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Review and testing of Zalman CNPS10X Quiet

Table of contents

1. Introduction

2. Packing and equipment

3. Specifications and features

4. Deep analysis

5. Installation of the cooling system

6. Testing and performance

7. Noise level

8. Conclusion

Introduction

The well-known Korean company Zalman has been on the market for at least ten years, for all the time of its activity it has managed to release many interesting products. The same applies to cooling systems for processors. The design developed back in 2005 was used until recently and was considered a proprietary one. Three or four years ago, it really was effective, but during this time competitors have moved far ahead, and the "proprietary" design has become, to put it mildly, useless to anyone. Everyone understood that it was time to release completely new products and move away from old technologies. More recently, Zalman has taken on a refresh of the processor cooling system lineup. This cannot but rejoice, as well as the fact that, finally, it was decided to abandon the outdated, but now classic design for Zalman coolers. The hero of our review, Zalman CNPS10X Quiet, is one of the recent novelties that followed the Zalman CNPS10X Extreme. From the name it is clear that it should be quiet, but the performance of this cooling system is what we have to find out in this review.

Packaging and equipment

The Zalman CNPS10X Quiet cooling system comes in a large cardboard box with the name of the cooler printed on each side. Also on the colorful box you can see the inscription Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler, which means that this product is aimed at quiet operation. On the front side, according to the old tradition of Zalman, through a transparent window you can see the cooler itself. On the same side, the Fan Mate 2 technology is mentioned - borrowed from its fellow Zalman CNPS10X Extreme. On the left side you can familiarize yourself with all the technical characteristics of the product, and on the right you can study the photos of the cooling system. All the features that distinguish this product from others are painted on the back of the box.

The Zalman CNPS10X Quiet package includes a full set of fasteners for compatibility with all modern processor sockets, including the latest Intel LGA 1156 socket at the time of the cooler release. The kit is complemented by backplates for all corresponding sockets, screw sets, fan speed controller, installation instructions and a good supply of thermal paste. Well, the delivery set is as always on top - under no circumstances will you have to buy accessories for this cooler. The radiator itself is sealed in a plastic shell, which must protect it from mechanical damage in order to get into the hands of the buyer safe and sound.

Specifications and features

The dimensions of the cooling system are 135 x 100 x 160 millimeters, the base and heat pipes are made of copper, and the radiator fins are made of aluminum. Five heat pipes with a diameter of 6 mm are involved in heat transfer from the base, and a 120 mm fan is blowing the radiator fins. The revolutions are regulated with a separate controller in the range from 700 to 1400 rpm. The fully assembled system weighs 780 grams.

According to the manufacturer, it is these features that should attract the buyer:

- Zalman CNPS10X Quiet has a special heatpipe arrangement and heat sink design, together this should improve cooling efficiency.

- The new fan, designed with the "Ultra Quiet Architecture" technology, should provide a low noise level at high speeds.

- The brand new ZM-STG2 branded thermal grease should minimize the contact thermal resistance between the processor heat-transfer cover and the cooler base.

- Stylish design, especially striking array of blue radiator fins.

- Enhanced Fan Mate 2 controller allows you to easily adjust the fan speed.

- Most importantly, Zalman CNPS10X Quiet can be installed on any modern processor socket.

Deep Scan

On closer inspection, it becomes obvious that this is a quality product. The aluminum fins are high quality soldered together with copper heat pipes. The blue color of the central part of the radiator is achieved thanks to the anodized coating. The heat pipes themselves are not painted or covered with anything. Only the upper part of the heat sink is nickel-plated. The hero of our review has five U-shaped heat pipes, together they penetrate the radiator fins in ten places. The uppermost plate bears the manufacturer's logo and is polished to a high gloss. The fan on the radiator is supported by two steel brackets, which makes it possible to quickly and easily remove the fan.

The turntable itself has a three-pin connector, so there is no way to control the rotation speed. This opportunity will appear if you connect the included Fan Mate 2 controller in the power supply circuit break. The controller itself is supplied with a long cable, so that it can be easily removed outside the case. The contact surface of the heat sink is polished to a mirror finish. It seems that this has become the norm for Zalman.

Cooling system installation

First of all, before installing, it is worth removing the fan. The fact is that with a fan, the basis of the cooling system becomes difficult to access, and all the manipulations will have to be carried out there. It will not be a problem to apply thermal paste, since it is in a syringe, from which it will not be a problem to squeeze out the required amount of paste. Thermal paste has a liquid consistency, so you don't need to smear it too much - just mount the cooling system on the processor, and the paste spreads itself under the pressure of the pressure. By the way, the sole of the heat sink has a perfectly flat surface, which, coupled with excellent polishing, should provide good thermal conductivity.

Those who have a computer based on an AMD processor are lucky as always. For installation, you just need to fix the heatsink on the processor using the bracket included in the kit. The standard plastic frame is designed for this. To install a cooling system on Intel processors, you must first dismantle the motherboard and put a backplate on the back. And only after that, engage in the installation of the cooling system itself.

After installation, connect the fan. The scheme is as follows: first, we connect the fan itself to the Fan Mate 2 controller, and then the controller itself to the motherboard. But since the fan connector has a standard three-pin connector, it can be connected directly and always be content with the maximum speed.

Due to the fact that the radiator is quite wide, there may be a problem with access to the RAM slots, you may have to sacrifice one or two slots closest to the processor. Intel processors are lucky in this case, since they have the ability to rotate the cooling system by 90 degrees and free up the necessary slots.

Testing and performance

All tests of the Zalman CNPS10X Quiet cooler were conducted with an AMD Phenom II 955 CPU. No load mode was an empty desktop with no running applications. And the processor was loaded and warmed up using the Prime95 program. The temperature was read using the CoreTemp program, which takes data from sensors in the cores themselves. Without overclocking the processor and at a nominal voltage of 1.35 Volts, the hero of our testing at minimum speed shows similar results with the standard cooling system that comes with the processor itself. But as soon as you set the rpm to maximum, its performance becomes comparable to that of Cooler Master V8.At maximum load, the processor temperature was kept at 61 degrees at minimum speed and reduced to 59 degrees Celsius at maximum speed. It's funny that the boxed cooler was not at all suitable for cooling the processor in this mode. The test was terminated when the temperature reached the critical 90 degrees Celsius. The test results show that the hero of our review copes with the cooling of the overclocked quad core without any problems, while the noise level does not cause any discomfort. Considering the overall result, the Zalman CNPS10X Quiet is only slightly behind the Cooler Master V10, which is heavier and less quiet.

Noise level

As the name suggests, the noise performance is high and will satisfy the most sophisticated customer. At the minimum speed, it is completely silent, even with a small margin: the Samsung 1000GB SpinPoint that worked during the tests made more noise! But even at maximum rpm, it will not work louder than the rest of the computer. In real operating conditions, its noise will simply be lost. It is one of the quietest active coolers on the market.

Conclusion

At its not the lowest price, the Zalman CNPS10X Quiet has many positive aspects. First of all, this is its noise characteristics during operation, as well as an excellent design that will attract not only supporters of extreme overclocking, but also modders. A well-thought-out delivery set and high-quality assembly only confirm the high professionalism of Zalman engineers. In addition to all that has been said, the cooler has additional trump cards to attract buyers in the form of a unique fan speed controller and a large tube of thermal paste. The advantages include high performance for its size and pleasant design, easy installation and quiet operation. The scope of delivery will also please. There are also disadvantages, it is a relatively complicated installation process on Intel processors and the impossibility of installing RAM in the first two slots on AMD platforms.

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