Zalman ZM400B-APS 400W Noiseless Power Supply

Reviews: Hardware

Motherboards | Power Supplies | Memory | Systems | Video Cards

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Brian Kristensen
Kurtis
Case-Mod.com
Apr. 30, 2004

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A Closer Look

The Zalman power supply comes in a stylish blue cardboard box with the very hopeful "Quiet Solution" scrawled across the design. Inside the box, I found the power supply covered in bubble wrap, a multi-connector for up to four fans, an AC power cord, a small user's manual and four Velcro cable wraps. The multi-fan connector supplies two 12v three-pin connectors as well as two 5v three pin connectors which are meant to power, or under-power, your case fans. Personally, I wouldn't use the Velcro cable wraps inside my computer. I did, however, find them extremely useful for organizing the many cables protruding out the back of my computer.

Besides the "Silent" operation and the little extras that Zalman threw in, there isn't much to this power supply. The black semi-gloss paint-job is a nice touch, but the lack of any sort of cable sleeving might leave a bit more to be desired for some folks. Personally, I can do without the factory sleeving since I would prefer to do that myself to my liking. Located on the back of the power supply is an 80mm exhaust fan, an On/Off switch and the standard AC input. This PSU also features an active PFC which allows it to be plugged into any power source between 110 to 220 volts and it will switch automatically. This is becoming pretty standard on most power supplies these days. This power supply is a little heavier than most I have dealt with, but not to a negative extent.

The power supply also has a decent supply of connectors. In addition to the standard motherboard, auxiliary and 12v power connectors are two FDD (floppy disk drive), seven peripheral (four-pin Molex), as well as two SATA HDD (hard disk drive) power connectors can be found. The SATA power connectors are the first that I have seen that include the 3.3v line which means you won't need an adapter with future hard drives that require that line.

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: A Closer Look
Page 3: Internals
Page 4: Testing
Page 5: Conclusion

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