This chart shows you how the fan and temperature sensors work. I found the graph to be pretty accurate. Using an Antec PSU tester to power on the PSU without a motherboard (or any other devices) I measured just a hair over 19db with my fancy sound-meter-thingy. After connecting it and running a 3DMark 2001SE loop for about 5 hours, the sound level increased to about 25db. Still very impressive, and a far cry from the noisy Antec 400W PSU I was using previously. As an experiment, I downclocked my Pentium 4 and used an MCX-4000 heatsink with no fan at all and ran only the Antec and Zalman power supplies. To my surprise, the Antec PSU was actually putting out quite a bit more noise than the Papst 2700rpm fan that was disconnected from the MCX-4000. The Zalman was a huge difference, barely audible.
Amperage on the 3.3 and 5V rails was good, but only 15A for the +12V rail was disappointing. Antec, Enermax, and Vantec’s competing models are all able to generate 18-25A.
As for voltage testing, using a multimeter the +5V gave me a nice and solid 5.01V, with the Bios reading around 4.94V. +3.3 read 3.31V in Bios, and 3.34V on the multimeter, which is excellent. The +12V line was a little lower, with around 11.65V in Bios and 11.7V on the multimeter. Not fantastic, but I have seen similar results from Antec and Enermax PSUs.
Overall this is an excellent power supply that I would heartily recommend to anyone interested in keeping the noise level of their PC to a minimum. While it is not going to be able to dish out the kind of power that the newer 500w+ PSUs can, this is one of the very few quality PSUs out there that has plenty of juice for most users without requiring fans upon fans. A little more amperage on the +12V rail, maybe add some SATA power connectors, and it would be flawless. Highly Recommended. You can buy the Zalman 400W PSU for £89 from Chillblast.
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High Points
- Super low noise level
- Excellent build quality
- Auto fan speed adjustment
- Active PFC
Low Points
- Would've liked at least 18A on the +12V rail
