Core 2 Extreme vs. Zalman CNPS9700 LED, CNPS9500 AT and Others
 

So, despite the significantly reduced power consumption of the latest desktop processors from Intel, their requirements to cooling systems are not eased down. It has to do with the fact that the maximum permissible cap temperature of these processors has come down to 60°C versus 70°C for Pentiums. Thus, powerful coolers, designed for Pentium 4 and Pentium D, will come in handy now to keep Core 2 processors from overheating above the critical 60°C. We'll have to forget about simplifying coolers for Core 2 for now.

According to our tests, the latest and some old top coolers cope well with cooling even slightly overclocked extreme processors on Conroe core to 60°C. That is the reserve of thermal efficiency of such coolers can be used to reduce their noise to a nearly inaudible level. The modern leader here is the latest Zalman CNPS9700 LED, which inherited the best features of its famous predecessor CNPS9500 LED/AT (this cooler still performs well). Zalman CNPS9700 LED gets our Original Design award for its thermal efficiency.