Zalman CNPS10X Flex CPU Cooler Review

Packaging & Accessories

The box which the Flex comes in is a lot smaller than the Extreme’s and to our way of thinking this is not a bad thing as that cooler’s box was down right big. More importantly, this reduced size of the container it resides in does it hint at cost cutting or corner cutting. The simple fact of the matter is this cooler does not come with a fan and thus can easily fit in a smaller box, yet be more than adequately protected.


It seems like Zalman took a different approach to its internal protection scheme when compared to the one found on the CNPS10X Extreme. Unlike that heatsink’s packaging, the CNPS10X Flex uses a plastic two part clamshell packaging scheme. This, combined with the extra thick cardboard of the exterior box makes for a great combination which will take down right insane damage before allowing the Flex to be hurt.


The list of accessories which accompanies the Flex, is as expected not only complete also of the highest quality and ranks right up there with the “best of the best” Noctua D14.

To begin with, you get a multipurpose backplate which is used for AMD, 775, 1366 and even 1156 builds along with beautifully constructed metal top brackets and all the bolts necessary for mounting the Flex to your motherboard. More importantly, and unlike the Extreme we reviewed recently, there is absolutely no plastic to be found in the accessory list anywhere. This is certainly a good thing, as we were less than impressed with the Extreme model and a lot of our lack of enthusiasm can be laid at the feet of its ill conceived plastic bracket.

The Flex also comes with an instruction pamphlet, a small tube of TIM, anti vibration strips and four wire brackets (enough to mount two 120x25mm fans). Honestly, the only thing lacking from this accessory list was a fan, and given the price point of this heatsink, this was to be expected. Zalman had to reduce the price somehow and one of the first causalities is almost always the fan.