Zalman products

Doing some reading on newegg, people seem to hold the brand Zalman in high regard as far as CPU heatsinks go. I've got the stock one on my E6600 and had a tough time with one on a Socket 478 and I just wondered if the performance increase is worth it for about a $35 investment and if the product is that much better as far as the structure and reliability goes. And of course, the whole CPU temperature cooling thing.

I'm not really in the market to bother with a water cooling system (really, if you OC that much to need that, you should just have bought a different CPU), but a different fan is possible. I'd be looking at one to fit the LGA775s, as I plan to get a Q6600 this summer if the price just drops a liiiiiiitle bit more. Thanks in advance for suggestions and experience stories.