Finished Looks

The CNPS20X certainly isn't a bad-looking cooler with the LEDs off, but the fan design will definitely be something that is up to personal taste. From the side, they really don't stand out too much, but from the front, you're greeted by their unique design that does help this dual-tower behemoth stand out visually compared to more traditional designs. The copper-colored fins add a nice bit of flair as well, but it won't be visible 99% of the time, so if you are worried about it clashing with your build's theme, it's not really an issue.


Due to the cooler's size, it is not friendly in regards to component clearance. On smaller motherboards, such as Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX, the first expansion slot may be blocked, but as most boards usually leave that first slot empty, it's likely not going to be a problem in the majority of builds, although it is still worth keeping in mind. As for memory clearance, well, it definitely isn't great. The cooler is limited to standard-height DIMMs for the most part. Yes, you can fit memory of up to 47 mm in height if running a single fan at the expense of cooling performance. However, with both fans installed, you are limited to 33 mm of clearance, which definitely is not RGB or tall heat-spreader friendly, but that is to be expected considering the size of the heatsink.


When it comes to lighting, the Zalman fans are the only illuminated component, and in regards to brightness, it is just right, at least to me. The cooler shows up well even in brighter environments; however, unlike the marketing images, the lighting effects do not reach to the corners as the illumination and diffusion within the frame taper off quite rapidly. That said, the blue and green color selections tend to look a bit better than red as the individual LEDs are not as visible as they are when using red tones.