Here's my review of the Zalman CNPS9500 LED CPU Cooler:

It rocks.

Thanks for reading, I would like to thank Zalman for providing this heatsink to us for review.

What... you would like more information? Not a problem; this cooler is easy to write about.

As those of you who have been around the performance and modding PC scene for a while know, Zalman really started breaking ground a few years ago with the Flower fanless heatsink. Although the cooling ability wasn't that great, it was dead silent and was a design that we hadn't previously seen. That design was different, but they really caught the attention of the performance crowd with their November 2002 introduction of the CNPS7000-Cu heatsink at COMDEX. Instead of putting a fan on a heatsink, what they did was put a fan in a heatsink. The 7000 series was a huge success back then and is still a great aircooling option today. As a matter of fact, I have two and a half of them here; don't ask about the half. I like the way that Zalman thinks because they figured if the 7000 was a success with the 92mm fan in it, why not make it bigger! Hence, the CNPS7700 heatsink with a 120mm fan in it.

As formidable as the CNPS7700 is, it is unfortunately incompatible with many motherboards because of it's huge size. The damn thing 5.35 inches across so if it doesn't cover your memory, it probably will rub up against your video card. The smart guys at Zalman knew they couldn't increase performance by making their heatsinks any bigger, so they stood the fan up on end and added 3 heatpipes to the mix. Then, for some style added a couple Blue LED's as well. The innovative design they came up with is what we know as the CNPS9500 LED CPU Cooler.

Package

The CNPS9500 LED CPU Cooler comes in a rather large package as far as heatsinks go, but to make your shopping experience more enjoyable they included a convenient plastic handle on top. The package show off the heatsink from both the front and back and provides all the information and statistics on the contents, I will list them for you here:

Included with the fan are plenty of accessories for several mounting options. The common components are the FanMate 2 controller, the cable for the FanMate, a tube of thermal interface material labeled CSL 850, a strip of two-sided tape for mounting the FanMate, an instruction book, and a cool Zalman case badge. The kit includes mounting options for Socket 478, Socket 775, Socket 754, Socket 940, and Socket 939. Basically, it will work with just about any recently made processors. There isn't an option for Socket A (Socket 462) which will disappoint the many people who are still happily running their AMD Athlon rigs. Note to Zalman, if you could come up with a Socket A mounting kit, even if it had to be purchased separately, there is some money to be made.

The FanMate 2 has been updated from a 3 pin connector to a 6 pin connector to accommodate the fan and the LED's. The controller itself is only slightly wider than the original FanMate 1 and is still easy to hide away at 2 3/8(L) x 1(W) x 3/4 (H) inches. The cable that runs from the fanmate to the fan and motherboard CPU header is flat so it is foldable and also easy to hide away. Since it is 30 inches long, you should be able to tuck the FanMate 2 just about anywhere inside your rig.