Introduction

Zalman has been around for what seems like forever, and considering they were founded in 1999, that will certainly seem to be true for many. They have been around since PC gaming really began to grow with the release of NVIDIA's GeForce 256. Since those days, Zalman has continued to grow, reinvent, and ultimately remain relevant—be it through their coolers and products that bring about a feeling of nostalgia for some or just by going crazy with their designs, as with their spider-like fans. Suffice it to say, even with the company's ups and downs, they certainly have shown they are here to stay.


In today's review, I look at Zalman's CNPS10X Performa Black; while it has the CNPS name attached to it, the cooler forgoes the bright ARGB lighting or exposed copper of past designs and instead is a stealthy all-black cooler that, rather than garnering attention, looks to fly under the radar. It may not be flashy, but should be a good fit for almost any build visually as it will be less of a focal point, letting your beastly GPU or fancy system memory grab all the attention. With all that said, let's get down to business and see what Zalman's latest cooler can do.