Zalman FX100

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11 Apr 2003
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I've done a lot of reading, and understand that this passive cooler's performance is not well regarded for the latest processors. However, I have one which is a bit older, and am planning to keep it for the foreseeable future as I don't play games or do graphical work, and it does everything I want.

Long story short, my knowledge is well out of date so I'd be grateful for opinions on whether this cooler would be adequate during a London summer for an AMD Phenom 9950 Quad-Core running at 2.61GHz? (Which is probably stock, as I don't recall doing any overclocking in the last decade...)

Additional information:

Case/cooling - Lian Li PC71, an aluminium full tower. Two 80mm ball bearing front intake fans, a 120mm Panaflow ball bearing* as top exhaust. I have provision to add an 80mm side fan directly in line with the CPU socket, and for two 80mm fans at the top rear, directly above the PSU.

Graphics - Some budget card from about four years ago, passively cooled.

Power - OCZ modular, I think it's a 550W, enough for my simple system anyway.




*This fan is amazing, I ripped it out of a scrapped 1987 Olivetti server in an office where I did work experience in 1995, and have been using it ever since. It has a metal body. I gently vacuum the blades every few months, and on my rheobus I can have it anywhere between nearly silent or exhausting like an industrial monster! :D
 
Because of the weight, it's a mission for one geezer to hold it in place whilst securing the screws*, so I've taken a photo of it from beneath whilst still mounted...

http://i58.tinypic.com/2lkxydl.jpg

Next time I spring clean it I'll try to remember to take some more photos.


I have seen mention of a No Fan CFR or some such...is that the one?


*I realize that sounds girly, but I'm serious. It's so fiddly to get the screws in through the plate, then the case, then fan, and then manage to get the nut on, all with one hand, and I have to stoop in an odd position, so the arm that's holding the fan rapidly goes dead.
 
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Help an old man out, what's the deal with power in connection to processors? I can vaguely remember such things as bus speeds and multipliers, and something about power rails, but that tdp is a new one on me.

Yeah I love this fan. Best one I've ever had, and I tried out many various makes and models in the past. Dunno how it would compare current fans though. I've read good things about fluid dynamic bearings recently.
 
The Thermal Design Power (TDP) is the average maximum power a processor can dissipate while running commercially available software. TDP is primarily used as a guideline for manufacturers of thermal solutions

Higher the tdp on the cpu cooler the more heat can dissipated


What size is the beast?
 
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Thanks very much. I just searched and found that my processor has a max tdp of 125W, so I suppose that means I can't rely on passive cooling whether the Zalman or the Nofans...?


It's only 120mm unfortunately. Very powerful for that size when on full pelt though. Much more powerful than the 'top brand' 120mm fans I've had over the years.
 
In this review the Zalman beats the Nofan CR-95-C nickel but to be honest with those temps I wouldn't be using either of them. They are also bloody expensive. The Zalman can take a 92mm fan as well but it's still not worth the money.

You would be better off investing in something like the Deepcool Lucifer (review here) which is a hell of a lot of cooler for only £29.
 
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