Zalman ZM300A-APF + Radeon 9500/9700 = noise!

Dru · Post by **Dru** » Tue Feb 18, 2003 4:09 pm

Ok. I decided to put together all the parts for my new system today. I moved over the Zalman from my other system. Things were looking good. I installed Win2k Pro. I then installed the Ati Radeon 9500 Pro (retail) drivers.

After installing the Ati Radeon drivers, I set the res to 1152x864x32bit. Surprise! The Zalman ZM300A-APF now produces a high pitch whine! Ack! This is worse than the stock fan of the video card.

After a little searching on Zalman's web site, I found out I'm not the only one with the problem!

My Zalman worked perfectly quiet in my other system which had a GeForce3 Ti200.

So, I rebooted again. Right after reboot, the coil whine went away. Then, right when the Win2K bootup process hit the 1152x864 mode, boom! Coil whine city!

I've had this Zalman PSU for 6 months now. I bought it from directron. I wonder if I need to contact Zalman directly about it, and hopefully they will replace it!

Here's the link to Zalman's message board. It won't let me link directly to the thread.. so just scroll down to message ID 1812 and read that thread.

I have to say I'm disappointed at the moment.

I'm now thinking about getting something else. Anyone have a Nexus with a Radeon who can share his experience?

GamingGod · Post by **GamingGod** » Tue Feb 18, 2003 4:46 pm

have you tried other resolutions?

Dru · Post by **Dru** » Tue Feb 18, 2003 5:25 pm

I've now tried a bunch of other resolutions. The resolution seems not to matter at all. It's the Ati driver! When I was using the default VGA driver, there was no high pitch buzz. With the Radeon driver in use, the buzz is very high pitched and constant.

I have tried resolutions 640x480, 800x600x 1024x768, and 1152x864. I didn't try anything higher.. why bother?

Again, it must be the Wattage draw the 9500 Pro is requiring from the PSU? But the system is so minimal. I just don't get it.

NateR · Post by **NateR** » Tue Feb 18, 2003 9:25 pm

I have to admit that I find it somewhat hard to imagine that your video driver has anything to do with coil whine in your PSU. Check to make sure its not coming from the monitor, as monitors definatly hum various pitches in different modes. Try turning off the monitor after windows is loaded and see if you notice a difference. Sometimes its hard to pinpoint the source of highpitched sounds.

NateR · Post by **NateR** » Tue Feb 18, 2003 9:28 pm

My other thought is that maybe something about that video card (ie power consumption level, or frequency) Is affecting the PSU. That card is definatly power hungry. Try swapping the PSU or Video card and see if it still happens.

Dru · Post by **Dru** » Wed Feb 19, 2003 6:28 am

Done all that. I turned off the monitor, and the high pitched noise was still there. I swapped out the video card, and the whine goes away. No other cards are in the case. I just have a Barracuda IV. I've been toying with silencing PC stuff for almost a year now and know about stopping fans, disconnecting this and that.

The reason I said it's the Radeon driver because that runs the video h/w card.. therefore, the driver requires the current from the power supply which is causing the problem (most likely).

The only other thing I can think might be a problem is the 7V Panaflo running over my SLK-800 (since it's feeding back 5V to the PSU). I will try to disconnect that while the system is running and see if the problem persists. However, with the 7V fan and with using another video card, there's no high pitch whine.

As said above, others are also experiencing this problem as noted on the Zalman web board. It's with the Ati Radeon 9500/9700 cards which require you to plug a power connector directly from the PSU to the video card. The AGP spec doesn't give enough power for these hungry cards. My guess is the GeForce FX will have the same problem.

Here's the thread from the Zalman message board:

Matt wrote:I bought a new videocard(Sapphire Radeon 9700) and changed it for my old PCI videocard. When I connect the Radeon 9700 to the ZM300A-APF, the ZM300A-APF produces a high pitched noise. I tested this several times. Some time ago, there was another person in this web board having the same problem. Is there any solution?

Zalman wrote:Thank you for using Zalman's product. We'll check it. Very sorry for your inconvenience.

Regards,
Jinkook Kim/ZALMA

Matt wrote:Is there anyone having a ZM300A-APF and a Radeon 9700 without that noise? I don't know if it's a solution, if i send it in for repair (moreover it will take 4 - 6 weeks). Does Zalman has tested this combination?

Well, I finally tested the cheap 300W power supply which came with my computer case. It's works fine, no high pitched noise with the external power connector of the Radeon 9700, only the fan is louder...

JT ([email protected]) wrote:Matt I am having the same problem. I am using 9700 pro AIW and its humming to.

Zalman wrote:Thank you for using Zalman's product. We'll check it. Very sorry for your inconvenience.

Regards,
Jinkook Kim/ZALMAN

Zalman must have scripted responses.

NateR · Post by **NateR** » Wed Feb 19, 2003 8:41 am

Interesting. So one guy tried another PSU and it didnt hum with the card. Hence, it must be the Zalman...I hope they find a good resolution to this issue, it sounds irritating. Have you tried different (older/newer) drivers?

jinu117 · Post by **jinu117** » Wed Feb 19, 2003 2:17 pm

I noticed same thing on my Zalman (when I put it on my main rig)... It necessarily isn't the Radeon 9500/9700 though. In my case, the noised synced with HDD. (Even more annoying if you asked me)
It is known defect to Zalman which was acknowledged by them in their Korean site at about 3-4 weeks ago. (I've been warning it on the PSU page ever since I found out) Their policy in S. Korea is to replace the unit. I don't know how they are going to cope it in US... but my guess is call them up and find out. In my case, I already modded the thing before finding it makes the noise so I figured it isn't worth bothering and put it in a little noiser system where that sound didn't add much if any than got seasonic which didn't show any anomalies like that. (In retrospect, even Antec Truepower was quieter than Zalman subjectively due to that high freq noise).
Zalman should have new units out (in fact, they've been shipping it out with whatever fix they did right before the announcement). However, I don't really know how each individual retailors are dealing with their left over inventories. My guess is wait few more weeks for matter to settle down or start eyeing their 400W model which is supposed to be more "stable".
(or get other PSU all together... Seasonic was really good. I am also wary of Nexus with some report of high freq noise)

Dru · Post by **Dru** » Wed Feb 19, 2003 4:46 pm

*crosses fingers* Well, I broke down today and bought a Nexus NX-3000 since it has been getting great reviews (and also because of my disappointment in the Zalman). I was thinking about the Seasonic, but the Nexus appears to be better? We'll see. If it emits any annoying sounds, it's getting returned even if I can't get my shipping fees refunded. If the Nexus doesn't pan out, I'll go with the Seasonic next.

I do plan on calling Zalman to resolve the PSU high pitch whine issue. As of right now, I wouldn't buy another PSU from Zalman. I do still like their other products. If I'm ever to buy another Zalman, they'd better deal with this problem accordingly. I'll keep you (all) posted.

Dru · Post by **Dru** » Fri Feb 21, 2003 6:50 pm

Update:

I received my Nexus today. I swapped out only the Zalman ZM300A PSU. As I suspected, the Zalman PSU was whining more than my wife (I hope she doesn't read this

).

Anyhow, The Nexus was dead silent when I powered up the machine (great 1st impression). After running for some time, the Nexus is the loudest item in my system (loud is the wrong word.. it gives off very faint fan air noise). Without the PSU, the system is silent.

Now that I've confirmed the Zalman ZM300A to be causing an annoying high pitched noise, I'm calling their US office and see if they are willing to fix/replace it.

This new system is almost complete. The use for this puppy will be 50/50 3d gaming and coding/browsing/etc. Once I get my Cuda 7200.7 early next week, I'll run some tests and give pictures and results relating to system config, temperatures, noise levels, etc.

Dru · Post by **Dru** » Sat Feb 22, 2003 8:32 am

hmmm.. now that I remember, I opened up my Zalman PSU once. I don't recall a "void warranty" sticker on it. Does anyone know if the Zalman ZM300A has a "void if opened" sticker on it? Thanks for any info.

chiahaochang · Post by **chiahaochang** » Sat Feb 22, 2003 1:19 pm

Dru wrote:this puppy will be 50/50 3d gaming and coding/browsing/etc. Once I get my Cuda 7200.7 early next week, I'll run some tests and give pictures and results relating to system config, temperatures, noise levels, etc.

When you get the 7200.7, let us know what you think of it. According to Seagate's website, the 7200.7 does not have the Sea Shield, which I was under the impression is a major factor in making the Barracudas as quiet as they are.