Zalman Quiet Trio

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2006/04/27/Zalman_Quiet_Trio/1.html

 

penultimate scentance on the first page currently reads "weapons against silence", should read "weapons against noise".

Moderator - fixed thanks. Not sure how that slipped through.

 

"The CNPS9500-AT, VF900-Cu and ZM460-APS are weapons against silence. Join us as we lock, load and fire them up against some of the hottest hardware around..."

LOL

this hardware seems to be cool

 

http://www.bit-tech.net/content_images/Zalman_Quiet_Trio/18.jpg

Someone want to inform me what the difference between "Noiseless" and "Silent" is? Their own little made-up graph even takes a huge hike between the two.

Definition of silent: Marked by absence of noise or sound; still.

So...yeah. Good job Zalman marketing reps. Also, the fan on the XFX 6800GT is nowhere near silent, or even "pretty good". It's easily the loudest component in my system, louder even than the northbridge fan on my DFI SLi-D at it's highest speed. The Zalman VGA cooler is what I was going to replace it with anyway, as my 7700CU is one of the best HSF combo's I've had. Also, it would have been nice to have the actual stats of the PSU, other than "this many watts lol torque". Things like the individual amperage on each line, etc. etc. And a deeper dive into the difference between the lower and higher models, other than "one is for SLi and one isn't". Is that because the lower end has less power on the 12V lines? Or the higher one has dual 12V rails to keep the graphics cards on a seperate, steady line? Last niggle -- Zalman have fitted non-standard molex on their power supplies, which work extremely well and make removing them from tight sockets very nice, but if you're working in tight quarters, these can sometimes get in the way. Another thing that could be important to mention.

 

I was hoping the card used would've been one of the 7900GT's you had/have in your office. Ah well, still a good review

 

the 7900's do run a fair bit hotter from what i hear, would be great with a follow up.

 

According to this image, "silent" does not actually mean silent.

http://www.bit-tech.net/content_images/Zalman_Quiet_Trio/18.jpg

Joy...the corporations are reinventing our language for the purpose of marketing.

 

Noiseless is between 18-20db

 

I didn't take into consideration the graph.

The one on ours is, perhaps a different revision?

It's there if you look.

We were reviewing the A model, if we get a B we will compare them.

Actually, there is no such thing as a "standard" 4-way power connector, but fair point.

 

I assume that noisless means that the fan will be switched off altogether, and silent is slow RPM.

 

See the graph, in Zalman ad-speak 'noiseless' = not noisy.

And Scan have several low-noise PSUs on offer until Friday ('Today Only' section), just ordered me the 430w Seasonic S12-430 aPFC PSU Silent ATX2.0 @ £35.84 inc VAT.

 

I spotted a few typos but I guess I could let it slide, because I cant find them agian.

I have one of their large chunks of copper in my case and it works quite well. And you were able to keep that pentium pretty durn cool. Comparing almost any aftermarket heatsink to a stock one isnt really fair, unless its a thermaltake leafblower model, my cheapo old heatsink outperformed an athlon 64's retail one without trying.

 

My 7900GT is ok, idleing at 42oC with stock clocks and cooler. Pretty good considering the 7800GTX runs about 5-10oC hotter with a better cooler and lower clocks

 

personally i would class those connectors as a big +

i had to change all the molex connectors on mine

nice to see they braided ALL their cables (alot only seem to do the main ATX one)

Some actualy testing (Watt wise and such) of the PSU would have been nice, but i dont know if bit tech have the equipment to do it

 

As mentioned in the review, the most important thing that you should consider when buying a PSU is long term stability under load. The system we used to test was pretty demanding and under full use of all components the PSU remaned silent and rock solid. Testing output power on the rails is beyond the scope of the review and unfortunately needs sophisticated equipment.

 

FWIW, we are looking to do something substantial with power supplies some time in the summer/autumn if all goes to plan.

 

PCSTATS has an interesting way of testing PSU's

there are a couple of people who have MFR PSU testers

The important things seem to be, real load, power usage, operating tempreatures

also measuring with motherboard moniters is not good testing ...

 

who said we'd be doing "something substantial" with PSUs using motherboards?

 

Actually I used a handheld K-Type Thermometer for temperatures, my ears for sound levels and a multimeter for voltages.

 

TBH the only reason anybody would want to know voltage stabilty is for extreme overclocking with voltage mods to the motherboard. It would be reasonable to assume anyone with those requirements wouldnt be concerned with noise. And if they were you'd still want more than 460w.