Review on Zalman Performa Performance Powerful Included by Nonito Shin

Zalman CNPS10X coolers have been around for over a decade and are known for great performance at a reasonable price. The Performa Black continues this tradition with a larger 135mm fan, larger heatsink surface area and a sleek black finish. This means even better cooling than before, but the changes also include a thicker backplate assembly, which can be problematic in some computer cases. The 4 inch clearance under the motherboard is required by the ATX specification. Many hulls, including the ones I have, only offer a minimum clearance. An extra 1mm may not seem like much, but it's enough to create misalignment and unwanted pressure under the motherboard. Some cases have room in the back for a CPU cutout, but that doesn't always solve the problem: on my PC, the CPU socket on the motherboard doesn't exactly match the cutout, so the Zalman's enlarged backplate still doesn't fit. , I installed this cooler on an additional PC (with a very large cut-out on the back). Once installed, Performa Black does its job well. Idle temperatures are around °C. , which is an excellent result. The PWM-controlled fan (4-pin) is virtually silent at a minimum speed of 770 rpm and ramps up to a maximum speed of 1640 rpm, which is loud but still reasonably unobtrusive. The back prevented installation on my main gaming PC. The older CNPS10X models fit easily into the standard 6.5mm gap, and the newer model just adds unnecessary bulk to the trunk block and side panels, so it's not clear why Zalman made this change. Before purchasing this cooler, please check your PC motherboard clearance and the size/orientation of the back cutout for the CPU (if any).