Zalman Unveils CNPS2X Ultra-Compact CPU Cooler

[btarunr]

Korean PC cooling specialist Zalman announced a rehash of one of its oldest and most effective CPU cooler designs, with the new CNPS2X (computer noise prevention system). Its design involves a mirror-finished copper base, through which a single 8 mm-thick copper heat pipe passes, making direct contact with the CPU. This heat pipe twists out into a spiral shape, and along its two arms, a spirally-projecting copper fin array draws heat. This array further compresses down at the base. An 80 mm PWM-controlled fan is nestled inside the fin array, its downward and sideways airflow ventilates the fins. Measuring 84 x 84 x 27 mm, the CNPS2X weighs 83 g. Zalman claims the cooler can handle thermal loads of up to 120W. Most modern CPU socket types are supported, including LGA115x, AM3+/AM3, and FM2/FM1. Slated for late-July, the cooler is expected to be priced around $30.



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[Jack1n]

havent heard from them for a while.

 

[Nordic]

Seems impressive for its size. 120w.

 

[natr0n]

Blast from the past.
This look good copper, thick fins,good price and a pipe.

 

[The Von Matrices]

This just seems like a brute force solution to the problem - make an expensive solid copper heatsink with almost no fin area. I would rather them investing the time to design something completely new with with a mix of metals that performs just as well and is cheaper. I'm sure that if you made the stock Intel heatsink out of solid copper it would perform well too.

 

[Shinshin]

It look very good and the price is right.
Waiting for benchmarks...

 

[arbiter]

This just seems like a brute force solution to the problem - make an expensive solid copper heatsink with almost no fin area. I would rather them investing the time to design something completely new with with a mix of metals that performs just as well and is cheaper. I'm sure that if you made the stock Intel heatsink out of solid copper it would perform well too.

I don't think you can get much cheaper then 30$.

It look very good and the price is right.
Waiting for benchmarks...

Yea that will be the question? does it do a better job then a stock retail box cooler. If it can cool same with less noise that would be a big plus for HTPC system's.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

this looks more like the GPU coolers they used to make but upscaled to CPU size.

All I see here is the lack of innovation and Zalman grasping at straws.

the design might of been fine for cooling GPUs but i dont think upscaling it would make it a good CPU cooler.

 

[AsRock]

I have always wondered what would happen if the fan failed and if the temps would get totally out of control or not. As unlike most coolers of low profile there is normally more heatsink to take more of the load if the fan did fail. then there is the fun of fan replacement

Sure there is thermal protection and such but still..

 

[Supercrit]

With such low mass, I wonder if there is enough mass for soaking up the heat.

 

[Jack1n]

I a very similar Zalman cooler in my other rig,but that one is completely aluminium,it keeps a sandy Pentium quite cool.

 

[Random Murderer]

Seems like this would be a pain in the ass to mount...

 

[Casecutter]

I look at this and wonder how it might do on a VGA card? Say if you already had something like a MSI N650TI-1GD5/V1, ASUS HD7770-1GD5 or a HIS H779FT1GD that have those Intel type extruded aluminum coolers and just wanting a way to improve cooling and noise.

But I don't know if I see great performance from what's only a single H-P used by Zalman? I look at what is a twin Heat Pipe radial type cooler on PowerColors’ AX7790 1GBD5-DH/OC, that card only has as a TDP of 85W. I'm a little skeptical on how Zalmans' design can dissipate more heat better. Then look at the TDP on a 7770 of 80W, or a GTX650Ti that is 110W, and ponder how just .83 g and one H-P could handle thermal loads of up to 120W?

 

[RejZoR]

Take a look at Zalman VF900 then

 

[Trovaricon]

I was thinking... would it fit into 1U rack chassis?

 

[_Zod_]

My stock AMD cooler with heatpipes is a better unit than this (125 watt) and they can be had for under $20 with an easily replaced fan or come with your CPU. If you have an intel cpu however this might not be a bad idea.

 

[Casecutter]

Take a look at Zalman VF900 then

Aye... true, those had two 5mm H-P that had those varied length (one seemed short/the other long) and then clamped (soldered) between stamped copper cover and the die-cast; it never was the best. The highest card those could endure where 8800GT, so figure a TDP of 105W, while weighting in at 185g.

The upside with this is the 8mm pipe being direct touch and the PWM fan. One thing I see is the fins only contact about 40%; although they are bent to form a trough that might provide more contact I'd rather see the pipe go through the fins. I'd say if they had two mirroring H-P's swedged in the block and fins that made 360° contact it could have a chance at 120W. The way it is probably better suited for 95W or about 20% less.

 

[RejZoR]

I fried my HD5850 with the VF900 I guess it just wasn't up to the task for some reason even though the monitored temperatures weren't as high at all...

 

[Particle]

Judging from how those fins look, I'm imagining that they're like my older copper-colored CNPS8900 heatsink: copper-plated aluminum

The weight would further suggest that. That being said, my 8900 is 400g, so I'm really concerned about this 2X.

 

[shovenose]

Would this be quieter than my HTPC's FX6200 using stock cooler that came with FX8350?

 

[Kursah]

I like it, especially for HTPC use or something similar. Reminds me of a small all copper verison of my 7700 ALcu with a heatpipe too. That was and still is a sweet cooler that is still cooling the P4-630 it was purchased for.

I gotta give props to Zalman for taking their original ideas, some that gotta be ranging close to a decade in design thought, and modernizing them into competitively effective cooling pieces. I am happy to be reading more about them again. Zalman used to be my go-to for cooling before the heatpipe loaded Arctic coolers and Xig S1283's started dominating the market.

 

[The Von Matrices]

I like it, especially for HTPC use or something similar. Reminds me of a small all copper verison of my 7700 ALcu with a heatpipe too. That was and still is a sweet cooler that is still cooling the P4-630 it was purchased for.

I gotta give props to Zalman for taking their original ideas, some that gotta be ranging close to a decade in design thought, and modernizing them into competitively effective cooling pieces. I am happy to be reading more about them again. Zalman used to be my go-to for cooling before the heatpipe loaded Arctic coolers and Xig S1283's started dominating the market.

I'm still very skeptical because Zalman seems to have sacrificed fin area in order to fit a larger fan. I infer that you would have to run the fan at higher speeds to get the same cooling performance as a heat sink with a smaller fan and larger fins. The "low noise" claim seems suspect to me because of this; of course, even my circular saw could be "low noise" compared to a jet engine.

 

[Athlonite]

Would this be quieter than my HTPC's FX6200 using stock cooler that came with FX8350?

most likely no the PWM fan on this would probably wind up as soon as you tried to do anything with your CPU and be loud as

 

[Athlonite]

I fried my HD5850 with the VF900 I guess it just wasn't up to the task for some reason even though the monitored temperatures weren't as high at all...

did you use the HS's that came with it for VRM and ram and I found that the VF900 couldn't even keep my HD5770 cooler than the stock HIS cooler (51 deg C vs 63 deg C for the VF900)

 

[Casecutter]

I fried my HD5850 with the VF900 I guess it just wasn't up to the task for some reason even though the monitored temperatures weren't as high at all...

A 5850 was a 158W TDP... enough said.