The Zalman ZM1200-EBT 1200W Power Supply Review
by E. Fylladitakis on November 10, 2016 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- PSUs
- 1200W
- Zalman
- Modular
- ZM1200-EPT
Hot Test Results
As seen below, the Zalman ZM1200-EBT provides acceptable power quality for a high quality PSU. The voltage regulation is excellent, with the 12V line maintaining its potential output within 1.8% across the nominal load range. The 3.3V/5V lines are even better regulated, maintaining their voltage potential within just 1.1%.
| Main Output | ||||||||
| Load (Watts) | 243.71 W | 606.35 W | 900.25 W | 1198.17 W | ||||
| Load (Percent) | 20.31% | 50.53% | 75.02% | 99.85% | ||||
| Amperes | Volts | Amperes | Volts | Amperes | Volts | Amperes | Volts | |
| 3.3 V | 2.3 | 3.34 | 5.75 | 3.33 | 8.63 | 3.32 | 11.51 | 3.31 |
| 5 V | 2.3 | 5.05 | 5.75 | 5.04 | 8.63 | 5.01 | 11.51 | 4.99 |
| 12 V | 18.41 | 12.19 | 46.02 | 12.13 | 69.03 | 12 | 92.04 | 11.98 |
However, we did not find the filtering to be as good, with a maximum ripple of 74 mV on the 12V line. The filtering is even worse on the better regulated minor lines, reaching a maximum of 42 mV on the 3.3V line with a suggested design limit of 50 mV. Although these figures are not extraordinary by today's standards, they are satisfactory for a modern 1200W PSU.
| Line | Regulation (20% to 100% load) |
Voltage Ripple (mV) | |||||
| 20% Load | 50% Load | 75% Load | 100% Load | CL1 12V |
CL2 3.3V + 5V |
||
| 3.3V | 1.1% | 20 | 26 | 34 | 42 | 24 | 46 |
| 5V | 1.25% | 16 | 24 | 30 | 36 | 28 | 44 |
| 12V | 1.8% | 20 | 38 | 50 | 74 | 80 | 50 |
Zalman rates the output of the ZM1200-EBT at 50 °C ambient and therefore it did not have a problem reaching its maximum power output inside our hotbox. There is however a significant impact on the energy conversion efficiency, with average nominal load (20-100%) efficiency dropping down to 90.5%. The efficiency drop seems to be slightly more significant at higher loads, hinting that the components are becoming thermally stressed under these conditions. The maximum efficiency drops down to 91.9% at 50% load and the minimum efficiency within the nominal load range is 89.3% at 100% load.
The acoustic profile of the ZM1200-EBT changes significantly once the PSU is found inside a very hot environment. The fan is silent only while the PSU is minimally loaded, with its speed increasing quickly alongside with the load in order to keep up with the high cooling demands of the unit. Once the load reaches 80% of the unit's capacity, the fan essentially operates at maximum speed, reaching painful noise output levels. However, despite the valiant efforts of the fan, the internal temperatures of the ZM1200-EBT are high for an 80Plus Gold certified unit, even for one with such a massive output, hinting that the heatsinks are just barely large enough to maintain reliable operation under such conditions.
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Netopia - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
The only potential issue with the ZM1200-EBT as a complete product is that it is """not""" currently unavailable in any country using 110V AC, including the US.I think you meant to say that it "is currently unavailable".
DanNeely - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
What ever happened to the crooks in Zalman's parent company? At the time there was concern that some of them might be able to avoid justice by blocking their extradition to South Korea.http://www.anandtech.com/show/8697/corporate-fraud...
Samus - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Such an amateur design. Without an inrush current damper, everything from LAN parties to new construction installations where most breakers are now the ultra-sensitive arc fault style will trip every time the cap is deenergized.This isn't a wireless speaker or a router that runs at 10w where inrush circuits aren't necessary, it's a kilowatt appliance power supply. I've never seen a product that handles this much current not have a current limiter.
Cellar Door - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
I would STRONGLY advise anyone with a high current PSU to stay away from units with poor quality cables like this one. For ex. with a r9 295x2 their connectors will simply melt due to overheating, as the AWG is just barely enough for the spec.bronan - Tuesday, November 15, 2016 - link
I tend to agree to most of the posters here, it really fails to make a impression to me.Since the superb flower coolers i saw a huge decline in quality from this company.
And what they had on offer was all beaten by the concurrent companies with better quality or really much better performance in cooling, power or other things.
Everything they released did not really make me wanting to buy any of it.
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