Now, those that know me or read my articles know that my formal education is as a computer technician; and I obsess over computer equipment to the point where I tend to bury myself in spare parts unless my friends or colleagues need one. 
But one part shines above the rest, which is my Zalman CNPS9900. But 
Daniel you ask, that’s an older model cooler from way back! You’re completely right it is, and I am stupidly poor being tossed into one dire situation after another which means I cannot afford a new i7 or a Ryzen hell I’m even using a friend’s old RX480s because I haven’t been able to buy a new graphics card in over ten years.
But let’s not get sidetracked; I’m using an old i7 first-gen in fact and keeping it cool was troublesome back in the day, when I could afford the equipment I invested in a Zalman CNPS9900 because the reviews for it were pretty solid, but almost twelve years later I still regret nothing as the fan itself is still running smooth, I even managed to damage a fan blade and I can’t replace it even so it not only stays fairly quiet running open air since I don’t get a computer case anymore, and it still maintains the temperature quite well.
There is only one real negative I have to say about the cooler and it is this; cleaning it is an irritating experience even with an air compressor laying about the fan blades and cooler blades themselves hold onto so much dust that my only alternative was to disassemble the entire cooler and wash it down in the shower, then bake it at 350 F until nicely golden brown, I mean dry until it was dry.
Despite this, and also despite not having any thermal paste on my CPU at the moment, the cooler is done a great job after all these years; faced with the adversity of my situation it keeps my system running smoothly and helps keep the integrity of my system. I don’t overclock, I see no need to on my system and I need to make it last as long as possible since I probably won’t be getting a new computer for quite a while.
But I would like to say, if you are in a similar boat as me in terms of using older equipment, you can spare a bit. The Zalman CNPS9900 is worth the investment going strong after twelve years, I haven’t been disappointed in its quality. Solid design, is able to keep the temperatures nominal despite my previously listed issues and doesn’t make much noise it is probably the best cooler I’ve ever owned.
You can pick them up on eBay, or probably Amazon at this point because they’re old, they’re outdated, and most importantly they’re out of stock. But still so worth it.
An autistic gamer with opinions on games who also enjoys making dumb videos on the internet!