Socket-A Cooler Roundup: September 2001

When looking at the pictures on the last page, you might be wondering: Where is the fan? The fan is a separate part. Let's have a look at how the cooler looks when it is installed:

Performance and noise, conclusion 

Both the CNPS3100 and the CNPS3100 Gold performed exactly on par with one another, as expected. The cooling performance is disappointing - but CNPS (which stands for Computer Noise Prevention System) is about low noise and not about high cooling performance.

With the included adapter - which simply consists of two plugs, three wires and a resistor - the fan voltage can be lowered; the CNPS will then run in "noiseless mode". The expression "noiseless" isn't a marketing hype - it is simply true. In noiseless mode, the CNPS3001 is the quietest cooler we've ever tested (interesting detail: when the fan is mounted vertically, it is even a little quieter than when it's mounted horizontally). When the fan alone runs in an otherwise silent room, you really have to listen carefully to hear it, and when the cooler is installed in the case, it is absolutely unhearable.

The cooling performance in "noiseless mode", however, is even more disappointing. If you plan to buy the fastest AMD CPU on the market, or if you even have overclocking plans, then the CNPS3001 isn't for you.  However, even in noiseless mode, the CNPS3001 will provide just enough cooling to keep a 1GHz Athlon (Thunderbird), or a 1.2GHz Athlon MP (Palomino). So if you have such a CPU - or a a slower one  - then the CNPS3001 can be a good choice. Again, this cooler isn't just quiet, it's silent. It is also a good choice for noise-conscious users of non-overclocked Celeron and P3 CPUs - the cooling requirements of current Intel CPUs are not as high as of their AMD counterparts. In any case, check case and motherboard compability before buying this cooler. If it doesn't fit your motherboard, it will perform even worse than it already does.