Zalman CNPS7000B-ALCU vs CNPS7000B-CU

Is the AlCu alot worse? I'm on a reasonably tight budget, and just want something to improve the temperatures of this A64 3000+ Winnie..

The difference in price for me is 50%...

Or, I could blow my budget for new graphics cooling and get a CNPS7700-CU..

Advice?

yes, alcu is worse but not 50% worse.

what is your budget and where are you located?

Budget is about $75NZ...

And, funnily enough, I'm located in New Zealand

uhm...ok...i don't have much experience with the NZ market...do you have any retailers you were thinking about purchasing from? If you can post a link to their sites, it will help so we can choose from the ones available to you.

http://www.quietpc.com/nz/order.php

That was where I was planning on it... I'll have a look around, but I think that's the cheapest.

i'd get the alcu just for the fact that it isn't as heavy. i have the cnps7000cu and i'm pretty weary when moving my case around

Haven't seen any A/B tests between the 7700's, but on the 7000's the cu beat out the alcu by a pretty solid 4 or 5 degrees C on several tests I've seen.

Guess you have to decide how much 4 or 5 *C is worth.

As for weight, it seems everyone complains about the cu, but no one yet has had one break anything (tho I'm sure someone will now come forward to prove me wrong).

I've had several 7000's & 7700's, & always went w/the cu's, cuz of their better performance. In some instances i still found thier performance lacking & modded 'em w/Delta fans. Even that wasn't enough for serious overclocking of Prescotts.

Now that I just did my first H20 set-up today, I'd say screw the HSF, & go water!

Sorry, water really is a world of difference, but that wasn't your question. I'd get the cu if your going to try'n do any halfway serious OCing...at least you know you got the best of the "Quiet HSF's". I'd also consider an XP-90/120 with a reasonably quiet fan, if you're trying to get quiet & performance in one package. Or get an XP w/a hi-po fan and use a rheo to find ur sweet spot.

Strat

Again, it depends on if the few degrees difference is worth it to you. If it is, get the Cu version.

Myself, I would probably go with the Scythe Ninja and a 120mm fan, though it will move you out of your budget.