X-bit labs

ATX Power Supply Units Roundup: 9 Powerful Models Tested (page 19)

Category: Other

by Oleg Artamonov

[ 02/28/2006 | 10:46 PM ]

The PSU easily passed our sustained full load test and the temperature of the heatsink with the diode packs only grew to 68°C (the similar temperature of the PSUs of different wattage is obviously the result of an efficient fan speed management system).

The cross-load diagram looks like the one of the FX700-GLN. The PSU easily works at full power. When there’s a great misbalance of load towards the +12V, the stability of the +12V and +3.3V voltages is good and of the +5V voltage, acceptable.

The voltage ripple at the maximum load was 20 millivolts on the +5V rail, 31 millivolts on the +12V rail and 28 millivolts on the +3.3V rail.

Another point of difference between the ZM460-APS and the power supplies that sell under the FSP brand is that a more expensive and, hopefully, more reliable and quiet fan NMB 4710KL-04W-B20 is installed in it instead of a fan from Protechnic Electric.

The fan speed is adjusted linearly, like in the “native” unit from FSP. The speed is not very high even at the maximum load. Under small loads the fan is near silent.

The efficiency is lower than that of the FX700-GLN, but it meets the specification: an efficiency of 85% was declared for the FX700-GLN whereas the specified efficiency of the ZM460-APS is 80% (the number is taken from the Zalman website; the FSP Group site declares an even lower number, “not less than 75% at full load”, for the FSP460-60GLN model).

Being much alike to the FSP Epsilon, the Zalman ZM460-APS is a very good home-oriented power supply. It features a highest assembly quality, good parameters, very quiet operation and an output power sufficient for a majority of computer systems, also those that include two graphics cards and a top-end central processor. If the Epsilon is too powerful and too expensive for you, the ZM460-APS from Zalman may be just what you need.