Introduction

Making cool the coolest ....

Zalman recently released a new series of CNPS (Computer Noise Prevention System ) heatpipe based coolers. They are tagged within the 10X label and come in a wide variety of choices and selections. Now granted, the heatpipe CPU cooler based market is getting utterly saturated and there's just not a lot that can be improved. But there are differences to be found in the low/mid-range and high-end segments. The only real names that stand out there with new ideas and options are players like Noctua, Thermalright and as you'll learn today Zalman.

Now we received these coolers a while ago already, and due to other priority reviews this article got delayed a little. Next to that, I honestly wasn't expecting too much from the new Zalman coolers. But boy -- was I wrong. Zalman overhauled the design in such a manner that the 10X coolers will offer fabulous cooling performance at selectable noise levels. See the new coolers come with an embedded fan controller -- and even at the lowest noise levels and RPM these cooler still perform extremely; and I really do mean extremely well.

The new 10X coolers include five nice big heatpipes being cooled by a grotesque 120mm fan. The PWM Fan comes with RPM Control which allows you to fine tune the cooler to your specific cooling requirements. And all that in a nice design and not too huge (in dimension) sized cooler.

Zalman offers three models in the 10X range:

• CNPS10X Flex (dual fans)
• CNPS10X Extreme
• CNPS10X Quiet

We will put two out of the three to the test namely the CNPS10X Extreme and CNPS10X Quiet. Both coolers impressed us a lot. Let's head on over to the next page where we'll look into their specifications. But first -- have a peek.