Contents
- 1Introduction
- 1.1Packaging and accessories
- 2Connectors & cabling
- 2.1Casing & cooling
- 3Input filtering
- 4Primary side
- 4.1+5 V stand-by rail
- 5Secondary side
- 5.1Build quality
- 6Load testing
- 6.1Loading +5 V SB
- 6.2Voltage hold-up time
- 6.3Combined loading
- 6.4Combined loading ripple
- 6.5Crossloading, overloading
- 6.6Crossloading, overloading ripple
- 6.7Fan speed and temperatures
- 7Conclusion and evaluation
- 7.1Thanks
- 8Addendum - working on the unit
- 8.1Discussion
Connectors & cabling
All wires (besides those which carry only very small current like Power Good or PWR On) are 18AWG. The fixed cables are sleeved, while the modular cables are all black and have been molded together to form flat ribbons. None of the connectors are gold-plated nor do they have any clips to help facilitate their removal.
In total, we have:
Fixed cabling:
- 1× Main ATX (20+4pin): 49 cm
- 1× ATX 12 V (4+4pin): 59 cm
Modular cabling:
- 2× PCIe (6+2pin): 1× 50 cm, 1× 65 cm
- 3× SATA: 1× 50 cm, 1× 66 cm, 1× 72 cm
- 3× peripheral molex: 1× 50 cm, 1× 65 cm, 1× 97 cm
- 1× Berg for FDD: 81 cm
Casing & cooling
The metal chassis of the Zalman ZM500-GVM is made out of 0.9mm SECC steel, and it has a matte black finish (which is most likely a powder coating). Zalman decided to employ a fan grill in the form of holes that are punched directly into the chassis. It does have an interesting shape, but I still feel that it’s somewhat more restrictive in terms of air flow than if they would have used just an ordinary wired grille. There’s a sticker in the middle reassuring us that this unit is of “high quality”, so perhaps I should just grab a beer and conclude the review here, since they’ve already established for us just how good this unit is… :-D
The design of the bottom part of the chassis is basically the same one as the Silverstone SST-ST55F-GS uses, and consequently, it has the same exhaust grille. It uses an ordinary hexagonal mesh pattern which doesn’t cover the entire back, like around the AC receptacle and switch, but at least there are still some holes underneath them. We should therefore expect that there won’t be any pockets of hot air trapped in this unit. And like the Silverstone, the chassis also has a short depth to it. We can observe on this image (and the one above) that the cooling fan is partially covered by a plastic sheet. The external cables are protected by a plastic grommet at the point where they exit through the metal casing.
The foil covers about 1/3 of the fan, which is the Globe Fan S1202512L, a fluid bearing 120mm fan. According to its datasheet, the maximum speed should be 2000 RPM with a maximum airflow of 67.28 CFM and a noise level of 34 dBA. However, I would take these figures with a grain of salt. GF basically states that both the ball bearing and sleeve bearing varieties have the same maximum speed and airflow, which is still understandable, but also same noise output? Really? And this is supposed to be a “fluid dynamic bearing” model so shouldn’t it be quieter?…
But indicative of its true nature is the fact that it still carries the “S” (which usually denotes a sleeve bearing) in its model name…well, I would say that in light of this, it could not be stated more clearly that most of these “fluid bearing” fans just employ ordinary sleeve bearings, except that they are also equipped with a self-lubricating mechanism, and that’s where their longer lifespan rating comes from (and conversely, if you keep an “ordinary” sleeve bearing fan well-maintained and lubricated, it should last just as long). So that’s the straight dope on these so-called “fluid bearings”, and it’s not that the fan shaft glides miraculously somehow on a pocket of fluid without almost any friction, as the marketing departments would like us to believe.
Loading ...