![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Thursday , July 23, 2009
- Author:
- Marc Adams
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
Intel Core i7 Heatsink Roundup Q309
Thermalright TRUE processor cooler has been king of the hill for quite some time. Today we bring in four new challengers to see if any of them have what it takes to make our short list of coolers to buy for your next enthusiast box build.
ZALMAN CNPS10X Extreme
Always known for high end gear, ZALMAN is back with a new flagship cooler dubbed the CNPS10X Extreme. Tongue twisting names aside, this cooler has some pretty innovative features. Not only does it come with loads of compatibility, but it comes ready for work with five full-length heat pipes, a dense array of cooling fins and an integrated fan controller that allows both manual and automatic operation. That’s a lot of marketing check points for one cooler. Let’s break it all down and see how well it performs.
Package & Specs
The CNPS10X Extreme comes in an informative box filled with specs and details, convenient for those picking one up in a retail store. All accessories are stored in a secondary box preventing any damage to the fan or fins during transit.
Dimensions: 135 (L) x 100 (W) x 160 (H) mm
Weight: 920g
Material: Aluminum fins with copper base
Heat Pipes: 5 x 6mm heat pipes
Compatibility:
- Intel LGA 1366
- Intel LGA 775
- AMD 754
- AMD 939
- AMD AM2/AM2+
Fan:
- Size: 110 x 25mm
- Speed: 1000 ~ 2150 RPM
- Noise Level: 20 ~ 39 dBA
Contents & Flatness
Zalman includes a large assortment of accessories to aid with the installation of their cooler. Instructions, brackets, thermal paste and more, it’s all there.
The base of the CNPS10X Extreme is extremely flat and highly polished. The polishing is a nice touch but one that comes secondary to the flatness of the base. A highly polished base that is not flat will perform much more poorly than one that is very flat but not polished. In this case it appears ZALMAN gives you both.
Photos
Here are some photos of the CNPS10X Extreme from different angles including a close up of the fan controller in the last photo. The dial controls the speed in manual mode, the button switches between auto and manual and the LEDs let you know which mode you’ve selected.
Installation
Installing the ZALMAN CNPS10X is so far its biggest weakness. It requires the removal of the motherboard which isn’t the problem. The mounting plate used to hold the heat sink in place is larger than the four mounting holes by design. The cooler is heavy to say the least but the mounting system leaves much to be desired.
After installing the cooler you will notice that on our board we lose the first DIMM slot on this particular motherboard. While your mileage may vary, we think this will be a problem with many installations. I’m not sure how many of you may be running 12 GB of RAM but this is not good news. Even for those running 6 GB if your board is more stable when using the first DIMM slot than you will be forced to turn the cooler 180 degrees and point it so it’s blowing towards your RAM.
The base of the ZALMAN cooler made excellent contact with the CPU, which is the first step towards solid performance. Any warping of the base would cause reduced performance and headaches for the user while they tried troubleshooting the cause.