Zalman CNPS9900 MAX 135mm CPU Cooler Review

[Apoptosis]

Zalman CNPS9900 MAX 135mm CPU Cooler Review

Today we are looking the newest cooler from Zalman, the CNPS9900 MAX. The new CNPS9900 MAX features a 135mm fan and what Zalman is calling composite heatpipes. Join us as we see how well the new Zalman CNPS9900 MAX CPU cooler performs on our Intel Core i7-930 powered test system at stock speeds and then overclocked to 4GHz!

Zalman has nice cooler on their hands with the CNPS9900 MAX. The older enthusiasts can see its design heritage and at a glance have no doubt it’s a Zalman cooler. The design is nice looking with the 'Black Pearl' nickel plated finish, and it performs nicely as well. The CNPS9900 MAX carries a suggested price tag of $79.90. This puts the CNPS9900 MAX into the high end air category and it performed in this range as well.

Article Title: Zalman CNPS9900 MAX 135mm CPU Cooler Review
Article URL: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1468/1/
Pricing At Time of Print: $79.99 w/ free shipping

[FZ1]

I actually have this cooler on my main system and it is very quiet. I like it a lot and it does a good job cooling although my OC is minimal. My only complaint is there is no option to turn off the LED...I'm not big into bling.

[Kaos Kid]

I like the open-air design, it allows for cleaning out the dust without having to uninstall the heatsink or fan. Having the pull/push action helps with cooling too, without having to use two fans to do it. Nice. The only downfall I see is that if the fan fails in the future you may not be able to just slap another fan on there to prolong the heatsinks' life, the design looks to be proprietary.

[bubba]

I have had the 9700LED for 5 years, used it for my main rig for ~3 years 24/7 with no showing of failing before moving onto other coolers. Still have it, might fire it up just to see if the fan still works after setting a couple years.

[Kaos Kid]

I didn't mean to infer that Zalman wasn't a good product, I know they are great! I myself tend to hold on to hardware long past its useful life has ended and am known for rigging things to get more use from them. You should see the wood bracing I've had to put on my metal garage door

Plus my luck dictates that whatever I have dies 1 week past the warranty expiration .

I like to recycle, and where most people would throw away an old heatsink that the fan died on, I try to find a way to bring it back to life and get more use out of it.

Yeah, I'm a cheapskate!

[bubba]

Spacing between the fins you can slide a fan in there, not sure how one would hold it in place. Never really thought about what it would take to get a replacement fan for one either because I have never had the need.

[Kaos Kid]

Spacing between the fins you can slide a fan in there, not sure how one would hold it in place. Never really thought about what it would take to get a replacement fan for one either because I have never had the need.

Well, a person couldn't ask for a better recommendation for the Zalman coolers than that...

I'll have to keep this cooler in mind once I make the switch to hexacore. Right now the Freezer64Pro I have is doing its job well enough on my 555BE unlocked to 4 cores.

[Sttm]

I have been using a 9700 for a long time as well. Zalman is very reliable. But then I also dont do a large overclock. Right now though I dont think I would spend $80 on one, it seems high compared to the competition, and I think If I am going to spend over $60 Id probably go for an H70.

[INeedAFnSuffix]

Because a standard potentiometer won't be able to take "huge" power draws .
The highest standard i ever know is 5W . And it's small .
and that is usually 12v/0.7a , 8.4W .
A rheostat / wire wound rheostat makes sense here but that would rake up production costs , anyway , that resistor , if it had to cut it by 1700 rpm to 850rpm , that would un-viable , as BLDC fans have a minimum operating voltage somewhere around 40% ++
I'm guessing that resistor is only 2W , or so .
Because anything above that would get ridiculously huge .
And scaling won't be so efficient because the controller would have to keep up with that meagre of power .
Like eg , a standard controller can only work from 1.8v - 5v (max)
But the whole point of it , a controller has the standard diode , resistor , a IC chip , and two standard transistors , Anything more and most fans would be slower .
A High-perf fan at the same power rating has a lower leakage diode (like , schottky ) , lower leakage IC , low leakage BJT transistors .
Obviously that won't be cheap .
But it looks like Zalman is on the cheap .

[Velo:Sity]

Think of buying one, but since I plan to move to AM3+ socket I have slight worries about compatibility. As far as I understand there shouldn't be any problems since sockets are similar, should there?

[Tator Tot]

Think of buying one, but since I plan to move to AM3+ socket I have slight worries about compatibility. As far as I understand there shouldn't be any problems since sockets are similar, should there?

AM3+ boards (some, not all) use a slightly re-designed socket retention bracket, but as far as where the clips go, and how they hold on, it's all the say.

Any AM2, AM2+, AM3, or AM3+ Cooler will physically fit on those sockets. (As for this cooler's performance with Bulldozer or any AM3+ CPU's, well that's a mystery. )

[bubba]

Zalman says the CNPS9900 Max is AM3 compatible, you shouldn't have any issues.

[Velo:Sity]

I thought so, thanks!

[CoachAub]

I have the CNPS-9500 on my AM3 board, no issues. I bought this for my old AM2+ system and so it's been running great for years. I would not hesitate buying another Zalman cooler in this line.