ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink

Pros: Aesthetically pleasing Fast RPM Keeps cool

Cons: Using Zalman's instructions were near impossible. It took me a while to find out what really needed to be done to secure the bracket. Instead of a back bracket on the MB, you use the washers and nuts to secure it in. Little bit of a timewaster coming to installation. Funny that this was the hardest part of building my computer.

Overall Review: Overall, nice. Directions: Bad.

Pros: Nice quiet solution for after market heat sink fan. I find the design to be aesthetically pleasing, with the circular copper fins.

Cons: Fins could be easily bent during installation, harming the aesthetic. Fins are sharp too; could probably cut your hands if you're not careful.

Pros: Dang! Where should I start? 1. It lowered my idle temps on my e6320 from 47c, to 22c! 2. This thing looks GREAT! And is virtually SILENT! I can't hear it unless I take off the side of the case, and it's not even the motor I hear, it's the air moving. 3. Paired up with some AC-5, this thing FREEZES your CPU!

Cons: A little hard to install, took me a second try to get it on. This thing is a PAIN to install for first time builders. I've built a few computers, and haven't ever used a after-market CPU heatsink/fan before. I gave up trying to figure it out. Looked at the price-tag 2 days later, and figured I'd give it another go. Well, here's an easy way to do it:

Overall Review: 1. Remove motherboard from case 2. Apply paste (AS-5) to CPU (not too much, just 1.5 rice grains) 3. Make sure you're on a hard, flat surface and align the back-plate so that the holes on the motherboard and back-plate align. 4. Place metal piece (forget the name of it) on the top of the heatsinks bottom part. 5. Screw the plastic piece that has the legs to the metal piece, use the small screws. 6. Align the fan to point towards your rear exhaust fan. 7. Hold one corner down, while you screw in the other corner (long screws) just enough to hold the screw in place. 8. Screw in the other 3 corners just enough to hold it in place. 9. Screw in each screw one by one about 2-4 revolutions until it doesn't move anymore. 10. Plug it into the CPU fan slot. 11. Enjoy your new super-cooled CPU! :D I hope this helped a few confused newbies.

Pros: Keeps my processor cool, cool, cool. Looks great too.

Cons: Will make you bleed. I swore after reading many others' accounts of injury due to the sharp edges of this heat sink that I was much too coordinated to have to worry about cutting my knuckles on this component. I was wrong. This heatsink is essentially 100 copper razor blades welded together. On the upside, I feel a much closer bond to my rig after shedding blood in its construction. I'd buy this again, but please handle with care!

Pros: Does a good job of cooling.... once you get it installed. Doesn't hang over the motherboard making it a good fit in a tight case Lighter than some other aftermarket coolers

Cons: Screws are too short More components than necessary to mount the bracket Plastic bracket (see Other thoughts below)

Overall Review: Let me start this review by saying that my old Thermaltake cooler was much better than this and I wish I could have it back but the new case I bought was an inch too short to accommodate it and I didn't want to mess with returning it and getting a different case so I just bought a slightly smaller cooler instead. First (and biggest) issue with this Zalman cooler.... the screws that are used to attach the retention arm to the mounting bracket are too short. The screws thread into a nut which is maybe 1/8" thick on the back side of the bracket and they only thread about 3/4 of the way into the nut. I put one screw in, tightened in, then put the other screw in and while tightening it the first screw popped right out of the nut. Even if you could get both sides tightened, I wouldn't trust it. I ended up finding 2 screws from my other Thermaltake cooler that were the same thread count and pitch but were about 3/8"-1/4" longer than the screws that came with this cooler. They threaded fully through the nut and worked perfectly. Second issue.... the bracket is a bit of a pain to install. The mounting consists of the screw, a tiny plastic washer, and a nut. Way more components than necessary. My old Thermaltake cooler had screws that went in from the back side and threaded directed into the bracket. Not nuts or washers needed. Third issues.....the bracket is plastic. While it is rigid plastic and will probably never break under normal circumstance, do we really need to take that chance in this day and age? Again, back to my old Thermaltake which had metal brackets.

Pros: I was installing on a ECS 945P-A (v1.1) MOBO with a Pentium D 2.8 GHz chip. Bios uses the PMW fan speed control running "SpeedFan". This fan is extremely easy to install PROVIDED you can remove the motherboard from the computer to install the LG775 Chip Mounting Bracket on the backside of the MOBO. Fan works like a charm! I had been running at 250+F on the CPU and right away went down to the 140F range during peak. I love the PMW fan speed control built into this fan! I selected this one because of that (I know I will tend to forget about checking the FanMate manual controller offered on Zalman's other CPU fans). This fan is a MUST BUY!

Cons: NONE! Those who had problems installing this referring to the screws are not paying attention to the installation instructions. See other thoughts.

Overall Review: During installation the final attachment of the fan to the CPU is by attaching two screws through a clip into the previously installed mounting bracket that is secured to the MOBO. This clip has a spring loaded feature to maintain pressure of the fan on the CPU for secure contact. Other reviewers have said the pressure needed to secure these screws is too much (referring to the driver slipping off the screw head due to the pressure being exerted). The video on the Zalman Website is very clearly showing the installation of one screw by simply starting it into the mounting bracket. This allows a good 1/8" leeway for attaching the second screw on the opposite side of the clip. If you tighten the first screw down before starting the second you will have the problems other have had. Now start the other screw into its hole on the opposite side of the clip. Now you move from one screw back to the other progressively tightening each screw down until the fan is secured to the mounting bracket.

Pros: Dropped my I7 4790 from a max of 85c with the stock Intel cooler to 62c doing heavy trans coding.

Cons: None

Overall Review: If you're so mechanically inept that you can't put in 6 screws without messing up you probably want to look elsewhere. Complaints of getting cut and using heavy gloves? Really? If you're that ham fisted ease up a bit, probably help with the stripped screws too. Seriously, they're 3mm; you don't need to wrench them down. Snug is good.

Pros: Keeps my i7-3770 cool. Has lots of copper. Doesn't have LEDs. Looks sharp.

Cons: Is sharp. Fins are extremely sharp. Knowing this, I installed it wearing thick gloves. Unfortunately, when later plugging in everything else, I managed to cut myself numerous times on this. Be careful.

Overall Review: Treat this thing like a drawer of knives you just sharpened. Wear heavy gloves whenever you need to work on anything in your case near this.