Verdict: Nickel-coated and Nvidia-approved, but worse than the CNPS9700 LED.

At first glance, the CNPS9700 NT appears almost identical to the CNPS9700 LED, but there is, in fact, more than a cosmetic difference between the two.

The design is essentially the same as that of the CNPS9700 LED, although the copper fins and heatpipes of the CNPS9700 NT are nickel-coated, and the blue LEDs of the CNPS9700 LED have been ditched in favour of green LEDs. This is because the CNPS9700 NT is officially recommended by Nvidia, although quite what that's supposed to mean is anybody's guess, given that Nvidia doesn't manufacture CPUs. The biggest difference between the two models is that the speed of 110mm fan in the CNPS9700 NT is automatically adjusted by PWM.

Installing the CNPS9700 NT on a Socket AM2 CPU is both quick and easy, as it simply clips onto the standard mounting bracket. Strangely, though, the CNPS9700 NT proved to be less effective than the CNPS9700 LED, as it cooled our Athlon 64 X2 CPU to 14ûC below the reference AMD HSF, compared to 20ûC for the CNPS9700 LED. The CNPS9700 NT is a pain to install in LGA775 motherboards too, as it has to be screwed through the motherboard. With PWM active, the CPU ran 7ûC cooler than it did with the reference Intel HSF.

Like many PWM-controlled fans we've seen, the CNPS9700 NT has a tendency to whine annoyingly as it changes speed, so it's a lot less pleasant to listen to than the CNPS9700 LED. Given that it's slightly more expensive too, it makes no sense to buy this Nvidia-approved HSF.

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