Thursday, December 15th 2011
Zalman Intros CNPS20LQ CPU Cooler
Zalman took its first dip into water cooling after a while, with the CNPS20LQ, a self-contained (closed loop) CPU cooler. Designed and made originally by Asetek, a well-established brand name in OEM water cooling solutions, the CNPS20LQ uses a single-fan (dual-fan capable) radiator design. Its radiator measures 120 (W) x 158 (L) x 25 (H) mm. The radiator houses a small reservoir. The block houses a pump, which draws power from standard 4-pin CPU power header, and supports PWM control. The two are connected by flexible tubing. The block features a copper base with pre-applied thermal interface material. The CNPS20LQ supports all current socket types, including Intel LGA2011, LGA1155/1156, LGA1366, LGA775; AMD AM3+, FM1, and AM3/AM2+/AM2. It is priced at €69.90.
29 Comments on Zalman Intros CNPS20LQ CPU Cooler
I recently aquired the AMD FX watercooler...it works really good, far better than my H70. Nice to see PWM control on this unit as well!
Not just different aesthetics.
Different pump, maybe a copper fin radiator rather than allu fin.
Hell maybe some kind of dual radiator design ( fan in the middle like a dual tower) with space for two additional fans.
bit of a let down.
Willing to give one a try if someone can find one.
Sure theyve released a few new coolers, but i dont think thats their main focus anymore.
when I think of Zalman I think coolers... not 3d monitors or SSDs
As long as QC is decent it doesn't matter, also there's no way in hell I'd run it in my system without 48 hour leak testing and adding some cable ties round the connections :p
Beside I kinda like gambling with pc components I've found some decent hardware through doing it : ]
The power supply I'm using for example is a bargain!
Voltages nice and steady, doesn't run overly hot and it's modular.
It was about half the price of other 750w modular psus :laugh:
Chose it based on it actually having non BS wattage/amperage on the label ( where as most generics obviously say 750w! and then when you look a bit closer at the label you realise it doesn't add up :laugh: )
GPU cooler is fairly epic as well, although it's universal design is both a + and - .
( meant I had to chop up my stock support/cooling plate he he)
Chinese people are great at salvaging stuff. and its that ability that worries me as stuff they salage could end up anywhere and the QC sticker is more for decoration then stating the item has been 'Quality Checked'.
If you get burnt - you only have yourself to blame. Im sure you already know what sort of cheap rubbish that are widely available off the chinese highstreets.
I can spot bullshit specs from a mile off, don't you worry ;)
If they were lying about specs the PSU would be spitting out fire when I put my system underload, the temperatures are fine and dandy.
I've had EZ cool psus before that spat out 45 degree air.
That's how you tell they're lying :laugh:
For example a crappy power supply would add together the 3.3 5v rail and 12v rail to get the total wattage.
Say for example ( purely made up fictional numbers here, just wanted to add up to 1000 lol)
It would have 250w for 3.3 and 12v and then have 750w for the 12v and claim the PSU was a 1000w unit.
Even the 750w for the 12v rails is wrong because they're using the maximums say ( again for example, this wouldn't make sense with the above wattage) 2x20 amps.
Where as actual fact it can't really supply 20 amps per rail, it be closer to 25-30 amps for BOTH rails, it just each rail can handle 20amps.
So after you take this all into account the "1000" w psu ends up being 600w but you won't find that out until you try and run 1000w through it ha ha.
( or, you could read the label ;) )
They used to have a niche market with their circular fin designs.
Now they are behind in cooling or keeping up by being like everyone else.
This water cooling unit looks a lot like an Antec Khuler to me.
Alternatives: XSPC Rasa 750 RS240, XSPC Rasa 750 RS360 Im suprised your reserator has lasted this long, though saying that, there are hundreds of websites out there where you can mod a newer/powerful pump to replace the old one. the limitation of the Reserator is the fact that is air cooled, so it really depends what you hook it upto and how many things youve hooked it upto. I dont think it would be so great for crossfired 6950's and overvolted/overclocked 2500k and upwards unless you cabletie some delta fans to it which totally defeats the idea behind the reserator's 'passive' cooling.
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If youre still running one of those units anyhoo - youre hardware is most likely from that era too as Zalman have long since discontinued it which means no new waterblocks or other accessories etc etc unless the blocks from other brands work with it
Hardly stoneage hardware... ;)