Cooler Zalman 10X Performa: features and reviews

The company Zalman took note of the global crisis and knows that not everyone is ready to spend $ 80 on a cooler for their processor today. With this in mind, the manufacturer returned to the drawing board and, trying to maintain the quality standards that he achieved, came up with a new design, dropping the most flashy and heaped elements. Zalman produced a more budget version than, say, 10X Extreme. But is it really good?

The Zalman CNPS10X Performa cooler is designed to cool the CPU. It is made in Shenzhen, China. It differs by the use of composite heat pipes in which several types of wicks are used.

Zalman 10X Performa: overview of design features

It's hard to say how many other coolers this technology uses. First, because the heat pipes are manufactured in YC Tech Co., Ltd. And secondly, because manufacturers of microprocessor cooling systems rarely disclose information about which wick they use.

This structural element plays a decisive role in the efficiency of heat pipes, since the wick is the mechanism that returns the working fluid back to the place of maximum heating. The three main types of wicks listed in order of their effectiveness are cermet powder, grooves and a metal mesh. The Zalman 10X Performa cooler uses a composite wick consisting of powdered copper around the central processor area and grooves in areas where heat pipes pass through aluminum cooling plates.

Standard representative of CNPS10X series

Otherwise, the Zalman 10X Performa cooler, the photo of which is given later in the article, is standard, especially for those familiar with the CNPS10X series. It is equipped with a 120mm fan with pulse width modulation, the speed of which varies from 1350 to 900 rpm with the supplied RC24P resistor. The maximum speed is 2000 rpm.

With a height of 153 mm, the Zalman CNPS 10X Performa weighs 748 g and is installed on the Intel 1366, 1156 and 775 connector. Support for AMD microprocessors is also wide - from the 940, 939 and 754 connectors up to AM3, AM2 + and AM2. Made from die-cast copper plate, the base is soldered to five copper heat pipes with a diameter of six millimeters, which pass through an array of aluminum ribs 105 mm high. Thus, the CNPS10X Performa is a classic tower cooler.

Zalman 10X Performa: Features

The main technical characteristics of this model are the following:

• Manufacturer - Zalman.
• The model number is CNPS10X Performa.
• Materials - aluminum plates, heat pipes, copper base.
• Fan - Zalman ZF1225ALM.
• Specifications of the fan - 900-1350-2000 rpm (12 V, 0,20 A).
• Dimensions of the fan - 25x120x120 mm.
• The overall dimensions are 153x130x98 mm.
• Weight - 748 g.
• Completion - mounting accessories, thermal paste, instructions.
• Compatible with connectors.
• AMD - 754/939/940 / AM2 / AM2 + / AM3.
• Intel - 1366/1156/775.
• The price is 45 US dollars.

Constructive Constraints

With a width of 130 mm, the Zalman 10X Performa requires a significant 65 mm distance from the center of the processor socket. Owners of motherboards, in which the cooler hangs over the memory slots, it should be borne in mind that under the aluminum fins there is a 37-mm gap, and that's all. On Intel platforms, mounting hardware allows you to install CNPS10X Performa in any direction, and AMD users are limited by the orientation of the device holder.

Radiator construction

15 aluminum fins in the center of the cooler have a wavy front and rear edge. Users note that it would be logical to place these edges in the area behind the fan motor - this would have a muffling effect, but that's another story. As in many tower coolers, in Zalman the heat pipes pass through the cooling fins in staggered order. Thermal energy, therefore, is transferred to aluminum, where the highest air flow is created. The Zalman 10X Performa cooler is supplied with one fan, but if you want to install the second one yourself, there are additional wires and mounting springs.

Each aluminum fin has a thickness of 0.3 mm, and the distance between them is 2.0 mm. At the bottom of the cooler there is a 37 mm gap for the adjacent components of the motherboard. The thickness of the copper base is 3-5 mm, and the entire base is 10.5 mm. If you remove the fan, you can see that five 6-mm copper heat pipes are staggered along the outer contour of the cooling fins.

Method of installation and hardware

The Zalman 10X Performa cooler can be installed on the Intel 1366/1156/775 processor socket and a full range of AMD chips with AM2 + / AM2 / 940/939/754 connectors up to the AM3 socket. One device is suitable for all major CPU options, which is good for those who are planning to upgrade the processor in the near future. The installation of the CNPS10X Performa is simple, although it should be remembered that there is sufficient clearance. In general, this model is suitable for any modern motherboard, which has 65-70 mm of free space from the center of the microprocessor. Manufacturers note that the central chip itself requires at least 165 mm, in comparison with the 153 mm, which has a cooler Zalman 10X Performa.

The installation procedure is described in more detail. The mounting clamp AMD uses a standard frame that holds the cooler. Stainless steel bracket is put on the central hub on the bottom cover and presses it with the fixing on the AMD motherboard. The radiator should be oriented so that the air flow is directed to the rear of the housing, if possible. If not, then the next best fan direction is up, to the power source.

The connectors for the Intel Socket 1366 and 775/1156 processors use metal clips that are inserted into the space between the bottom lid of cast aluminum and the copper base plate . First of all, it is necessary to partially untwist the four screws in the base of the device. Then, between the base and the cover of the heat pipes, insert the staples so that their bend is directed from the cooler. To ensure that everything is fixed firmly enough, a back metal reinforcement plate is used to support the motherboard and mounting posts. If necessary, an overlaid block is glued to it.

Next, insert the screws into the reinforcement plate according to the type of connector and fix them with stoppers. Apply thermal paste in such a way that it covers the surface of the processor, then install the cooler and tighten the screws. Using brackets, attach the fan on the side of the cooler, setting it as low as possible. Connect the 4-pin cooler connector to the contacts on the motherboard. In doing so, make sure that the control mode of the pulse-width converter is activated in the BIOS settings.

Fan Zalman ZF1225ALM

A single 120mm fan comes with a Zalman CPNS 10X Performa cooler and runs at 900-1350 RPM by default. If the RC24P is disconnected from the power supply, the speed is increased to 2000 rpm. The power is supplied from the 4-pin connector on the motherboard. Five heat pipes of copper, the diameter of which is 6 mm, are closely packed in the lower part of the device and extend upwards to all 105 mm aluminum sections of the cooler.

According to user feedback, the fan should be installed on the underside of aluminum fins, where the heat pipes are located closer to the edge. All aluminum plates are made of thermally untreated metal. Polished copper bottom plate measures 39x37 mm, it is perfectly flat in two directions. Five heat pipes are soldered to the copper base plate to reduce thermal joint resistance and improve thermal conductivity. If you loosen the four screws installed here, the steel mounting brackets will slip between the copper and aluminum of the base components.

Finish and base plane

According to users, turning the cooler to inspect the working surface of the device is often a simple way to assess the overall quality of the cooler. In other words, its effectiveness is largely determined by the quality of its contact with the processor - the smoother and smoother the better. The surface finish of the base is one of the important criteria that are used to evaluate coolers, and it includes two different aspects. The first is the quality of the surface treatment, which is determined by the comparator of the roughness of the cooler and the equivalent surface of the middle processor. Measured in microns. The second criterion is flatness. It can be checked using the reference plane. It is estimated on two axes. The base of the Zalman CNPS10X Performa is completely flat and has a very smooth surface. Its roughness is equal to or less than 0.4 μm, which is considered an excellent indicator. The next important criterion for the fan is the noise level, as well as the results of thermal testing of the AMD and Intel processors.

Which cooler is the most silent?

Listening to the noise of the cooler allows you to set what can not be expressed by numerical values obtained with the sound level meter. A 120 mm fan running at full speed of 2000 rpm, mounted on the Zalman 10X Performa, produces a noise of 58.7 dBA, which is quite loud. When the rotational speed is reduced with the help of the resistor up to 1350 rpm, the cooler noise drops to a modest 44.8 dBA. At the slowest speed of 900 rpm, the volume is reduced to a quiet 37.3 dBA. Users tested the cooler on Intel and AMD chips.

Results of thermal testing of microprocessor AMD

With a thermal load of 125 watts and a full fan speed of 2000 rpm, the cooler demonstrates heating, which, compared to the ambient temperature, was only 13.1 ° C. This corresponds to the performance of other models of the CNPS10X series.

When the speed is reduced to 1350 rpm, the cooler maintains the level of heating of the processor chip no more than 15.8 ° C above the ambient temperature. At the slowest fan speed, equal to 900 rpm, this figure rose to 19.1 ° C.

In other words, reducing the noise level from unwanted 58.7 dBA to noiseless 37.3 dBA leads to an increase in the processor temperature by 6 ° C. Obviously, the CNPS10X series is worth the investment in it. In addition, there is a slight difference in the 1 ° C performance of the cooler when installing a fan according to the Zalman manual (on aluminum fins from the side where the heat pipes are farthest to the edge) and from the opposite side.

Results of thermal tests of the Intel microprocessor

With a thermal load of 150 W, the cooler keeps the CPU at a temperature of only 16.6 ° C above the ambient temperature at a full fan speed of 2000 rpm (noise equal to 58.7 dBA). With the same thermal load, but at a reduced speed of 1350 rpm, the CNPS10X Performa noise level drops to 44.8 dBA, and the temperature rises 19.5 ° C compared to the surrounding one. And, finally, at 900 rpm, the excess is 23.6 ° C, and the noise drops to 37.3 dBA.

With a thermal load of 85 watts, which corresponds to the Intel Core and Core 2 Duo processors, the cooler does not experience any problems with maintaining the crystal temperature at a level exceeding the external temperature by 10.1 ° C, 11.3 ° C and 14.5 ° C at a speed The rotation is equal to 2000, 1350 and 900 revolutions per minute.

Cooler Zalman 10X Performa user reviews suggest installing so that the fan was not on the side specified in the company's Zalman manual, but on the opposite. In this case, the CPU temperature will be 1 ° C less. The above performance was obtained when installing the fan in the correct position - from the side, the least remote from the heat sinks.

Verdict

To summarize, we can say that the Zalman 10X Performa cooler can provide the cooling level thresholds achieved by other models of the CNPS10X series from Zalman, but only if the user is willing to sacrifice quiet work. The device comes with a resistor that limits the speed to 1350 rpm, and removing the jumper allows you to overclock the 120-millimeter fan to a full 2000 rpm to ensure maximum cooling of the central microprocessor. However, in this case, the noise level will reach 59 dBA, which is by far too large for long-term operation.