Zalman Launches High-End CPU Cooler CNPS9900DF

[Guest]

Zalman's newest CPU air cooler features a dual-fan design in a push-pull configuration.


Zalman Launches High-End CPU Cooler CNPS9900DF : Read more

 

[ikyung]

I've always heard Zalmans were pretty good coolers, but haven't used one yet. Would like to see the benchmarks for these, and if they are good for the price, I would definitely get one.

 

[xkm1948]

Not very impressed with zalman, Used to have a cnps9700 on my old rig with q6600. It cant even keep it cool under stock speed. They do look pretty though.

 

[aznguy0028]

[citation][nom]xkm1948[/nom]Not very impressed with zalman, Used to have a cnps9700 on my old rig with q6600. It cant even keep it cool under stock speed. They do look pretty though.[/citation]
Yea I agree for the most part. I have the CNPS 9700 too, and now the CNPS 11x. They are decent coolers but definitely not the best temperature wise. It's enough to keep your cpu at a good temp with a decent overclock but they are pricey. If you want the best performance for the price range, there are definitely better options out there. For me, it was the looks that made me want them but I don't think my next build will be using a Zalman, most likely a mini-itx build with a closed loop water cooler.

 

[Maxx_Power]

Zalman was different and at least innovated back in the days when Athlon ruled the roost. Now, Zalman is really not competitive any more. With the likes of Thermalright, Noctua and Prolimatech ruling the roost in air cooling, and others (all with the identical coolers more or less) in closed loop liquid cooling, the rest of the market composed of the likes of Hyper 212, True Spirit, etc, Zalman really doesn't fit anywhere...

 

[jerm1027]

[citation][nom]ikyung[/nom]I've always heard Zalmans were pretty good coolers, but haven't used one yet. Would like to see the benchmarks for these, and if they are good for the price, I would definitely get one.[/citation]
I hope they changed the mounting system. Getting on the 1155 was a pain for me. Easy to install on my old AMD build though. Ended up going Xigmatek Dark Knight on my Intel rig, and it was downgrade, but easier to install.
[citation][nom]xkm1948[/nom]Not very impressed with zalman, Used to have a cnps9700 on my old rig with q6600. It cant even keep it cool under stock speed. They do look pretty though.[/citation]
That's just you being incompetent. Had a CNPS9900A-LED. Kept my Athlon II x4 630 really cool. In fact, after a 24-hour Prime95 torture test, my CPU never went above 35c on a 3.2GHz OC.

 

[azraa]

I agree with maxx_power.

Besides, I just read a review indicating that even when it does perform relatively well, it is extremely noisy. Those fans push a lot of air, which is good, but somehow it is as loud as the Tt Frio, and performs under it.

 

[azraa]

[citation][nom]azraa[/nom]I agree with maxx_power.Besides, I just read a review indicating that even when it does perform relatively well, it is extremely noisy. Those fans push a lot of air, which is good, but somehow it is as loud as the Tt Frio, and performs under it.[/citation]
Whoops, my bad, I read a review of the 9900 max, but its almost the same thing, with dual fans.

 

[kyuuketsuki]

Zalman has always worked great for me; have a Zalman on my i5-2500k @ 4.4GHz. Keeps it cool and I hear the case fans long before I hear the Zalman's fans.

Have to admit that my interest is wandering towards closed-loop liquid cooling setups for future rigs though.

 

[amuffin]

They are pretty quiet 😉

 

[Guest]

I have a zalman 9700 led for years, but i prefer having my Megahalems with no fans.

 

[buzznut]

Better be awesome for $90. That's approaching a Corsair H100 which would certainly be better. I think I'd even rather have the Zalman liquid cooler, which is $80 at newegg right now. I see it daily for $90 though.

 

[magikherbs]

Another beaut by Zalman.

My CPU and GPU keep asking me for a sweater and its all thier fault ! 😛

pEACe

 

[master_chen]

Absolute crap.

Zalman only did ONE good CPU Cooler so far, and that is CNPS12X. Everything else they make is utter trash.

 

[nukemaster]

Looks good. I honestly never had issues with any Zalman coolers.
The biggest issue I had was that the Freezer 7 performed nearly the same as the 9500AT, but the 9500 AT was actually very good at keeping heat down.

My cnps10x flex with NF-P12 fan also works very well

I do agree with some others on here. With coolers like the 212+ for such low prices and being only a few degrees hotter, It may be hard to sell high end coolers.

My reason for Air vs Water(self contained) is simple. If water fails. things heat rather quick if air fails it is not even a big deal. it takes a while and with larger coolers, you can even run passive

 

[TeKEffect]

[citation][nom]Kyuuketsuki[/nom]Zalman has always worked great for me; have a Zalman on my i5-2500k @ 4.4GHz. Keeps it cool and I hear the case fans long before I hear the Zalman's fans.Have to admit that my interest is wandering towards closed-loop liquid cooling setups for future rigs though.[/citation]
I got the H80 and love it. Real quiet and works great. Plus you never have to worry about clearance issues with RAM and what not because the bulk is moved away from the motherboard

 

[azraa]

Despite all the hating, the fans these guys equip are just phenomenal.
The blade design they use with this cooler pushes a crapload of air into the rad, but it seems that the circular shape is not really up to the challenge of that much static pressure (for what i suppose, its because quite some pressure is lost through the radial edge)

 

[jimmysmitty]

[citation][nom]ikyung[/nom]I've always heard Zalmans were pretty good coolers, but haven't used one yet. Would like to see the benchmarks for these, and if they are good for the price, I would definitely get one.[/citation]

Some of the best coolers are made by thewm in my opinion. I have had the CNPS9500 (P4) CNPS9700 (Q6600) and CNPS 9900MAX (2500K) and all work great for cooling.

[citation][nom]xkm1948[/nom]Not very impressed with zalman, Used to have a cnps9700 on my old rig with q6600. It cant even keep it cool under stock speed. They do look pretty though.[/citation]

You must be doing sdomething wrong then. I had a CNPS9700 on my Q6600 G0 running at 3GHz and under full load never broke 55c. My 2500K sits at 55c under full load as well wiht my CNPS9900MAX running at 4.5GHz. Zalman makes some of the best air coolers out there.

There are better but I also like Zalman for their unique style. Works great with my case and seup. If anything though their worst part is the mounting. But the 12X does have a better mounting system, maybe this one will too.

 

[tivatar]

It seems like Tom's should do another roundup for all these new push-pullers that have been coming to market lately. They all seem to make radical claims with arbitrary percentages, so why not get some hard numbers?

 

[face-plants]

Even if they're not at the top of the performance list anymore, I have never had a problem with any of the Zalman coolers I've used over the years (at least 2 dozen of them with around 10 in my own machines over the years). The CNPS series are what I always use and this newest one seems to be just a small improvement over its predecessor. It's a good design which is probably why it hasn't changed since the first ones I bought for my pentium 4 boxes way back when. Never had any fans go bad or start to sound like their bearings are grinding to pieces.

 

[madjimms]

No heatpipes that DIRECTLY contact the IHS? What about a shroud to keep the air from making a big cone so the air goes where you WANT it to go? This looks like the 5+ year old coolers they've had the whole time...

 

[cknobman]

I thought this looked amazing and was all in for getting one.......

until I saw the price.

I am not going higher than ~50-60 for air cooling.

 

[matt_b]

[citation][nom]maxx_power[/nom]Zalman was different and at least innovated back in the days when Athlon ruled the roost. Now, Zalman is really not competitive any more. With the likes of Thermalright, Noctua and Prolimatech ruling the roost in air cooling, and others (all with the identical coolers more or less) in closed loop liquid cooling, the rest of the market composed of the likes of Hyper 212, True Spirit, etc, Zalman really doesn't fit anywhere...[/citation]
Yeah Zalman USED to be the company to look at, but they've seemed to have lost their way over the past several years. For $90, it needs to be a rather good cooler. That amount will at least get you a good radiator and CPU block for an open water cooling setup, almost enough for the H100, or it would have to knock the Noctua D14 cooler off it's perch (probably the best air cooler) at that price point.

 

[fulle]

I have a system with a Zalman cooler as well, and... basically it cost me about 60 dollars to get inferior cooling performance to a 30 dollar Coolmaster product. Mine used a lot of copper ineffectively, was very heavy, and had a terrible mounting system. It's saving grace, was that it's fan was relatively quiet.

I would NOT recommend their products to anyone.

 

[Anomalyx]

[citation][nom]xkm1948[/nom]Not very impressed with zalman, Used to have a cnps9700 on my old rig with q6600. It cant even keep it cool under stock speed. They do look pretty though.[/citation]
I'd rather have a Zalman than a stock cooler. I have an older one (don't remember model #, but it has a single downward-blowing fan), and my latest CPU requires it. It consistently overheats under load when using the stock cooler, but the Zalman can handle it just fine.
Personally I'd rather have one of the tower-shaped coolers that you can put your own fan on, because I love super-quiet fans on an OCD level.