zalman ZM400A-APF

travolta

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Nov 30, 2004
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Hello. I own a zalman ZM400A-APF power supply with the following configuration: Pentium 3,06 ghz fsb 533mhz, asus p4g8x motherboard, 2 lg combo drives, 2 hard disks ide 7200rpm, 1 sound card creativa live!5.1, 1 win modem, 2gb 333mhz ram, 1 floppy 3,5 and a case with 3 fans. I´d like to improve the configuration by adding 1 dvdrw drive and replacing my case by the Thermaltale V2000+ case (wich comes with 7! funs, light display and sensors for internal temperature and fun rotation). Can this power supply handle this config? What are the risks for my system? As the power supply is already somewhat hot, is there any risk of over voltage by the power supply?
Shoud I by other PSU? How powerful would that be?
Thank you for your attention.
 

Crashman

Polypheme
Former Staff
Shouldn't be a problem.

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JeanLuc

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Oct 21, 2002
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I have the same PSU with a similar configuration. And I was very happy with it.

The Zalman PSU was reviewed in this months CustomPC magazine and it was the only branded PSU to pass all stability tests.

The only problem with it is that it only has 18 amps on the 12 volt rail. Now I have added a few bits to my PC and I have found when playing games the PC is a lot less stable, and I’m guessing its because there’s not enough amps to supply the power.

So I’m buying the Tagan 480 watt PSU instead. I have nothing against the Zalman as it’s a high quality PSU and very, very quiet but it just doesn't supply enough juice.
 

JeanLuc

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Oct 21, 2002
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Hmm it would appear I was wrong.
It wasn't the Zalman lack of power that was casuing system crashes it was the automatic overclocking feature on my MSI 865PE motherboard.

I got my Tagan today anyway and it was D.O.A. Since I don't need to change PSU's anymore I might just ask for my money back.