Zalman Presents Circular ZET Air Cooling Tower Series at Computex 2025

[T0@st]

Zalman has showcased their ZET series at Computex 2025; a brand-new family of air CPU tower coolers. This lineup seems to serve as a natural successor to past shell-less CNPS offerings. Circular cooling solutions are an unusual sight in the 2020s, but the South Korean manufacturer is intent on breaking beyond current (boxy) trends. Company representatives and product placards mentioned a main shape inspiration: aircraft engine designs.

The flagship ZET5 model was presented in black and white forms; both augmented with tasteful ARGB lighting rings. The brand's premium option has a 200 W TDP rating. Two modular fans are attached via a magnetic system, and connectivity is granted by a pogo pin system. The ZET5 features copper heatpipes, and a surprisingly non-radial aluminium fin array. A tube of ZM-STC10 thermal compound will be bundled in with these top-end products. Tentative pricing was not available at the time of writing.




The ZET4 makes do with only one magnetically-attached cooling fan, resulting in a slight penalty in terms of TDP rating (relative to its flagship sibling). The 180 W rated component utilizes copper heatpipes, and its cylindrical shell houses an aluminium fin stack. An integrated LCD panel is the unique selling point (USP) within the ZET middle ground; this modular accessory can provide real-time CPU monitoring data. Zalman's software engineers have drummed up a dedicated software control suite.



The entry-level ZET3 single-fan design is advertised as borrowing elements from the venerable CNPS9800 MAX model. Zalman's barebones package is 150 W TDP rated; eschewing fancy lighting and integrated screen tech.



A white ZET5 demo unit was installed in a nearby full build; surrounded by similarly pale parts and cute mascot cutouts.



Zalman reckons that all ZET series SKUs are compatible with modern AMD (AM5/AM4) and Intel (LGA1851/1700/1200/115X) platforms.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Firedrops]

Looks like the heatsink just uses regular horizontal fins? as opposed to their old-school radial configurations

 

[neatfeatguy]

I miss their copper fin coolers. I had a 9500A back in the day, worked great on with my Athlon 64 X2 5600+. Wish I kept it, but I moved to a CM Hyper 212 when I got a Phenom II x4 940.

 

[Chaitanya]

Good to see Zalman going back to CNPS 9000 series designs.

 

[TheDeeGee]

Hello 2000.

 

[Mrgravia]

Blast from the past, and at least visually distinct from the assorted tower coolers out there.

 

[Noci]

A nice change from all those (function over form) big block shaped aircoolers .

I hope it delivers also good cooling performance and while sort of resembling the shape of a jet engine, hopefully does not mean it sounds like one .

But undoubtely reviews will point that out.

 

[Philaphlous]

Can Zalman team up with Hellmann's mayonnaise to get their off-white color correct? I always think of Hellmann's when I see Zalman...lol Also, would like to see them team up with the meow kitty edition from earlier... Kitty colored copper cooler?

 

[Ta1k0n]

I miss their copper fin coolers. I had a 9500A back in the day, worked great on with my Athlon 64 X2 5600+. Wish I kept it, but I moved to a CM Hyper 212 when I got a Phenom II x4 940.

Curious how that worked out? Working on an old Win XP/ Win 7 retro build... ASUS M2N32SLI with Athlon 64 X2 5000+ BE, Zalman 9500A.
Fixing to install a Phenom II X4 940 BE and keep using the Zalman 9500A...
Wondering why the change?

 

[Nostras]

I really like the ZET3, hope it performs and doesn't cost too much.

 

[Sithaer]

Blast from the past, honestly I quite like this and if the pricing is right then I can see myself buying one of these just for the heck of it. 'I'm fine with my current CPU cooler but yeh its kinda boring..'

 

[TPUnique]

Okay, Zalman is back with a bang

I need to do a hot-rod build with the ZET3, it looks classy !

 

[neatfeatguy]

Curious how that worked out? Working on an old Win XP/ Win 7 retro build... ASUS M2N32SLI with Athlon 64 X2 5000+ BE, Zalman 9500A.
Fixing to install a Phenom II X4 940 BE and keep using the Zalman 9500A...
Wondering why the change?

I honestly don't remember why I moved away from the Zalman, maybe since it was a new CPU/MB I figured a new cooler was warranted and I heard good things about the Hyper 212 at the time. Or maybe it's because at the time I usually gifted my old hardware to my younger brother and the 9500A went with the 5600+ and MB?

I know that I went from a Hyper 212 to a CM V8 with my Phenom II 940 because it was supposed to be better, but the temps never changed. At the time I never thought the issue was my tower with crappy air flow., but that's a different story.

 

[KlauthWang]

That takes me to the past like 2000s, maybe it's a tradition for Zalman to make these circular heatsinks.

 

[Random_User]

Good to see Zalman going back to CNPS 9000 series designs.

Good to see they got clue to not... Finally they've understood to not use the radial fin position. As that was huge mistake. Don't get me wrong, as it was great concept. And the copper fins were even better.
But the Zalman's execution was an utter garbage. Not only because of the proprietary special size ultra-noisy fan. But also due to the atrocious capillary tubes, which have lost their performance pretty quick. Been there, done that.

Blast from the past, and at least visually distinct from the assorted tower coolers out there.

Yep, this is only visually distinct. As it is the same "ordinary" heatsink, with horizontal finstack.

That takes me to the past like 2000s, maybe it's a tradition for Zalman to make these circular heatsinks.

That tradition of Zalman has ended for good. It might have been superb thing, if it was done by Thermalright, Noctua, Prolimatech, CoolerMaster, or someone else. But not Zalman. Sorry, just my opinion, which stemmed from a bitter experience with their products.