Zalman CNPS10X Quiet

Darksaber · Oct 17, 2009

The Zalman CNPS10X Quiet takes the CNPS10X Extreme and pairs it with a silent fan for all those users who want the cooling performance of a tower cooler in combination with silence. We crank up the heat to see if the CNPS10X Quiet can stay cool when it counts.

Show full review

Inioch · Oct 26, 2009

Nice review with great pictures. Am I blind, or where there no test system specs in the review? I like seeing the hw things are tested on.

Omega · Oct 26, 2009

I also miss the test system specs table.

And is that some kind of a mistake with CoolerMaster V10 results for stock idle/load?
Same temps, and very low temps never the less would mean you have a perpetum mobile under the cooler, not an cpu.

If I may suggest moving the test system to LGA 1156/1336 platform, or at least get Phenom II X4 965 model. Older bins are known for their buggy temp. sensor.

Other than that, great review, love the clean pictures.

angelkiller · Oct 26, 2009

Yes, the CPU in use was not mentioned. But if you look closely at the pic when the thermal grease is applied, you can see the little codes or whatever on the CPU itself. It's a Phenom II 955. This is also consistent with the stock speed of 3.2GHz.

But I would have to disagree with some of the conclusions made in the article.

CNPS10X Quiet article said:
the CNPS10X Quiet was 9 degrees hotter than the V10 which isn't bad considering the V10 uses a thermoelectric module to help it along.

This makes it seem like the V10 is an amazing cooler because it has the help of a TEC. In fact, it's not really that great. The pelt doesn't help with cooling very much. (In fact, IMO the V10 is full of fail) So saying it's 9 degrees worse than an average heatsink... hm.

CNPS10X Quiet article said:
Pros: Good Price

$57 is a good price? The $40 CM V8 outperforms this thing in every test except for an idle test where they tied. So it has worse performance than a cheaper product. Good price?? If I had $57, I'd get a TRUE or Baram, which are both cheaper and will pretty much eat the CNPS10X. This is the same as every other Zalman product: Overpriced for the performance.

newtekie1 · Oct 26, 2009

I don't know if Zalman has changed their fan controller any, but it looks like they haven't. If that is the case, it should be noted that high speed on the fan controller is not full speed for the fan. The only way to get full speed from the fan is to plug it directly into a 12v source.

The last Zalman fan controller I used only put out about 10.5v when set to the highest setting.

pantherx12 · Oct 26, 2009

I like the look of the cooler, but Angelkiller is right, a xigmatek 1283 puts this thing to shame and is cheaper.

WarEagleAU · Oct 26, 2009

Xigmatek does, but this is Zalmans take on the tower type coolers. Seen reviews for their whole line of 10x coolers in two magazines and really for the price, Noctua and TRUE out do it.

Easo · Oct 26, 2009

Now someone say me, why the hell did i buy Asus Triton 88? Yeas, it cools well, looks cool, you can hit a man hard with it if needed, but its loud and expensive... xD I have to run it at 60% so that i cant hear it

Jstn7477 · Oct 26, 2009

newtekie1 said:
I don't know if Zalman has changed their fan controller any, but it looks like they haven't. If that is the case, it should be noted that high speed on the fan controller is not full speed for the fan. The only way to get full speed from the fan is to plug it directly into a 12v source.

The last Zalman fan controller I used only put out about 10.5v when set to the highest setting.

I have a CNPS10X Extreme and it has a completely different fan controller with programmable settings. Not sure what the max voltage is. Also, I think this is a different, newer revision of the CNPS10X Quiet. I have the "better" Extreme model that I bought in August and it has nickel-plated copper heat pipes and base and I believe only 4 heat pipes.

newtekie1 · Oct 26, 2009

Jstn7477 said:
I have a CNPS10X Extreme and it has a completely different fan controller with programmable settings. Not sure what the max voltage is. Also, I think this is a different, newer revision of the CNPS10X Quiet. I have the "better" Extreme model that I bought in August and it has nickel-plated copper heat pipes and base and I believe only 4 heat pipes.

I know the Extreme uses a different/new fan controller, but it looks like from the review that the Quiet uses the standard fan controller Zalman has been using for years since the CNPS7000 days. If that is the case, it won't allow the fan to run at full speed.

Jstn7477 · Oct 26, 2009

newtekie1 said:
I know the Extreme uses a different/new fan controller, but it looks like from the review that the Quiet uses the standard fan controller Zalman has been using for years since the CNPS7000 days. If that is the case, it won't allow the fan to run at full speed.

Yes, I believe that they still use the Fan Mate 2 for the "lower-end" stuff.

System Name	Meshlicious Monster
Processor	Intel Core i5-10600T
Motherboard	MSI Z490I Unify
Cooling	NZXT Kraken Z53 with 2x Noctua Redux 1300 RPM PWM fans
Memory	ADATA 16 GB 3200 Mhz DDR4
Video Card(s)	MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio
Storage	TeamGroup 1TB NVMe SSD
Display(s)	Asus ProArt 27" 1440P, 75Hz
Case	ssupd Meshlicious with mesh side panels
Power Supply	Fractal Design Ion 660 W Platinum ATX
Mouse	Corsair Dark Core RGB Pro Wireless
Keyboard	Microsoft Sidewinder X4 Keyboard
Software	Windows 10 Home

System Name	I can't believe I bought that / HTPC
Processor	i5-750 @ 3.5GHz 1.27v / P II 705e @ stock
Motherboard	Asus P7P55D-E Evo / Asus M4A785D-M PRO
Cooling	Corsair H100i / Air
Memory	4x2 Geil DDR3-2133 @ 1755 / 2x2 DDR2-800
Video Card(s)	Asus GTX660 TI / Asus HD6670
Storage	Crucial MX100 512GB + Spinpoint F1 750GB / Crucial m4 128GB + WD Green 1TB
Display(s)	HP w2408h / Samsung 55" HDTV
Case	CM 690 II Advanced / Silverstone GD02
Audio Device(s)	Integrated
Power Supply	Corsair AX850 / OCZ ModXstream 500W
Software	Win 7 / Win 7

Processor	Intel Core i7 10850K@5.2GHz
Motherboard	AsRock Z470 Taichi
Cooling	Corsair H115i Pro w/ Noctua NF-A14 Fans
Memory	32GB DDR4-3600
Video Card(s)	RTX 2070 Super
Storage	500GB SX8200 Pro + 8TB with 1TB SSD Cache
Display(s)	Acer Nitro VG280K 4K 28"
Case	Fractal Design Define S
Audio Device(s)	Onboard is good enough for me
Power Supply	eVGA SuperNOVA 1000w G3
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64

System Name	My pc
Processor	Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard	Asus Rog b450-f
Cooling	Cooler master 120mm aio
Memory	16gb ddr4 3200mhz
Video Card(s)	MSI Ventus 3x 3070
Storage	2tb intel nvme and 2tb generic ssd
Display(s)	Generic dell 1080p overclocked to 75hz
Case	Phanteks enthoo
Power Supply	650w of borderline fire hazard
Mouse	Some wierd Chinese vertical mouse
Keyboard	Generic mechanical keyboard
Software	Windows ten

System Name	Pandemic 2020
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 "Gen 2" 2600X
Motherboard	AsRock X470 Killer Promontory
Cooling	CoolerMaster 240 RGB Master Cooler (Newegg Eggxpert)
Memory	32 GB Geil EVO Portenza DDR4 3200 MHz
Video Card(s)	ASUS Radeon RX 580 DirectX 12 DUAL-RX580-O8G 8GB 256-Bit GDDR5 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video C
Storage	WD 250 M.2, Corsair P500 M.2, OCZ Trion 500, WD Black 1TB, Assorted others.
Display(s)	ASUS MG24UQ Gaming Monitor - 23.6" 4K UHD (3840x2160) , IPS, Adaptive Sync, DisplayWidget
Case	Fractal Define R6 C
Audio Device(s)	Realtek 5.1 Onboard
Power Supply	Corsair RMX 850 Platinum PSU (Newegg Eggxpert)
Mouse	Razer Death Adder
Keyboard	Corsair K95 Mechanical & Corsair K65 Wired, Wireless, Bluetooth)
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64

Zalman CNPS10X Quiet

Darksaber

Senior Editor & Case Reviewer

Inioch

Omega

New Member

angelkiller

newtekie1

Semi-Retired Folder

pantherx12

WarEagleAU

Bird of Prey

Easo

Jstn7477

newtekie1

Semi-Retired Folder

Jstn7477

System Name	Personal \\ Work - HP EliteBook 840 G6
Processor	7700X \\ i7-8565U
Motherboard	Asrock X670E PG Lightning
Cooling	Noctua DH-15
Memory	G.SKILL Trident Z5 RGB Black 32GB 6000MHz CL36 \\ 16GB DDR4-2400
Video Card(s)	ASUS RoG Strix 1070 Ti \\ Intel UHD Graphics 620
Storage	2x KC3000 2TB, Samsung 970 EVO 512GB \\ OEM 256GB NVMe SSD
Display(s)	BenQ XL2411Z \\ FullHD + 2x HP Z24i external screens via docking station
Case	Fractal Design Define Arc Midi R2 with window
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC1150 with Logitech Z533
Power Supply	Corsair AX860i
Mouse	Logitech G502
Keyboard	Corsair K55 RGB PRO
Software	Windows 11 \\ Windows 10

System Name	Awesomesauce 4.3 \| Laptop (MSI GE72VR 6RF Apache Pro-023)
Processor	Intel Core i7-5820K 4.16GHz 1.28v/3GHz 1.05v uncore \| Intel Core i7-6700HQ @ 3.1GHz
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-X99-UD5 WiFi LGA2011-v3\| Stock
Cooling	Corsair H100i v2 w/ 2x EK Vardar F4-120ER + various 120/140mm case fans \| Stock
Memory	G.Skill RJ-4 16GB DDR4-2666 CL15 quad channel \| 12GB DDR4-2133
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 1080 Ti Hybrid SC2 11GB @ 2012/5151 boost \| NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB +200/+500 + Intel 530
Storage	Samsung 840 EVO 500GB + Seagate 3TB 7200RPM + others \| Kingston 256GB M.2 SATA + 1TB 7200RPM
Display(s)	Acer G257HU 1440p 60Hz AH-IPS 4ms \| 17.3" 1920*1080 60Hz wide angle TN notebook panel
Case	Fractal Design Define XL R2 \| MSI
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound Blaster Z \| Realtek with quad stereo speakers and subwoofer
Power Supply	Corsair HX850i Platinum \| 19.5v 180w Delta brick
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64 \| Windows 10 Home x64