Review: Zalman NC2000 for M series Gateways

Okay so after hearing so much about how good this cooler was, and being told by X2P that with the ways the vents were at the bottom of my notebook I will get better results then the norm, I decided to buy a NC2000. I picked up a used one from an eBay seller for a decent price. Once it arrived, I made sure it worked, and checked the condition and all. All seemes to be in working condition.

For more information on the Zalman NC2000 click here.

Notebook used
M-152XL
T8300 processor (Not undervolted!)
3 GB of RAM
HD 2600 GDDR3
160 GB 7200 RPM HDD
32 bit Windows Vista Home Premium
Bottom of my notebook:
http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/33887.jpg

Placement
I measured the vents and the areas that needed to be covered and came to the conclusion the best cooling would happen if i placed the pegs of my notebook onto the rubber strip at the bottom of the Zalman NC2000.

Initial Surprise
I first plugged the Zalman via USB into my notebook to make sure it actually worked. It did, the fans turned on, I changed settings, it worked. When I placed my hand over the melt mesh on the top (where the air leaves the cooler) I was VERY surprised that I could barely feel the air flow...it was so...LITTLE. I expected more =O

Results
Since we are interested in seeing how well this cooler performs, please look at the MAX columns for comparisons

Idle
During Idle, there was literally no, or very little, change.

This is with the Zalman off

This is with the Zalman on full blast

"DOTA" Test

These are the temperatures of a ~50 minute DOTA game. The notebook was just sitting on the desk, with no external cooler, nor was it elevated by anything.


These are the temperatures of another ~50 minute DOTA game. This time, the notebook was sitting on the Zalman NC2000, which was sitting on the desk. Fans for the Zalman were on full blast.

As you can notice here, the Zalman only lowered temps 2-3C all around, give or take. My theory here was that the notebook fans did not turn on to full as they usually do since the Zalman was providing an external cooling source. So I decided to do another test.

Orthos CPU Stress Test

These are the temperatures of running the Orthos stress test for ~10 minutes. The notebook was sitting ontop of the zalman NC2000 (because I was too lazy to take it off ) but the Zalman NC2000 was turned off. During this test, the notebook internal fans turned onto to full.


These are the temperatures of running the Orthos stress test for ~10 minutes. This time, the notebook was on the Zalman NC2000 and the Zalman NC2000 was turned onto full. During the test, the notebook fans also turned onto full.

As you can see here the Zalman only lowered the temps between 2-4C depending on what you are looking at.

"DOTA" Test Two
To be fair to the cooler I decided to do the dota test again. Improvements arent much, its still only 2-4C difference, except in the cores (I dont understand whats up with that, I think the cores might have just spiked for one of the readings, because in the Orthos test it only lowered the cores temps by 4C). I made sure to listen for the internal fans, and it seems during both readings, the fans turned at the same speed (more or less)

These are the temps with the Zalman off.

This are the temps with the Zalman on full blast

Conclusion
Only a 3-4C drop in temperature.

E.P.I.C. FAIL. After hearing how people were getting 5-15C drops in their temperatures, and seeing this cooler recommended to everyone, I was excepting at least a 7-8C drop in my temperatures. Granted I did purchase a used one, but it seems to work fine. The Belkin cooler that I purchased for 20 bucks did a similar job to this...and this one cost much more. If it was possible for me to return this to the ebay seller I would. Seems I will try selling it myself to someone. Maybe it will serve them better.

Unless somehow the performance/cooling improves, I would NOT recommend this to anyone that has a similar notebook as mine, i.e. Gateway M series.

If anyone has any other tests they would like me to conduct to see the effectiveness of this cooler, please let me know.

 

After reading a few reviews, I shied away from the NC2000 and went with the Vizo Ninja II instead. People who compared the two generally thought the Vizo was better, but I'm still waiting on mine. I might do brief write up once I get it.

 

Just looking at the pictures of the Ninja tells me it wont be any more effective then the Zalman for my notebook because it only has two vents situated towards the top.

If you look at the picture of the bottom of my notebook, you will notice most of my vents are towards the middle/bottom.

BTW, where did you get your Vizo for and how much?

 

http://www.sundialmicro.com/

I think 42.99+13.XX S/H

Anyway, yeah it slipped my mind that you mentioned your laptops fan placement. I went to BB and examined the 6860's underside as well as looking at some pics posted here of the 7811's underside for fan placement. I think the Vizo will match it decently enough. Hopefully, the 7811 fans match the 6860 and blow up the bottom and out the sides, which will sync with the upward fan action of the Vizo.

 

you might want to consider the notepal infinite or teh nzxt cryo if it doesnt match up with your vents

 

Notebook coolers are useless and a waste of money unless
1) Surface of your table is awful at dissipating heat.
2) Your notebook's cooling system is pure fail.

You can solve (1) by elevating your laptop like a tent with some pushing the laptop up from the back.

 

Do you have any experience with what you are talking about?
I have used the Vantec Ultra TX, which literally elevates the laptop like a tent, in your words, and it didnt do much for my cooling; the zalman is working better then that cooler.

I am currently re-doing that dota test to see if the results reinforce the idea that that Zalman only cools my notebook 2-5C

 

d.amn lakjin, sorry to hear the cooler didn't work out as planned. I've never been a fan of notebook coolers, but since Zalman is such a respected brand, I'd think this would be different.

 

I'm moving into the dorms. Dorm desks. Not so good.

I've never used a laptop that doesn't get super hot. Especially desktop replacements. I have a Fujitsu Lifebook N series. It's the coolest I've used. My sister has some 13 inch laptop from Asus I think, it gets nice and toasty still. My roommate has a 15 inch Dell. If he doesn't use his laptop cooler it gets uncomfortably hot. My friend's HP desktop replacement gets ungodly hot. So much so that he has simply removed the battery and runs purely on the adapter. Ive read many articles and seen many videos of laptops overheating to the point of blowing up. Macs even.

In short, I've never used a single laptop that I didn't think could use additional cooling. Perhaps we have different tolerances, but I hate feeling that ever rising heat on my wrists as I use my computer. If the Vizo lowers my temps by 5c, I'll consider it worth it.

Lakjin: I saw a review that is very much consistent with your findings of 2-5c, unfortunately. That same review showed me the Vizo Ninja II, which did at least as well if not a couple of degrees better than the Zalman. Hopefully that also turns out to be true. I could really use 7c cooler, especially if the 7811's 9800M GTS cards have the heat issue that people claim it does.

 

-.- My table's quite bad and I elevate my laptop from the back and it makes me notebook 3-4C cooler when gaming.

The only real solution is trying to find a good surface that dissipates heat. The 6860 and 7811 FX is efficient in dissipating heat so it doesn't require a cooler.

The only time a cooler is required when the room temperature is way too hot, which would make your notebook need a AC/slab of aluminum with fans that's worth as much as an AC to cool your house...

 

In all honesty (and I have had experience with this), raising your notebook a couple centimetres off the ground accomplishes the same thing as a notebook 'cooler'. A notebook cooler's job is to keep the air your internal fan scoops up, in a word, cool. It does this by scooping up the room temperature air below it and blowing it under your laptop for the laptop fan to pickup.

Now the only reason an internal notebook fan would start picking up hotter and hotter air is if the surface it is on starts to heat-up overtime. Raising your notebook above a conductive surface allows your notebook to constantly be picking up room temperature air. So essentially it is getting the same temperature air into the notebook as a notebook cooler would give. Making the need for a cooler useless.

Putting your laptop on an air conditioner...now that is true cooling

 

Exactly. Paying more $50 for a notebook cooler is such a waste! For the same price (~$75) you can buy a real AC to cool your room!

 

I think im gunna sell this cooler. Gunna sell it at the same price I bought it, it should sell fast imo.

 

I thought so too. It is literally almost the 1st cooler recommended by the experts on this forum =P

 

Hi folks,

Here is what I have found to be TRUE for me ... and why ...

1) I have tried lifting the back of my laptop with a 1/2" Door Wood Trim (smooth finish wood) and on a desktop ... yes it keeps the bottom of laptop and top of the desk cooler ... but still Hot ... may be not as HOT.

2) I tried using a cheap Persoanl Fan from Wal-Mart (4" and 6") ones and they work the best and Fastest to bring down your Temps.
NOW why it works .,.. just think you are in a warm room to COOL yourself down you pcik up a fan and BLOW the air into your face ... What Happens ... it cools your face ... right!?!? And that is all that matters.

3) I have used an Antec Cooler (which I got for FREE ...otherwise would opt for something else). First I thought the darn thing is a LEMON ... because it was super quiet and my Temps were NOT dropping down as fast as option #2 above ... (I was using HWMonitor 1.10) to constantly see my Temps ... long and behold ... after 5 minutes or so my Temps dropped. But I still don't like this Cooler because it sits FLAT and makes it harder to work on the laptop ... so!

Thanks,

G!

 

lol i got the targus chillmat and i get about a 5c drop on everything . glad i didnt put out the extra 40 bucks for the zalman.