Zalman ZM-2HC2

Reyn · Post by **Reyn** » Sun May 22, 2005 11:33 pm

http://www.pccasegear.com/prod2456.htm

It's finally available in Australia. Yet, I'm having doubts

1st, as far as I know, the top and bottom is the hottest parts of a HDD. Yet, this cooler tempts to cool the sides instead, what about the burning top and bottom then?

eLekTRiK · Post by **eLekTRiK** » Mon May 23, 2005 12:11 am

afaik, hard disk drives are designed to dissipate most of the heat through the sides. Typically, the sides are in contact with the case (where they are screwed in) and can conduct some heat away like that. As a result, the sides may stay slightly cooler than the rest of the drive.

The only spot I can think of that should be getting hot on the top/bottom is the spindle motor (bottom). Some HDD cooling solutions use a thermal pad between the spindle motor and the casing. However, I'd expect that for the relatively low heat output of a HDD, the heat can do a reasonably good job of dissipating from there to the sides of the drive.

Looking at HDD water blocks, many just cool the sides of the drive. A notable exception is Koolance, which just cools the bottom of the drive (by using thermal interface goo to close the gap to the PCB and spindle motor).

sensei · Post by **sensei** » Mon May 23, 2005 2:21 am

Am I the only one who wonders what in the world that cooler needs 11 heatpipes for? to transfer heat from the left side of the HD to the right side?

Never quite understood this product...

eLekTRiK · Post by **eLekTRiK** » Mon May 23, 2005 2:28 am

I think the idea is to have as much surface area as possible exposed to the open air. More heat pipes => more surface area. They probably could have used a heatsink instead, but I am guessing that the heatpipes that they are using are extremely cheap - possibly cheaper than using an aluminum heatsink along the top. Then again, maybe it is just a gimmick.

niels007 · Post by **niels007** » Mon May 23, 2005 4:14 am

IMO this is Zalman's worst product. Depending on fabrication accuracy it wil either be too wide for your harddisk which causes the screws to 'bend' the heatsink and basically only gives you four contact points of small area.

Or it is too narrow causing all sorts of problems..

http://www.nexustek.nl/disktwin.htm

has a thermal 'pad' on there making heat transfer a lot more efficient. I used both and the Nexus was cheaper and more effective.

However, U channel aluminium profile from the hardware store beats them all for efficiency cost, and aluminium is easy to drill..

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Mon May 23, 2005 6:03 am

sensei wrote:Am I the only one who wonders what in the world that cooler needs 11 heatpipes for? to transfer heat from the left side of the HD to the right side?

Never quite understood this product...

No. There were at least two of us wondering the same thing back when it first came out.

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Mon May 23, 2005 7:00 am

Ralf Hutter wrote:
sensei wrote:Am I the only one who wonders what in the world that cooler needs 11 heatpipes for? to transfer heat from the left side of the HD to the right side?

Never quite understood this product...
No. There were at least two of us wondering the same thing back when it first came out.

I have this on all my drives, from IBM desktar's to samsung spinpoints to seagate's..... It fits all of them snuggly. If it doesnt, you can RETURN IT. its deffective then.

This versus mounted traditionally vs suspended.... Well, the zalman ones are cool not warm to the touch, the one mounted traditionally and suspended via rubber are the same heats. The only thing that worked better than this was the double fan 10 dollar jobbie I used to put under my drive.

Really cant knock this product, I have 2 copper ones with less pipes and now 1 aluminum one. it actually works, AND is semi-suspends the drive while still giving a grounding wire (it comes with one) so it can have a metal contact.

Only one problem with this drive is that the rubber is pure rubber, real latex. this means its much more expensive as well as soft and sound deadening, however, if you dont put some silicon tube goop on it, it dries out after 2 years or so and can crack. (treat it as you would any rubber trim on your car window)

jermaink · Post by **jermaink** » Sat Jun 18, 2005 5:40 am

Does the ZM-2HC2 actually reduce seek noise? I'm thinking of putting one of these on a Raptor, and I don't particularly care about cooling of the HDD. Also, does anyone know if it is more/less effective than the specialised grommets of the Antec P180?

Post by **MikeC** » Sat Jun 18, 2005 6:16 am

jermaink wrote:Does the ZM-2HC2 actually reduce seek noise? I'm thinking of putting one of these on a Raptor, and I don't particularly care about cooling of the HDD. Also, does anyone know if it is more/less effective than the specialised grommets of the Antec P180?

It does not reduce the HDD noise in any significant way, AFAI can recall. Oh, there might be the wee bit of reduction in vibration transfer, but at least with grommets that came with it when it was first introduced, the change was so small as to be irrelevant when compared with real decoupling like elastic suspension or NoVibesIII.

As for the cooling, I can almost guarantee that you can get exactly the same degree of cooling by attaching a couple of aluminum or copper strips on the sides of the drive, with the same area as the Zalman device. At least in theory, the heatpipes on the Zalman do not do any heatpipe woirk at all, although they do add to the overall surface area for heat radiation.

The way heatpipes work, there must be a hot side (evaporater) and a cold side (condenser). The liquid turns into gas on the hot side, the gas travels due to pressure/density change to the cool side, condenses back into liquid, flows back to the hot side, where the cycle starts over again. This happens continously, dynamically. In the ZM-2HC2, both ends of each heatpipe are hot. What would happen to the liquid inside? Assuming is boiling temp is as low as it needs to be, the liquid closest to the ends would boil... and all of the liquid would probably stay in a vapor state -- which suggests stasis.

All that is just conjecture, maybe some form of liquid / gas cycling occurs, maybe there's some kind of benefit beyond the increased surface area of the heatpipes... But I doubt it.

I agree with earlier comments: This is about the worst, hokiest product Zalman has ever marketed. They really should replace it with something better... and if they don't, it's because the thing sells... which is a testament to the power of marketing over "truth", IMO, and to the increasing demand for quieter components in PCs.

BrianE · Post by **BrianE** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 1:28 am

MikeC wrote: The way heatpipes work, there must be a hot side (evaporater) and a cold side (condenser). The liquid turns into gas on the hot side, the gas travels due to pressure/density change to the cool side, condenses back into liquid, flows back to the hot side, where the cycle starts over again. This happens continously, dynamically. In the ZM-2HC2, both ends of each heatpipe are hot. What would happen to the liquid inside? Assuming is boiling temp is as low as it needs to be, the liquid closest to the ends would boil... and all of the liquid would probably stay in a vapor state -- which suggests stasis.

I can't say I've read about the Zalman cooler a whole lot, but I was considering getting one at one point and just assumed that the gas cooled around the center of the tubes, and condensed back down into either end?

niels007 makes a good point about length which I'd never considered before... I guess you would be a good person to ask: Do hard drive widths actually vary slightly?

VERiON · Post by **VERiON** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 11:50 pm

I have this zalman and I really like it.
But it has one issue - it is OVERPRICED.

I've tested zalman cooling ability- it is comparable to old aluminium hdd 3x3,5" cage ripped form my old case and attached to HDD (I have same temperatures with zalman and with that old cage attached to disk). You can also attatch aluminium U chanels and gain the same result spending only few bucks.

But if you don't mind extra price tag and you don't like DIY stuff - you can buy it. It is working great SUSPENDED with bungee cord in 5,25" bay.

And if you have one of those cases with side window to show off your computer guts - zalman cooler is just for you. It really LOOKS cool (pun intended).

It is also good solution when you are moving your case a lot (lan party) because that zalman rubber mounting is really secure. And it DOES reduces vibrations... but not nearly that good as elastic suspension. In other hand - when you want your hdd securely fixed it is better solution than fixing the drive directly in your 3,5" cage.

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 11:33 pm

I'll repost again that it works and works so well at cooling the hardrive that it well, doesnt make any sense how well it works.

it reduces vibrations by about 70% I would say compared to conventional mounting. It is more rubber than an antec rubber grommeted case has, so figure on that. It is pricey, but all those heatpipes and machining is very pricey to produce compared to blocks of aluminum and 10 cent fans.

luggage · Post by **luggage** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 12:28 pm

MikeC wrote:The way heatpipes work, there must be a hot side (evaporater) and a cold side (condenser). The liquid turns into gas on the hot side, the gas travels due to pressure/density change to the cool side, condenses back into liquid, flows back to the hot side, where the cycle starts over again. This happens continously, dynamically. In the ZM-2HC2, both ends of each heatpipe are hot. What would happen to the liquid inside? Assuming is boiling temp is as low as it needs to be, the liquid closest to the ends would boil... and all of the liquid would probably stay in a vapor state -- which suggests stasis.

Yes but a "hot side" and a "cold side" does not equal a hot "end" and a cold "end". With the ZM-2HC2 the "hot side" is both the ends - and the "cold side" is the area in the middle.

Think of it like watercooling - it doesn't matter were on the loop you put the radiator and the blocks as long as they are in the loop.