Specifications, Availability and Pricing

I think for once I will start at the top of this cooler. The CNPS14X starts off with the 12 exposed ends of the six 6mm heat pipes. These pipes are left natural and between them is a black plastic spacer to keep the tower design square while adding a bit of style. Each side of the tower consists of 45 aluminum fins that are uniquely shaped and have a contour pressed into each fin to help disturb the air flow across them to improve efficiency. These fins are only press fit to distribute the heat from the pipes into the fins and to cool this dual tower, there is a clear ZP13525BLL 11 blade, frameless, 135mm fan.

The base of the CNPS14X is made entirely of copper with the six U-shaped heat pipes getting soldered directly to the top side of the base. The entire base is a two part system that also allows for hardware to be mounted, while offering a place for that clear 135mm fan to be installed. There are four Phillip's head screws that allow you to loosen the two pieces to slide in the AMD and Intel mounting brackets and if the black top cap is removed, taking those four screws all the way out will allow you access to the fan for maintenance. Even with a brand new idea, there are still some tell-tale parts of this cooler that just scream Zalman to me.

From what I can gather reading news posts, the CNPS14X just released this month and is why I cannot currently find it in the US. I am however picking up hits for various other countries currently stocking this cooler. Also from what I can tell, the MSRP was set at $50 for the CNPS14X and the translation from US Dollars to Pounds or Euros, it is a one to one deal. Good for the US market, not so much for the rest of you. Being one of the cheapest solutions out of the box, it does worry me a bit thinking it may not be able to keep up with the $80-90 solutions in dual tower coolers.

As always though, I will let the CPU testing do most of the talking, after we look at what $50 gets you in the cooler itself.