Zalman NC2000 Notebook Cooler
Feature
We got our hands on their top of the line model for notebooks, the ZM-NC2000. In the following, we’ll take a look at it, and of course find out just how much cooler it really keeps your laptop.
As we can see, the system ran rather hot during Crysis, especially the GPU. The hard drive was also approaching temperatures where the lifetime and data retaining capacity of the disk may suffer. Naturally, notebook coolers are designed to combat specifically these kinds of problems. Therefore, we played through the aforementioned missions again, this time with the NC2000 running at top speed.
Test: Crysis-Onslaught, Cooler ON
System Thermometer: 64°C
CPU Core0: 57°C
CPU Core1 : 58°C
Graphics Card: 88°C
Hard Drive: 40°C
Test: Crysis-Reckoning, Cooler ON
System Thermometer: 64°C
CPU Core0: 58°C
CPU Core1 : 58°C
Graphics Card: 88°C
Hard Drive: 40°C
The results are, to say the least, profound. For Onslaught, all temperatures except the GPU went down by 8-13°C, and on Reckoning, temperatures dropped by 7-11°C, a very good result.
Sadly, the GPU remained unaffected by the cooler. However, we believe this is due to the construction of the notebook, as well as the fact that the GPU is simply too powerful to be properly cooled by mere flowing air. On the other hand, all other temperatures dropped by up to 20%, which should go a long way towards maximizing the lifespan of such a high-end notebook.
Rating
Looks: 9/10
Build Quality: 9/10
Cooling Performance: 8/10
Usability: 8/10
Portability: 6/10
Average: 8/10
Overall, we have to say we’ve become big fans of the Zalman NC2000. Not only does it do a superb job at cooling laptops, but it also looks very nice and is built like a rock. Minor flaws, such as the “spongy” feeling of the ON/OFF button, and the somewhat smudge-prone finish are really minor gripes and cannot distract from the upsides of the NC2000. All in all, if you own a high-end laptop, you will definitely want to consider buying such a product to protect your investment.