Zalman ZM300A Power Supply - Performance

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Zalman ZM300A-APF PSU Review

 

Company: Zalman Product: ZM300A-APF Availability: Now Price: $69.98  Written By: cygnus_x_1 Reviewed: September, 2002 Edited by: SPeeD

 

 

Performance: Getting stats on a PSU isn’t as easy as firing up Motherboard Monitor, or your proprietary monitoring software that came with your motherboard. There are many different variables that come into play. What sensor is being used on the motherboard, the length of the motherboard traces, the length of the PSU ATX, and power cabling. I am including shots of MBM 5.1.9.1 (since that’s what I use for everyday monitoring) but for true voltage performance I will be stating measurements taken with a Beckman Industrial Digital MultiMeter.

The Multimeter test points will be the furthest molex connectors from the PSU, and the +12v, +5v, and +3.3v lines on the ATX connector. These measurements are taken while the machine is running, and are not intended to be done if you DO NOT know what you are doing. You can do some MAJOR damage if you screw up here folks…use your head…

System Components:

·         MSI KT3 Ultra ARU

·         AMD XP 1700+ Unlocked @ 166x9.5, 1.8V

·         512 Kingmax 2700 (2x256 sitcks) @ 2.7V

·         Maxtor 80 gig ATA133 7200 rpm hdd

·         2 x Maxtor 20 gig ATA133 7200 rpm hdd Raid 0

·         Lite On 16x DVD

·         Lite On 40x12x48 CDRW

·         ASUS GF4 4600 @ default voltage

·         SB Live! 5.1 X-Gamer

·         4 Sunon 80mm Fans

·         2 Clear 80mm Fans

·         2 Panaflo 120mm fans

·         AGP AirLift w/ 60mm Y.S. Tech fan

·         Thermaltake 40mm fan (on memory sinks)

·         PCI Slot Fan

·         12” UV Cold Cathode

·         10” Blue Neon

 

Here is the MBM log:

 

The voltages measured with the multimeter at the molex connectors are as follows:

+5V:

 

+12V:

 

The voltages measured with the multimeter at the ATX connector are as follows:

+3.3V:

 

+5V:

 

+12V:

 

That is some seriously perfect Voltage folks…..Please, if you don’t know what your doing, don’t take these measurements yourself. I don’t want any hate mail that you toasted your system trying to get accurate voltage readings…The differences in MBM and the actual voltage measurements are due to the various trace lengths on the mobo. They cannot program MBM to be 100% accurate on every board. But it still gives you an approximate measurement and is both quicker and easier than breaking out the ol' multimeter.

Conclusion: To say the least, I was floored when I was taking those readings…I have A LOT of ‘extra’ power sucking goodies installed in my case. In the days where the least rated power supply I have been recommending has been a good quality 350W..AT THE LEAST…I usually go for 400W or better. To have the 300W Zalman come in here and post some #’s like that just amazed me…  It looks like Zalman is quietly making a name for themselves, and they have a 400W version in the works. If your ultimate goal is a quality system, along with a quiet system, look no further than Zalman.

 

Pros:

• Extremely quiet

• Temp sensor controlled output fan

• Plenty of device connectors

• The Multi-Connector

• Great voltage regulation

Cons:

• The only con I can think of is that the wires could be wrapped in the mesh to keep them neat

 

This power supply gets the OCA Essential Hardware Award.

 

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