ZALMAN CNPS9500A-LED 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler

Pros: I had no trouble at all installing this fan. I started the computer up and used Asus's AI Probe to get the temps and was amazed.

Before (stock fan):
CPU: Idle 38c ~100% ~60c
SYS: Idle 35c ~100% ~39c

After (this fan your reading about)
CPU: Idle 34c ~100% 51c
SYS: Idle 35c ~100% 36c

Yes, the CPU actually idles one degree cooler then the system temp and every once and a while the cpu dips to 33c.

for comparison the room temp is 21c, for the really temp crazy people

Cons: No cons, and mine was not concave on the bottom like some other reviews stated so hopefully that problem is fix.

Overall Review: At first when i started the system it idled at 35c and then i put some load on it and it jumped up quickly to mid 40's. got to 80% load and it climbed to 56c. Then I figured I didnt put enough Artice Silver 5 on so I pulled the fan off and blobbed on a nice dot in the middle and then restarted the comp and got the results above and the temps dont jump around very fast now, nice smooth rise and fall which means the heat is getting to the heatsink.

Tip: make sure you put enough Artice Silver 5 on for good contact.

Pros: been using variations of this basic model for years and find the cooling performance of this smaller model is still excellent if you have space restraints.

i bought three of these for $25 ea. to use as a cooling solution when i sell my older rigs (reuse the larger/more expensive coolers).

speed controller for the fan is a quality unit just don't slow the fan down too much as you need a little extra voltage to get the fan going again when starting system.

straight forward install process if they included the correct hardware (see cons).

i really like how you can rotate the cooler 360 deg. to fit your personal choose of air flow.

Cons: wth! i know for a fact (because i kept older zelman hardware) that the included m3 machine screws are approx. two threads shorter than the older screws a have.

i dry fit the spring steel cooler hold-down bracket to the plastic base and would only get one and a half threads to engage at best.

Overall Review: get some longer m3 (metric #3) screws but be very careful that they are not too long and destroy motherboard components underneath the plastic motherboard bracket.

also be aware there are sharp edges.