![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Tuesday , December 15, 2009
- Author:
- Marc Adams
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
ZALMAN CNPS10X Flex CPU Cooler Review
ZALMAN is back with a new CPU air-cooler. This one sports a plethora of supported CPUs, tons of heatpipes, and a sleek new design while not weighing in so big that you must be concerned about it fitting inside your standard chassis. But now days air cooling comes down to performance and cost with so many in the market place.
ZALMAN CNPS10X Flex
The CNPS10X Flex from ZALMAN is designed to be a light weight versatile heat sink. I say versatile because the lack of an included fan gives you the flexibility of choosing a high RPM or silent fan. It also allows you to install up to two fans should you need extra cooling power. Overall what we have is a standard tower design with a little bit of flare thrown in for good measure.
Package & Specs
ZALMAN packages the heat sink in a very colorful box that is full of useful information and offers plenty of protection. This will be very helpful if you find yourself in a brick & mortar store.
Where this cooler really shines is in its compatibility list which goes back all the way to the AMD 754.
Dimensions: (L)133mm x (W)74mm x (H)151mm
Weight: 700g (w/o Fan)
Material: Copper heat pipes & base with aluminum cooling fins
Heat Pipes: 5 - full length, 6mm heat pipes
Compatibility:
- LGA 1366
- LGA 1156
- LGA 775
Intel
- AM2
- AM2+
- AM3
- 940
- 939
- 754
AMD
Fan
No fan included
Contents & Flatness
ZALMAN includes all necessary items required to install the CNPS10X Flex, including two sets of fan clips and premium thermal paste.
ZALMAN uses a polished finish for the base of their heat sinks which gives the impression of quality. Remember though that a polished base is not always a flat base and if you have to choose between polished and flat, flat is always the way to go. Of course having a flat and polished base is the pinnacle and here we see that is exactly what ZALMAN gives us.
Photos
Some various angles of the ZALMAN CNPS10X Flex
Installation & Contact
Installing the cooler takes a bit of time due to all the hardware that is involved in the process so make sure you set aside plenty of time. Removal of the motherboard is required which is par for today’s high end coolers.
Once installed we can that using a standard 25mm thick fan will result in the loss of the first RAM slot. Using a slim fan will rectify the issue though you may lose some cooling performance.
Lastly we see that the CNPS10X Flex leaves plenty of room underneath to clear all but the largest of motherboard cooling components.
Contact with the CPU is good. Though I should point out that because this cooler requires the tightening of four screws care must be taken to ensure equal pressure across the base of the heat sink. If you fully tighten each screw before moving on to the next you will end up uneven pressure and less than ideal performance.