Introduction

A long time ago, on a PC that has long been sold, there sat an AMD 3800X2 939 processor under a stock cooler. That was about the time I was learning what overclocking was all about. The first bit of advice I got was to replace the stock cooler with something much more capable of handling what I was about to do. In that quest, being somewhat new to the scene, I opted for a cooler that was very cool in its day, and made completely of copper - it was quite stunning to look at on top of my DFI NF4 motherboard. If memory doesn't serve you so well, I am speaking of the CNPS9500 series coolers that back in the day came highly recommended, even if it was a bit of a finger slicer.

We have already seen that Zalman has made its own twin tower coolers before this one in the CNPS12X, CNPS9900A, 9900MAX and the 9900NT. While in the 9900 series of coolers, it doesn't exactly match the previously named examples. There are two major changes that have been made as the evolution of this series has progressed. First is the fact that there are two fans mounted to the top of the base plate where typically only one is present. The second is that the front half of the 9900 series tower design has been changed adding more surface area as well as it being somewhere it can take advantage of otherwise lost air flow.

The latest of Zalman's dual tower evolution brings us to the cooler we are looking at today, the CNPS9900DF. There are obvious design elements that will remind you not only of the Zalman history, but of the other 9900s in the lineup, as well as a few things that set it apart, making it well worth your time to at least give this cooler a more intrigued look into what it can do.

That being said, let's stop the chatter and dive right into the specifications and pricing to hopefully interest you enough to continue reading.