Zalman ZM360B-APS Power Supply Review
Load Tests
Contents
We conducted several tests with this power supply, as described in the article Hardware Secrets Power Supply Test Methodology.
First we tested this power supply with five different load patterns, trying to pull around 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% of its labeled maximum capacity (actual percentage used listed under “% Max Load”), watching how the reviewed unit behaved under each load. In the table below we list the load patterns we used and the results for each load.
+12V2 is the second +12V input from our load tester and during our tests we connected the power supply EPS12V connector to it, which is the only thing connected to the power supply +12V2 virtual rail. Thus +12V1 and +12V2 inputs from our load tester was connected to the +12V1 and +12V2 rails from the power supply.
If you add all the power listed for each test, you may find a different value than what is posted under “Total” below. Since each output can vary slightly (e.g., the +5 V output working at +5.10 V), the actual total amount of power being delivered is slightly different than the calculated value. On the “Total” row we are using the real amount of power being delivered, as measured by our load tester.
| Input | Test 1 | Test 2 | Test 3 | Test 4 | Test 5 |
| +12V1 | 2 A (24 W) | 5 A (60 W) | 7 A (84 W) | 9 A (108 W) | 11 A (132 W) |
| +12V2 | 2.5 A (30 W) | 5 A (60 W) | 7 A (84 W) | 10 A (120 W) | 13.5 A (162 W) |
| +5V | 1 A (5 W) | 2 A (10 W) | 4 A (20 W) | 5 A (25 W) | 6 A (30 W) |
| +3.3 V | 1 A (3.3 W) | 2 A (6.6 W) | 4 A (13.2 W) | 5 A (16.5 W) | 6 A (19.8 W) |
| +5VSB | 1 A (5 W) | 1 A (5 W) | 1.5 A (7.5 W) | 2 A (10 W) | 2.5 A (12.5 W) |
| -12 V | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) |
| Total | 67.4 W | 147.5 W | 214.5 W | 284.1 W | 358.8 W |
| % Max Load | 18.7% | 41.0% | 59.6% | 78.9% | 99.7% |
| Room Temp. | 43.9° C | 45.7° C | 45.1° C | 45.6° C | 48.1° C |
| PSU Temp. | 48.9° C | 50.8° C | 49.5° C | 50.1° C | 51.3° C |
| Result | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Voltage Stability | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Ripple and Noise | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| AC Power | 81.8 W | 173 W | 254 W | 344 W | 448 W |
| Efficiency | 82.4% | 85.3% | 84.4% | 82.6% | 80.1% |
The results for this power supply were really impressive, especially when we think that this is supposedly an entry-level power supply. After reviewing a lot of low-end power supplies that couldn’t achieve efficiency above 80% or deliver their rated power, we were really happy to see an entry-level power supply that is up-to-date with the current market needs.
First, this power supply could deliver its labeled power at 48° C, which is excellent.
Second, its efficiency was always above 80%, peaking 85% when delivering 40% of its rated power (around 150 W).
Voltage regulation during all our tests (including the overload tests we will present in the next page) was outstanding, with all outputs within 3% of their nominal voltages – ATX specification defines that all outputs must be within 5% of their nominal voltages – except on -12 V during tests one, two and three, where this output was at -11.38 V, -11.5 V and -11.63 V respectively. These numbers, however, are still inside the 10% margin that is set by the ATX spec for this output. Of course we always want to see values closer to the nominal voltage.
Ripple and noise are another highlight from this product, as they were far below the maximum set by ATX spec (120 mV for +12 V and 50 mV for +5 V and +3.3 V). During our test number five – i.e., with the power supply delivering 360 W – noise level at +12V1 was 25.4 mV, noise level at +12V2 was 18.4 mV, noise level at +5 V was 23 mV and noise level at +3.3 V was 28.8 mV. Impressive results.
Figure 19: Noise level at +12V1 with power supply delivering 360 W.
Figure 20: Noise level at +12V2 with power supply delivering 360 W.
Figure 21: Noise level at +5 V with power supply delivering 360 W.
Figure 22: Noise level at +3.3 V with power supply delivering 360 W.
Now let’s see if we could pull more power from this product.