A Closer look

The cooler is very well made using all aluminum for the fins and copper for the cooler’s base and heat pipes. The fins look really good especially with the band of blue anodizing included for aesthetic appeal. It definitely works and adds a nice touch. It is always reassuring to see copper and there is plenty of it in all the right places. The base is copper with a nickel plated piece sandwiching the heat pipes from above.


The heat pipe array on the CNPS10X Quiet is very impressive with a total of five, bending in a U shape entering the aluminum fins in ten different places total. The top of the cooler is very highly polished with a stamped logo in it also and the ends of the heat pipes are visible through the top. The pipes are machine pressed into the fins and precision is used to ensure equal fin separation. The fin to pipe contact is very sturdy.


The fan is held in place with a pair of fan clips. It is designed to be easily removable to aid in the cooler installation. It is by no way loose and holds the fan very sturdily onto the cooler.


The CNPS10X comes with a 3 pin fan connector but also includes the Fan Mate 2 which has a female and a male 3 pin connection to allow it to be placed between the motherboard and the cooler. This allows the Fan Mate 2 to control the fan speeds using variable resistors within the unit. It also comes with enough cabling to mount the Fan Mate 2 to the outside of your case for easy fan speed control.


The blue fins extend out a bit farther than the rest of the silver aluminum fins and it definitely adds a lot to the design and look of the cooler. I don’t think the difference in fin extension does anything for performance as that it is purely aesthetic.


The base of the CNPS10X Quiet is made of copper. It is by far one of the most amazing finishes I have ever come across. Zalman goes the extra mile to ensure a perfectly polished base. A reflection in it is perfectly clear with no distortions indicating that the base from a visual aspect is pretty flat. Zalman has not attached components on the base for socket mounting and all mounting hardware is completely separate from the cooler itself.