Zalman USA Tour

Introduction:

Zalman has been a great addition to the PC community. They are focused on quiet computing more than anyone else. Enthusiasts who constantly complain about noise or are determined to have the quietest computing experience owe Zalman a humble gratitude. Zalman engineers consistently come up with great new ideas to help us battle heat, as well as noise.

Today we have a quick tour around the USA division of the Zalman company. I stopped in to pick up a review sample of the new Zalman flagship VGA cooler—the ZM80D-HP. The ZM80D-HP has a couple of new features added from the previous success of the ZM80C. It has two larger aluminum heatsink plates, included ramsinks, and two heatpipes. Yes you read it right, it has TWO heatpipes. InsaneTek is the first to receive the review sample and will debut the new cooler in a couple of days.

Zalman Facility:

The Zalman facility is located in Southern California. It is run and managed by a few employees. Everything is kept nice and simple, and clean might I add. There are some facilities that I’ve been to that just don’t quite seem like an office. I had no troubles finding the office; the large building was clearly labeled with the Zalman logo.

There wasn’t much when I first stepped inside. I guess they haven’t really sorted things out after a recent move to the new location. I met the few employees, who were a bit shy in front of the camera. They were all very friendly people. The first thing that caught my eye was the large CNPS7000-AlCu banner.

There was not much in the Zalman office, so the first and main stop was John’s office. John Chaing is the Zalman USA division’s PR, and the man who was kind enough to let InsaneTek take the quick tour. In his office were two Zalman TNN cases. I have to admit that when the TNN first made its debut, I was skeptical. I mean, I can build a silent computer that’s close to noiseless so why would I want to buy one of these? My skeptics vanished when John opened up his case and showed me the innards. The CPU heatsink block was huge. Everything was connected to the case through heatpipes. There was copper and aluminum everywhere. The case itself had large protruding fins. The only thought that came across my mind was that I wanted one.

The model he showed me used a robust 300W power supply, which supplies about 350W. John mentioned that there will be a robust 400W version coming out very soon that will supply about 430W. More enthusiasts will show interest once there is a higher wattage power supply included.

Here is a shot of their Xbox. They do take breaks every so often. I’m a fan of RPGs, so a PS2 is what I own.

In the back of the office is the warehouse. There you will find pallets of TNN cases, packaged Reserators, and tons of power supplies and heatsinks. The entire place is neatly organized.

Zalman’s News:

Zalman has a lot of new products being released very soon. I received a couple of pamphlets documenting the specifications of each. The Zalman TNN case is Zalman’s main focus for silent computing. The entire case is a heatsink, which means no moving parts inside the case. There are no fans, just massive heatpipes.

The TNN 500A features a 300W or 400W power supply, while the 500AF is only featured with 400W. The difference between the two is that the 500A has open able front and back doors, while the 500AF has a open able front door with a fixed back panel.

Next is the Zalman audio. Zalman’s surround sound headphones are decent to begin with and I’m sure they’ll continue to perfect it. What is interesting is that they’ve made an external 5.1 Ch USB sound card and an external 5.1 Ch headphone amplifier. This should catch the attention of audiophiles out there.

I couldn’t end the tour without asking something about Zalman’s new aircooling products. The CNPS7000-Cu is an excellent heatsink for users seeking silence. Although it does not win in the best performance department, it does keep temperatures low without the much unwanted noise. Zalman heatsinks are the quietest I’ve ever come across, even quieter than Intel or AMD stock heatsinks. The CNPS7700-AlCu and the CNPS7700-Cu will be the new heatsinks to look out for. It features larger surface area and provides better airflow to help cool the new A64 processors and the water boiling Prescotts. The difference between the CNPS7000 and the CNPS7000B series is the addition of LED lights. Case modders have sent in many requests and Zalman has heard. Modders be happy, because the heatsink now lights up.

Moving on, we come across the VGA cooler section. The new VGA cooler is the ZM80D-HP. Its main features are the included ramsinks and the additional heatpipe. I will be spending my weekend toying with the new heatsink so stay tuned for our results against the infamous Arctic VGA Silencer. Zalman also started making ramsinks to fit in between the small gap of the back heatsink plate and the video card. Those who own a Zalman 80A or 80C will know that it is hard to find ramsinks that small to fit within the gap. Zalman now fixes their own problem with their nice little aluminum ramsinks.

Of course Zalman tries to make everything fanless, so here is their current watercooling kit—the Reserator 1. There have been many reviews recently praising the new external fanless watercooling kit. Performance is not as great as watercooling systems that use fans and powerful pumps, but what did you expect? The whole thing is fanless.

Another product that Zalman is excited about is their external power supply. The external power supply is fanless, and will supply 400W of power. This external power supply will power your entire PC. This thing will certainly come useful for those who intend to upgrade to the new Geforce 6800 Ultra.

Zalman Quickie Interview:

Before I left, I asked John a few simple questions regarding Zalman’s main goals.

IT: Is silent cooling Zalman’s main goal?

John: Pretty much. The cofounder of the company emphasized on silent computing. He wanted to make his computer as quiet as possible. He and his buddy decided to look into that and made their first heatsink. It became a success and so Zalman Tech began.

IT: Do you have anything planned for extreme overclockers?

John: Not right now. The Zalman engineers are looking into it, but nothing yet. I’ve been recommending it to them.

IT: Is watercooling the future? Any hope left for aircooling?

John: It can be, but not in the immediate future. Majority of the consumers don’t like the idea of sticking tubes and water into their computers so they’ll probably stick with aircooling. However, we understand that there is still a market for watercooling and we will continue to offer solutions in this area.

IT: Is there anything else after the CNPS7000-Cu?

John: The CNPS7700 series will come out soon. The main thing to expect is the TNN series. Expect big.

IT: There are many companies copying the designs of Zalman heatsinks. What actions are going to take place of copyrights and patent violations?

John: We have patents, and the lawyers are looking into that. They will be taking actions.

End of the Journey:

Thus ends the quick tour of Zalman USA. John told me that they will come out big and make an impact with their new innovations, and I anxiously await. I’ve always been a heatsink guru, so anything new catches my attention. With the TNN cases now going mainstream, Zalman will definitely gain a large number of enthusiasts. There is no longer a need to research for quiet fans or mod your fans to run at lower voltage. Just don’t use them anymore. Zalman has the answer.

I would like to thank John at Zalman USA for guiding me around for the quick tour and taking some time to do an interview. An extra thanks to him for letting InsaneTek be the first to receive the ZM80D-HP. The review will be here soon, very soon. If you have any questions or comments, head on over to the forums and have some fun.