Zalman Releases a Triple Fan CNPS12X CPU Cooler

[RADIO_ACTIVE]

Cool design, but a bit pricey. Looks like it may be a hard one to install because of the clearance.

 

[beardguy]

$92!!

Nope. It's nice, but there are better coolers for cheaper.

 

[schmich]

The most important are not the fans. The most important are having the best conductivity for the heat. So the heatpipes might be the most important. No point having a cool upper area of the cooler when heal travels slowly. Hopefully this cooler excels in this regards as much as it does with its airflow.

 

[sykozis]

[citation][nom]otacon72[/nom]Um yeah I want to be able to sleep at night.[/citation]
If 24dba is enough to keep you up at night....your hearing is far more sensitive than the majority of the world's population.
[citation][nom]Teramedia[/nom]Too bad all of the fins are parallel to the MB plane. A different arrangement would have afforded better coolling to MB VRs, NB/PCH, etc.But still nice looking.[/citation]
It's not the job of the CPU HSF, to cool motherboard components...

 

[Guest]

Or you could use a vacuum cleaner lol. Cpu's should always come without coolers it's much more fun to buy and pick one. Although with coolers included in the box why bother, unless you make an extreme overclock that can cook eggs.

 

[_Pez_]

I like this article. it is very informative

 

[dragonsqrrl]

[citation][nom]killerclick[/nom]Since when is 850 rpm quiet? Airflow alone will make too much noise.[/citation]
850 rpm is pretty low for a 120mm fan. That's definitely in the range of 120mm case fans marketed as "silent" or "quiet". It all depends on the manufacturer, but Zalman has traditionally been good about keeping noise levels low. As for three running on a single heatsink at once... I have no idea.

 

[clonazepam]

This plus multiple chrome gpu coolers would look very Terminator 2ish... sorry for lack of a better description. If the fans took well to chrome-like paint, or just found chrome colored fans it'd be even more ridiculous (and cool, pun intended).

 

[vigilante212]

Looks cool, but how well does it work. I don't buy heat sinks for looks. And I'm not a fan of the direct contact heat pipes because they have less contact area.

 

[Guest]

Its beautiful
I love Zalmans CPU coolers, although I only owned one the CNPS9900 120mm. Only dislike is they are a dust trap with all that surface area, just keep some compressed air on hand.

Can't wait for benchmarks!

 

[AbdullahG]

That's one attractive CPU cooler. The Noctua looks plain ugly to me. I hope it takes Noctuas crown >

 

[whysobluepandabear]

This will probably be one of the top coolers (not the best), but also carry a premium price tag for looks and materials.

Not much different from anything else - you pay for good, appeasing looks.


Personally, if I was going to spend $60-70 on a good after market heatsink, I'd just blow another $20-30 more and get this -- $30 is worth making me think "Wow, this looks good and makes me feel happy about buying it".

 

[__Miguel_]

[citation][nom]sykozis[/nom]If 24dba is enough to keep you up at night....your hearing is far more sensitive than the majority of the world's population.[/citation]
It might not keep you from sleeping, but it sure hinders your ability to rest. My former NAS machine was clearly audible through a wooden door, and though it was quiet, I did sleep much better when it was off during the night. Part of you is still "up" even when you're sleeping, to make sure you can jump right up if attacked (basic survival instinct). The more noise there is on the outside, the more "awake" you need to be to filter out ambient noises...

[citation]It's not the job of the CPU HSF, to cool motherboard components...[/citation]
Actually, AFAIK standard ATX implementations do expect some airflow to "spill" over from the CPU HSF to the rest of the motherboard to at least keep voltage regulators cooler. Past HSF reviews have stated that more than once. That is also why there have been a few motherboard makers that have offered VR fans (Asus comes to mind) for high-end motherboards to be used with no motherboard-facing airflow.

So yeah, it kind of is the job of the CPU HSF to keep the rest of the motherboard cool.

In any case, and not ditching this product's abilities (I haven't seen a review yet), but don't both Intel and AMD CPUs get to the base OC limit on air with stock or near-stock HSFs? I mean, 4.5GHz from a 2500K seems to be relatively doable without too much trouble or elevated voltage (which can actually kill the CPU). More speed usually needs more voltage and sub-ambient temperatures outside the ability of air coolers...

Still, quite a looker. Way down on my "to buy" list, though... My standard LGA775/1156 CPU HSFs are still good enough. Maybe if I win a lottery or something... hehehe

Cheers.

Miguel

 

[jsc]

I will wait to see what Frostytech has to say abou tit.

 

[oblivionlord]

24dba is highly inaudible for a running system. Ambient noise even in what appears a dead silence in a room at night alone is around the high 20s to low 30s. Therefore adding a 24dba fan within this room will make no difference.

 

[nebun]

[citation][nom]icepick314[/nom]how good are the composite heatpipes compared to copper heatpipes?[/citation]
the heat-pipes are made of pure copper, but they are nickel plated to prevent tarnishing...copper gets very ugly when it's touched with oily hands

 

[Guest]

Direct contact pipes = TRASH. Medieval Times. Absolute FAIL.
Also: 22 dBA at 850 RPM (against 19 dBA at 750 RPM on NH-D14 + Bearings that NH-D14 uses, are SSO Hydrodynamic, "BEST Bearings In The World", no exceptions) = Total Suckage.
If only Zalman have had used at least some brains, they'd do better..but they failed, again.
I would prefer to stay at my NH-D14 and Silver Arrow, thank you very much *impersonates Cinema Snob*.

 

[Rizlla]

This cooler looks seriously cool, but I will stick to my CNPS 9900A LED cooler. It fits in perfectly with my setup.

 

[ChromeTusk]

Review and benchmark please!
I hope all six heatpipes are able to make full contact with the CPU. One small disappointment is the 3-pin fan connector rather than a 4-pin PWM, but that might be a trade off from using a single connector for all 3 fans.

Hopefully it will clear those tall heatsink rams like the Corsair Vengence.

The manual from Zalman's product page stated 154mm front-to-back x 151mm
wide x 132mm high.

... It's not the job of the CPU HSF, to cool motherboard components...

Actually, the top-down design of stock coolers help create airflow to cool the motherboard.

 

[eddieroolz]

That looks badass, but Zalmans were never known for performance/dollar so maybe just a pipe dream for me.

 

[ChromeTusk]

I have the CNPS9900 with its dual heat sink (the fan is sandwiched between the two halves) and it's huge. This heatsink evolves that concept further by slapping two more fans on the two sides and it is even bigger. Mine has 4 heatpipes, this has 6. I wonder what CPU is this intended to cool - the older model was sufficient for cooling overclocked 130W Intel CPUs and it only had 4 pipes...

I own the CNPS9900A which measures 94mm compared to 151mm (as stated by Zalman, http://www.zalman.com/ENG/product/CategorySecond_Pic.asp?categoryname=Coolers&categorySecond=CAS1 ). Many reviews and users on forums say you can get more efficient coolers for less money, usually mentioning the CM 212+. I chose Zalman because they look better while still getting the job done.

2.2 pounds? I can't wait to see the mounting hardware and back plate!

The manual is available at Zalman's product page, http://www.zalman.com/ENG/product/Product_Read.asp?Idx=449

 

[hypetype15]

MEN i can make this my ventilation in my house..good for 1year gamers..heehee..

 

[halcyon]

[citation][nom]vivivava[/nom]I wonder what CPU is this intended to cool - the older model was sufficient for cooling overclocked 130W Intel CPUs and it only had 4 pipes...[/citation]...way to resurrect this thread. LOL.

 

[seanhallam]

2.2 Pounds is a scary thing to put on a thin motherboard.