Updated quiet Zalman-PSU: ZM300A-APF

Ralf63 · Post by **Ralf63** » Mon Aug 12, 2002 2:32 pm

Check it out: <a href="http://www.zalman.co.kr/english/product/zm300a-apf.htm" target="_blank">http://www.zalman.co.kr/english/product ... apf.htm</a>
 
 Has anyone bought it and installed it yet? If so, be sure to post a
 mini-review about this new Zalman-PSU on this site.
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Post by **MikeC** » Mon Aug 12, 2002 2:32 pm

Have you not seen our review <A HREF="http://www.silentpcreview.com/modules.p ... =24&page=1" TARGET="_blank">here?</A>

Ralf63 · Post by **Ralf63** » Mon Aug 12, 2002 2:32 pm

Hmm - well, I have seen it now. Sorry - I am new here, and I posted that one before reading through your reviews.
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dewdman42 · Post by **dewdman42** » Mon Aug 12, 2002 2:32 pm

I have read the review. Sounds ok. The review talked about baseline modded PSU's that were even more quiet than this one. IS this PSU the state of the art off-the-shelf PSU out there? I can see from the review that its not bad. IS is the best? Should I upgrade the fan to Panaflo? Or some other solution. I want the quietest solution with little effort to upgrade my computeri a standard ATX sized PSU of some kind. How does this compare to the PSU's that SilentPC.com sells...or like the ones used in the Carillonusa.com PC's??
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Post by **MikeC** » Mon Aug 12, 2002 2:32 pm

The Zalman & the Seasonic (also reviewed) are the quietest unmodified PSU I have heard so far. (Only popular quiet ones I haven't compared them to are the Q-Technology models -- review coming in following weeks.) I think if you're looking for an off-the-shelf solution, then these are about as good as you'll see unless you go for no-fan units like the TKPower 300 (see the article in mods/projects), but that also requires fussing, as it is not a standard ATX form factor.
 
 Both Zalman & Seasonic can be made quieter by swapping the fan for something like a Panaflo 80L1A (21 dBA rated). Since the fan voltage is ~5V at low-medium loads, this swap makes them very quiet indeed. This is what I did with several PSU, all of which run the Panaflo or similar at ~5V -- the reference modded PSUs I refer to. BUT the mod increases the internal temp of the PSU somewhat & reduces case airflow, which can also lead to an increase in CPU temp. It also voids the warranty, and may reduce the maximum power delivery capability (which is rarely needed, BTW). The reduced case airflow can be compensated by reducing CPU voltage in the BIOS. 0.2 Vcore drop is usually OK for most CPUs, and will result in something like a 3 deg. C temp drop.
 
 It's all a balancing act.
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