It’s tough to create a new fan and heatsink combo that stands out in the water-based world of high-end PC cooling. Modern fans still have a lot of huff and puff, but they are no match for new, silent radiators that completely immerse components in a low-temperature environment.

The beauty of the fan and heatsink is in its simplicity, and these easy-to-install solutions offer users a nice performance bump without a big commitment. There’s no doubt that water cooling is a formidable project. Chances are, if you haven’t already gotten your feet wet, you’re going to need a whole new case or some clever mods on the one you’ve got now. Taking the time to properly plan the whole thing out is enough to drive would-be overclockers back to their trusty fans and keep the air-based units blowing in from diverse manufacturers.

Although the market for these products is solid, true innovations are few and far between because no matter how clever CPU cooler designers get, there is always a fundamental return to the two principles of size and shape.

The Korean-based PC cooling veteran Zalman Tech gets pretty ambitious within this formula and brings tried and true concepts together with the appealing design of the CNPS-9300 AT.