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February 14, 2010 by Lawrence Lee
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Product
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Zalman CNPS10X Flex
CPU Cooler |
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Manufacturer
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Zalman |
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Street Price
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US$45~$55 |
Last summer, after years of banking on the radial heatsink design made famous
in their CNPS7000 series of CPU coolers, Zalman finally put out a conventional
tower style heatsink, the CNPS10X
Extreme. Its release brought Zalman back in competition with high performance
heatsink makers like Thermalright, Noctua, and Scythe. However its cooling proficiency
was decidedly unimpressive compared to the best coolers of today, particularly
when paired with a low speed fan which is an important requirement for silent/quiet
computing. Its lackluster performance combined with the high price-tag makes
its competitors far more desirable.
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The box.
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The CNPS10X Flex is more affordable, being a simpler version of the Extreme.
The nickel-plating, extravagant fan controller, and stock fan with a custom
housing did little to improve the actual performance of the Extreme and are
noticeably absent on the Flex. The heatsink structure is basically the same,
though the surface design has been altered somewhat, and accommodations have
been made on the back side for a second fan. The mounting system has been improved
as well, with a single multi-socket backplate; there is no plastic mount hardware
this time around. It will be interesting to see if these changes will result
in more effective cooling.
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Package contents include a mult-socket backplate, anti-vibration strips,
and four wire fan clips.
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Feature & Brief
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Our Comment
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Dual Fan Support
The heatsink is designed to accommodate one or two fans according to the
user’s preference. |
As the CNPS10X series has tightly spaced
fins and is wider than most heatsinks, an extra fan would certainly be beneficial. |
Powerful Cooling Performance
Optimally designed aluminum fins disperse heat away from the CPU via 5 heatpipes,
while the high capacity 120mm fan quickly cools the heatsink for stable
operation of high performance CPUs. |
Remains to be seen. |
180mm Wide Case Compatibility
For optimum case compatibility the heatsink’s height is set to 151mm,
ensuring compatibility with 180mm width cases. |
151mm puts it about 10mm shorter than
the tallest tower heatsinks. |
Differentiated Design
Differentiated from typical U-shaped heatpipe coolers, a central band of
black anodized fins adds a sleek and cool aesthetic finish. |
The black stripe is distinguishable,
but hardly practical. Listing this as a major feature is reaching. |
High Performance Super Thermal Grease
ZM-STG2
New high performance thermal grease ZM-STG2 maximizes heat transfer from
the CPU to the base of CNPS10X FLEX for intensified cooling performance. |
In our experience, most TIMs perform
very closely to one another. |
Versatile Compatibility
CNPS10X Flex accommodates a broad range of sockets.
Intel LGA1156/1366/775, AMD AM3/AM2+/AM2/754/939/940 |
We applaud Zalman for implementing a
hard mounting system for all sockets. |
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| Dimensions |
133(L) X 74(W) X 151(H)mm |
Weight
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700g |
Materials
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Fins: Aluminum / Base: Copper |
Dissipation Area
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8,200cm2 |
| Heatpipes |
5 U-shaped heatpipes |
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Compatibility List
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| Intel |
LGA1156
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Core i7
Core i5
Core i3 |
| LGA1366 |
Core i7 |
| LGA775 |
Core 2 Quad
Core 2 Duo
Core 2 Extreme
Pentium Dual Core
Pentium D
Pentium 4
Celeron D |
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AMD
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AM3 |
Phenom II
Athlon II |
| AM2+ |
Phenom II
Phenom
Athlon FX, Athlon 64 FX
Athlon X2, Athlon 64 X2
Athlon, Athlon 64
Sempron |
| AM2 |
Athlon FX, Athlon 64 FX
Athlon X2, Athlon 64 X2
Athlon, Athlon 64
Sempron |
| 940 |
Dual-Core Opteron
Opteron
Athlon FX, Athlon 64 FX |
| 939 |
Dual-Core Opteron
Opteron
Athlon FX, Athlon 64 FX
Athlon X2, Athlon 64 X2
Athlon, Athlon 64 |
| 754 |
Athlon, Athlon 64
Sempron |
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