Introduction

Over the past few years, overclocking has gone from being an insane past-time, only practiced by a handful of informed people, to an "art" that is the hobby of thousands of people all over the world. Whole websites and communities have been formed with their main goal being to teach people how to overclock their computers as well as to evaluate the latest cooling solutions on the market as they come out. People have gone to pretty crazy measures to ensure the cool running of their processor. These include water-cooling, vapor-phase cooling, and even, liquid nitrogen cooling! However, these extreme cooling methods are not widely used yet. This is because, firstly, they are difficult to install, and secondly, they are often too expensive for the average user. For this reason, air-cooling is the most common cooling method used in computers at the moment.

In the past, the only heatsinks available that were worth a second look were the ones from Alpha. In recent years, we have seen new heatsink manufacturers pop up all over the place. Most boasting a unique, innovative design method, fighting for a place in an already crowded market. Today we are looking at a new heatsink/fan unit from Zalman, called the CNPS5500-Cu. Zalman is a Korean company that was founded in 1999, and since the introduction of their CNPS (Computer Noise Prevention System) range of coolers, they have received much praise for being able to create heatsink/fan units that are high performing, yet virtually silent. Can they continue their trend with the CNPS5500-Cu? Read on to find out!

Specifications

- Heatsink

Weight (g): 540

Dimensions (mm): 74(L) x 86(W) x 84(H)

Dissipating Area (cm2): 1800

Dissipating Material: Pure Copper

Thermal Resistance: Silent Mode - 0.36 Normal Mode - 0.30

- Fan

Bearing Type: Two ball

Speed (RPM): Silent Mode - 1500RPM Normal Mode - 2800RPM

Noise (dB): Silent Mode - 20 Normal Mode - 30

- Fan Mate 1

Weight (g): 20

Dimensions (mm): 200(L) x 23(W) x 21(H)

Out Voltage (V): 5V ~ 11V

Maximum Capacity: 60W