We would conduct a review about a very
good-looking and stylish cooling device from Zalman. Without a doubt, it will
contribute to the spirit of our holiday, but whether it is appropriate for an
overclocked processor?
Why not a beautiful CPU cooling device,
which could look absolutely stunning on an open stand or through a clear side
panel of the system case? The brand new Zalman CNPS9900DF cooler would be
perfect for the intention. Is it really interesting? I'm sure you will not
doubt about it when you see it at first sight. And with its cooling efficiency
and its soundproof... Good, instead of starting from our subjective opinion,
let's learn it from the very beginning.
Packaging and accessories
The cardboard box contained Zalman
CNPS9900DF look firm and stylish, with the black color dominating the palette.
The front of the box has the model name, of course, and a cut-out window
revealing the fan and part of the cooler heatsink:
Product
box
Both sides and the back of the box were
dedicated to detailed description of the technology, technical standards and
the cooler's image:
Product
information was printed on the box
Similar to the front of the box, there is a
small window in the back of the box. It has a smaller diameter than the front
and reveals only the sticker on the fan motor and a small part of the heatsink.
Inside the cardboard box we find an
additional plastic casing, which holds the cooler:
An
additional plastic casing insine the box
Moreover, there is an additional plastic
wire tie the heatsink arrays together. So, we can fairly say that Zalman
CNPS9900DF's packaging is extremely sturdy and protect the cooling device
perfectly from the risks that may occur during shipping.
The accessories bundle is quite typical of
the products from this Korean manufacturer and includes everything necessary to
successfully install this cooler in any compatible platform:
Accessories
and associated equipment
I should point out its own high quality Zalman
ZM-STG2 thermal paste and Y-splitter cable for connecting two fans to a single
four-pin fan connector on the mainboard. As you can see, there is also an
installation manual.
The cooling device was manufactured in
Korea with 2 years warranty period. It suggested a price of $ 79.9, which was
currently its retail price.
Design and function
We are too familiar with Zalman cooling
systems featuring a radial heatsink, we have been analyzing it since 2005, when
the extremely effective Zalman CNPS9500 LED appeared. And in 2013, after 7
years, the new Zalman CNPS9900DF still retains some familiar traits:
Design
description
However, the current heatsink is formed
from dual-array heatsink, two propellers and layout of heatpipes is different
now. This cooling device is also larger and its dimensions are 154x140x100 mm.
It weighs 850 grams.
Zalman CNPS9900DF is also very similar to
Zalman CNPS9900 MAX, but has an extra fan and a larger first heatsink array:
Zalman
CNPS9900 and Zalman CNPS9900DF MAX
As a result, the total effective surface
area of the Zalman CNPS9900DF compared with Zalman CNPS9900 MAX increased from
5,402 cm2 to 6,800 cm2. By the way, this figure is still
low when compared with other current superior cooling devices.
Thermal fins are soldered on the heat pipes
with gap between those fins is 1-2.5 mm, the fins are made of nickel-plated
solid copper, similar to the heat pipes. A 135 mm fan placed in the cavity of
the first heatsink array. A 120 mm fan is placed between the heatsink arrays.
Position
of two fans
Only 3 heatpipes and they pointed out in
different directions from the heatsink base. For some reason, there is only one
heat pipe that goes through the large heatsink array, while the smaller one is
went through by 2 heatpipes:
Heatpipes
directions
We do not know the reason behind that layout,
it would be so much more logical if the larger heatsink array had more
heatpipes, because it would disperse more heat. Zalman engineers must be very
confident in the effectiveness of their composite heatpipes, that's why they
chose to install the heatpipes that way and used so few heatpipes altogether:
Describe
the design of heat pipes
I want to remind you that the combination
of heat pipe is a unique invention of Zalman, which can be 50% more efficient
than conventional heat pipes. Unfortunately, we are not able to confirm that
yet.
The heatpipes lie in special grooves in the
cooler base and are soldered to the base:
Position
the heat pipes
Quality of the heatsink surface is a great
perfection:
The
heatsink bottom
It's impeccably smooth - thermal paste
covered perfectly in both positions of the cooling device:
Thermal
paste
The device has two completely separated fans.
The fans have nine-blade impellers 120 and 135 mm in diameter respectively:
Two
fans of the device
The rotation speed of the smaller central
fan can not be adjusted and is set at 1,000 RPM. The larger fan can be
controlled by using PWM method (Pulse-Width Modulation) in a range between 900
and 1,400 RPM. Frankly speaking, we do not quite understand why they would
mismatch the rotation speeds and fan diameters like that. Noise level of the
cooling device is claimed to be in the 19-27 dBA interval and there is no
mention of the MTBF for advanced configuration of the fan motor.
I want to point out that both are LED fans,
making the cooling device looks very eye-catching in the dark:
Photograph
of fans in the dark
