With the CNPS9900 MAX, Zalman made another attempt to show that its copper fin ring type heatsinks are still competent in handling thermal loads of today's CPUs, and still competitive with the tower-type heatsinks that are pretty-much the norm these days. This, even after the company itself took a dip into the tower-type design with the CNPS 10 series. Zalman's CNPS9900 MAX performs well in keeping idle and load temperatures in check, with performance in league with today's tower-type heatsinks. It scores very high in aesthetics, with its original design, soft-glow fan, and zero-interference with memory, VRM, and northbridge areas of the motherboard.
There are two areas in which the CNPS9900 MAX fumbled, and how. First, while the fan does look good and nested within the cooler, it sure is loud at max speed. While it's not a high-pitched noise, which is more irritating, any noise is bad for some. Second, at $79.99, it's overpriced. While I can understand that since copper is a more expensive material, and since this is a 100% copper heatsink, it's priced that way, the performance does not warrant it. Perhaps a price-range between $59.99 to $69.99 would cut it.
Overall, the CNPS9900 MAX is a fairly good cooler that has a more product feel than a component feel. It performs well and gives you lots of clearance with other components on the motherboard, but can't convince in departments of noise and price. Go for it if you want to avoid cheap water-cooling solutions, and want an air-cooler with a unique design, instead.