obviously overclocking just take monitoring to see your limitations, but I am asking how high do you think how high the limitations this cooler may set for me?)

I would really appreciate any input on the matter and I appreciate your time.

Cheers!
 
My feelings are its old, looks old.

The rest no idea about because youve said nothing about rig specs, voltages, overclocks etc.
 
Whoops forgot about specs

CPU- AMD FX-6350 Vishera 3.9GHz
MOBO -ASUS SABERTOOTH 990FX R2.0
Memory- Corsair Vengeance Pro 8GB (DDR3 1866MHZ) (Upgrading soon)
GPU- EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB (ACX Cooler)
PSU- APEVIA ATX-JV650W (Upgrading soon)
Case- AZZA CSAZ-XT 1W

As for voltages/overclocks and what not, I do not know as I have never overclocked, and this will be my first time jumping into overclocking, due to this is the first time I fully own my own rig. As I have never had personal experience with any form of overclocking, I am just wondering if anyone could give me some insight as to how efficient this will be at keeping my CPU cool for some mild overclocking.
 
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As you have it, it's up to YOU to tell US how good it is.

It looks like it dates back to 2005 so I could only assume very average performance.
 
As you have it, it's up to YOU to tell US how good it is.

It looks like it dates back to 2005 so I could only assume very average performance.

Yeah, I don't understand the purpose of the thread? You've bought it first and then asked if it's any good, or am I missing something?
 
I've had one and the superflower too.

A: They are awful to keep clean.
B: Not as quiet as advertised.
C: If the fan fails you have to replace the whole unit.
D: It's really out of date.
E: Although you can I wouldn't be willing to use this on a AM3 Socket.

I'd look at the CM 212 Evo with different fans.
 
Yeah, I don't understand the purpose of the thread? You've bought it first and then asked if it's any good, or am I missing something?

I am just asking how effective this will be for overclocking that's all. This isn't this first time I have seen a post such as this, I didn't think it was counted as a pointless post.

I've had one and the superflower too.

A: They are awful to keep clean.
B: Not as quiet as advertised.
C: If the fan fails you have to replace the whole unit.
D: It's really out of date.
E: Although you can I wouldn't be willing to use this on a AM3 Socket.

I'd look at the CM 212 Evo with different fans.

Thank you for your input sir ^_^ I appear to have made a bad decision (I figured allowing my father to pick me out one might turn out poorly haha, but hey I was anxious to get it in time with my other parts.)

As you have it, it's up to YOU to tell US how good it is.

It looks like it dates back to 2005 so I could only assume very average performance.

I will definitely be sure to keep you guys updated :]



Update:

Wraithguard with your advice I returned the Zalman in favor of the CM 212 Evo and I also picked up a Corsair Air Series 120mm blue LED fan. Thank you for your help with this :]
 
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Wraithguard with your advice I returned the Zalman in favor of the CM 212 Evo and I also picked up a Corsair Air Series 120mm blue LED fan. Thank you for your help with this :]

Should have got an SP120 - they are designed for heatsinks. You just bought an LED case fan.
 
Should have got an SP120 - they are designed for heatsinks. You just bought an LED case fan.

Yeah I wasn't sure if it would work or not, I figured I could either use it for that or my rear case fan and use the stock fan. So Either way it works, but why wouldn't a case fan work? Are the fins just not designed in a way to move the heat that close to a heatsink?
 
SP = static pressure and thats better for heatsinks.

Mismatched fans IMHO looks horrible too, especially in a rig thats being built to look good.
 
SP = static pressure and thats better for heatsinks.

Mismatched fans IMHO looks horrible too, especially in a rig thats being built to look good.

Hmm you bring up a good point, I don't want the LED colors to clash. I may cancel the order and change it. Amazon is good like that haha.

Thanks for the tip!

Yeah just changed the order to the SP120.

Glad for the advice, just shows why I joined here :]
 
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^^^^FYI you have two consecutive posts above thats against the rules, you need to use the
edit.gif
button if you need to add something so quickly after another post
 
Hey lancer, that's pretty cool you managed to change it. If you were stuck with it, at least it would have probably been better than the stock heatsink. Regardless the evo will be much better for you and be able to OC it quite nice with that cooler. As Tom said the sp fans are for rads/heatsinks alot more, also if say you have fans at the front with dust filters/hard drive bays they can help shift air through better aswell. :)
 
OH GOD THAT COOLER

You dodged a bullet with that. It honestly would struggle with the 6350 at anything apart from stock. The 6350 is designed to get high clocks (when I say designed I mean cherry picked) so you'd waste the chip with anything less than the 212 evo.
212 evo is an excellent choice ^_^
 
Well I have you fine people to thank for helping me dodge the shitty hardware bullet! I feel a bit ashamed I didn't request some insight to this matter before I purchased but I am glad it all will work out for me in the end. Again thank all of you for you insight :D
 
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