Introduction

Zalman is a company that has been a part of the PC-cooling market for a long time. In fact, considering they were founded in 1999, you could say they are of the old guard, having formed back when PC gaming first really began to kick off with NVIDIA's release of the GeForce 256. Since then, Zalman has expanded into multiple markets and categories, including not just coolers and fans but also cases, power supplies, all-in-one liquid coolers, keyboards, and much more. Even so, they are perhaps best known for their CNPS 9500, 9700, and 9900 CPU coolers, which really served to catapult them into the limelight.


In today's review, I look at Zalman's CNPS20X, or CNPS 20X? Or maybe CNPS 20x? Depending on where you look, it seems to vary, but what doesn't change is the fact that this cooler is a behemoth dual-tower heatsink that looks to lay the smackdown on Noctua's long-reigning NH-D15. Sporting two ARGB 140 mm fans, six Ø6 mm heat pipes, and the unique fin design, it certainly looks the part considering its 300-watt TDP. Zalman has really laid it on thick in the technology and marketing department as the cooler features 4D Stereoscopic corrugated cooling fins and a RDTH "Reverse Direct Touch Heat" pipes cold plate. Honestly, the marketing here is a bit much, but it's nothing new, either. Standing out and trying to grab a consumer's attention is difficult enough in a crowded market, and well, it's no surprise Zalman pushed the envelope. However, here at TechPowerUp, performance is what matters, so let us take a closer look at what this cooler really has to offer.

Packaging

The CNPS20X from Zalman comes in a very glossy black box with the cooler, and its unique ARGB fans shown off front and center. Motherboard sync and Z-sync are listed on the front, as well as the supported CPU sockets. A quick turn to the left gives us the specification table, which, while simple, gives you everything you need to know, including the height of the cooler, which is listed at 165 mm if you don't have to raise the fans for memory clearance. Various features, such as the use of RDTH (Reverse Direct Touch Heatpipes), are listed here as well. Moving to the back, you will find a better look at the cooler as a whole, along with its memory clearance data that lists a maximum clearance of 33 mm with the fans and 47 mm without (single-fan mode). Users can raise the fans slightly to accommodate memory of up to 47 mm, but you will end up with some loss in performance.


The right side and top of the box just have "CNPS20X" in a bold font. As such, there is nothing else to see here.

Contents

The cooler comes sandwiched in the middle of the box, with the fans and mounting hardware in separate boxes surrounding it. Encompassing all of that is some foam for added protection, which I am quite happy to see.


At first glance, the mounting hardware appears relatively simple and straightforward. However, a quick look shows the retention screws are not attached to the mounting plate, and considering the size of the cooler, this will make installation a bit more difficult and likely frustrating. The rest of the mounting hardware seems fairly simple.

Common parts supplied for mounting include:

• 8x Fan screws
• 4x Fan clips
• 4x Washers
• 4x Standoff nuts
• 4x LGA2066 / LGA2011-V3 / LGA2011 standoffs
• 4x AM3 / AM4 / LGA115x standoffs
• 4x AM4 screws
• 4x Backplate nuts
• 4x Backplate side caps
• 2x AMD brackets
• 2x Intel brackets
• 2x 140 mm ARGB fan
• 2x Spring bolts
• 2x Fan guides
• 1x Universal backplate
• 1x Tube of thermal paste
• 1x Heatsink
• 1x Installation manual