CeBIT 2008: Zalman: Nothing but new things

Like the previous years, Zalman offers interesting products (innovation is easier on cooling systems and casings than on GPUs or processors) and a whole side of the booth was new.

The manufacturer will launch two new cases in April. The GS1000 is a case supporting E-ATX motherboards and that has six hot swap hard disk bays hidden behind two doors at the bottom of the front panel. Supporting a very respectable eight hard disks (all of them benefiting from anti vibration pads), its design is inspired in part from the P180 with the PSU at the bottom in a chamber that’s not isolated from the rest of the case. The manufacturer talks about a $160 price for this 14,4 kg baby (front panel in aluminum / plastic but a steel chassis) and four different colors: black, silver, titanium and... red!

More interesting, or at least more impressive, is the LQ1000. It’s a fusion between a high end aluminum case and a Reserator XT, meaning it’s the manufacturer’s water case. The idea is attractive and the fusion has been well done. Another good idea is the integration of a 22 cm fan on the side panel, which will cool the case and the components very well. The pump lacks proper integration as it’s fixed on the cases floor. Here we have some very high end since Zalman talks about a price reaching $650!

On the fan side, there are three new things. The first one, the 9300AT, is a more modest version of the CNPS 9500 (the latter being more modest than the 9700 and yet this third version is far from being ridiculously small). Logically limited to two heat pipes, the dimensions are smaller and it’s compatible with all sockets. It’ll be available in April in an aluminum and copper version. It also has a 92 mm PWM fan which is adjusted according the processor’s heat, if the motherboard is compatible.

Finally, there are two models destined for GPUs. The first one is the VNF200, a passive heat sink that can, according to Zalman, cool a GeForce 8800 GT. Interestingly enough, it uses a long heat pipe to send the heat of the first heat sink placed on top of the GPU up to where the case’s fan is. Zalman specifies however that in there isn’t a fan on the processor (e.g water cooling), it’s necessary to add the fan that’s sold with the VNF200. One will also have to make sure it’s compatible with one’s motherboard. Regarding the more classical VF200, it uses a compact 4 heat pipe sink that’s said to be 7°C more efficient than the RHS88 (on the right).

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