Zalman CNPS20LQ - A Liquid-Cooler That Makes Waves (Part 2)
Too Cool
The CNPS20LQ is an excellent option for
enthusiasts who want the effectiveness of water cooling without the menagerie
of parts needed to construct a traditional water cooling setup. It’s powerful
enough to satisfy over clockers and easy enough to install that anyone with
experience building a system can use it. In short, you get all of the power and
none of the mess.
Different Sockets, No Problem
The Zalman CNPS20LQ is compatible with a wide
variety of CPU sockets, thanks to a series of back plates and retention clips
that are included in the liquid-cooler’s kit. This is one of the features that
set this cooler apart, as it’s easier to move the CNPS20LQ from one computer to
another.
“Universal compatibility is one of the most
important factors that determine success of a CPU cooler,” Zalman product
manager Michael Park says, “especially when technology evolves at light speed.
So we made sure to make the cooler compatible to mainstream users who seek
quiet computing and also to enthusiasts who need extreme cooling without their
sweet rig sounding like a lawn mower.”
The brand and model of the CPU in your
computer will determine which configuration of back plate and retention clip
you need to use when installing the CNPS20LQ. First, attach the back plate to
the motherboard, and then to attach the retention clip to the pump/cold plate
assembly. These two steps ensure a tight fit with the CPU.
In addition to creating a powerful
closed-loop liquidcooler, Park
says Zalman’s designers made sure that the CNPS20LQ would be easy to install.
“The components, as well as the instruction
manual, were designed to be simple and intuitive, so even novice users can
follow the directions,” he says.
The CNPS20LQ is compatible with the
following sockets: Intel LGA1155/1156/1366/2011, AMD AM2/2+/3/3+, and AMD FM1.
Escort mission
Escort
mission
With the waterblock attached to the pump,
the CNPS20LQ’s coolant can begin carrying the heat away from the CPU to the radiator.
The red line with white arrows represents the heated liquid being carried to
the radiator.
Inside the radiator, the coolant travels
through the manifold. As the air from the fan passes over the fins and the
manifold in the radiator, the airflow removes the heat from the coolant. With
the radiator and fan attached to the back of the computer case, the fan pushes
the warm air out through the back of the computer case.
The coolant continues to travel back and
forth through the manifold until it reaches the area of the radiator in the
bottom right of the illustration, at which point the liquid should be cooled
(blue line with white arrows). The coolant returns to the pump and the CPU,
where it can absorb heat again.
Make It A Double
One interesting aspect of the Zalman
CNPS20LQ is the fact that it can use a single fan as both a case exhaust and a
radiator fan. By using one fan to handle both tasks, Zalman product manager
Michael Park says the CNPS20LQ is able to run more quietly than some other
configurations.
Make
It A Double
“Such airflow efficiency removes the
necessity of having two separate fans and consequently lowers noise level by
reducing the number of fans,” Park says. “Most of the users will be satisfied
with the cooling performance with only one fan attached to the radiator.”
Although Zalman ships the CNPS20LQ with a
single fan, enthusiasts can attach a second fan for increased cooling
performance. Park adds that many users choose to reposition a fan that’s
currently in their systems and use it as the second fan, when they choose to go
to a dual-fan configuration.
As a closed-loop liquid-cooler, the
CNPS20LQ can get by with a single fan, Park says. Where air-cooled CPU systems
allow the build-up of hot air inside the case, requiring fans to push the air
outside the case, the CNPS20LQ carries the majority of the heat through the
coolant in the tubing directly to the edge of the computer case, where the fan
can more efficiently drive it out through the radiator.
“This further reduces the likelihood for
requiring additional fans for adequate case ventilation,” Park says.
In the single-fan configuration (A), the
radiator is mounted to the inside of the computer case, while the fan is
mounted to the radiator. Screws on the outside of the case attach the radiator
to the case, and additional screws attach the fan to the radiator. The fan the
pushes the air through the radiator and out of the computer case.
In the dual-fan configuration (B), the
second fan attaches to the inside of the computer case, between the radiator
and the case. A set of longer screws attaches the second fan to the radiator
and the case. The original fan remains in its normal location. The original fan
continues to push the air through the radiator toward the exterior of the case,
while the second fan acts with more of a “pull” action, where it siphons the
heated air from the back of the radiator and then sends the air out of the
computer case.
“Because we don’t include a secondary fan,
the CNPS20LQ is competitively priced without sacrificing performance,” Park
says. “It all comes down to making the product more affordable and appealing,
rather than avoiding any possible clearance issues.”
