I'm not happy with my idle temps of 41-42 that Zalman 9500 provides. (C2D E6300 stock speed). TAT at 60% load easily pushes it into the 50+ domain. Reseating didn't help much. I suspect, that the mounting bracket size does not allow for enough downward pressure. Its pretty easy to move the heatsink around once its in place.

Using our analog of froogle, I couldn't find any mention of the Tuniq Tower in any store in Moscow. It appears they've never crossed the borders ,

What would be similar in performance? i.e. - A big-ass pile of pipes and fins cooled with a low-rpm 12 cm fan?

Did you look at the mounting base on your Zalman? I've read where some have a warped base that doesn't make full contact with the CPU. If it's warped, put a piece of emery cloth on a solid, flat surface, and grind the thing back and forth until it flattens out. Also, do you have fan controlllers in BIOS -- if so, they may be set to "silent," which would give the temps you indicated with that fan.

Take a look at the Thermalright Ultra 120 and a Nexus 120mm D12SL-12 (Real Silent Case Fan). They may or may not be available in your area, but it's a place to start.

Those two are not available either. But every store seems to take pride in having a separate section for Zalman produce, doh.

I use FanMate2, so BIOS can't be blamed. Either way, max rpm shaved off a degree or 2, that's it.

Scythe Infinity IS available, but I'm kinda scared after reading some angry posts ))

I recently built an E6600 C2D w/ a msi p965 platinum MB, corsair ddr2 800 ram (1.9volt 5-5-5-12), raptor 150gb HD, x1950 XT, with an Arctic Freezer 7 Pro HSF. I overclocked to a very stable 3.2g and 40C temp under full load (with loads of room for more overclock). In other words, if you are able to purchase the AF pro for ~ the 30 American dollars equivalent I did, you can't beat it. Just one opinion. Everyones results vary.

I have the same fan (Zalman) on a E6400, P5B mb, and my temps are in the low 30's. Did you look at the flatness of the base? That would account for it shifting around after mounted. Did you use a good thermal grease, like Arctic Silver, and not just the pasting that comes on the HSF?

That's too bad, because that's an excellent combination of quality cooling and a quiet fan.

Angry posts on the Infinity???? Please elaborate as it would be an excellent choice as well. As for the fan, I'd see what your options are and then go online and see if you can find any reviews that have used them. Papst, NMB, Panaflo & Yate Loon are good products to start with.

Cooler Master Hyper series.

Low 30s? Damn. It must be the uneven base then.
Thermal grease that I use is the best thing next to Arctic Silver available here - called KPT-8. A.S. is pretty hard to get a hold of. Very few suppliers carry it, and if they do - its out of stock immediately. I'll try my luck with 9700 I guess, if emery cloth fails.

Their nice, but never discount the scythes, especially the ninja, since it's smaller than the infinity and has 12 heatpipes for people with small cases. Otherwise, the infinity is almost as good as the tuniq, and never get any zalmans as a word of advice to all people here. ZozZoz 9500 and mine are more than enough evidense to show that zalman puts more effort in looks than performance, and their only worthwhile one, 9700, is way too overpriced, it should be at $35 imo. But those are two nice suggestions anoobis.

I guess I'll go with a Ninja rev. B then. My case is not that small (Thermaltake Swing mid. tower) but still..

Thanks for the input guys.

Wow that sucks, my E6400@3.5ghz with 1.4vcore idles at 33c and loads under dual prime at 56c.

Using Tuniq Tower.

I would go for either the Scythe Infinity or Thermaltake Big Typhoon.

Now, if I decide to give 9500 a chance to redeem itself - what kinda emery paper do I use? I mean - initial grain size, and the one suitable at the final stage?

rob already has a tuniq, you should see his homemade gfx cooling device, it's pretty sweet


and zozzoz, don't ever bother to try giving your 9500 another chance, as soon as rob sells me his infinity, I'm selling my 9500 on ebay. Just make sure to check the size specifications on the ninja on newegg before making any purchases, the ninja is kinda big (infinity is massive though )

The 9500 doesnt deserve to be sold, it should be beaten into oblivion, its copper melted down, and crafted into something worthy enough to actually be mentioned on this holy forum. Maybe the heatpipes on a Tuniq Tower 120. although the molten metal would have to be blessed first, by the holy trinity of computing master minds. as to not anger the gods of the realm of CPUs. That would be the first victim of the great war of 2007, said to last until a cpu is forged, one capable of 1000 IPC, one that will bring forth a new era of computers. As told in the divine scriptures etched into the die of the first of the great.

kinda vilent are we now buddy? But if you can sell it to a newb, as they all love the flashy lights for more than $60, why not? That will at least cover the costs of a new cooler

My last cooler was the scythe infinity and while it was a good cooler my new Tuniq Tower out performs it hands down. Im getting a good 12c cooler on load and idle temps now

He hates Zalman just as much as I do

a lot of us do

Thats the most beautiful thing ive seen today.


Given the chance i would disembowel the lead designer of the 9500 with a Klingon mek'leth.