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Date: August 17th, 2006
Article by: Joe Anderson (Hardware Reviewer)
Edited by: Nathan Glentworth (Owner / Head Editor)
Product was submitted by: Zalman USA
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CONCLUSIONS AND AFTERTHOUGHTS

Zalman has never shied away from making products that target small niche markets. With the ZM-RF1, they seem to have a product that is desperately seeking a purpose. Zalman's Reserator series of liquid cooling systems fit into a target market by virtue of their silence. By adding the ZM-RF1, the user turns a silent system into a quiet one with lackluster performance. In my opinion, a 2-3C drop in temps is a poor trade-off for the added noise.

On the other hand, it is quiet and it does drop temps, so the fan kit does what it says it will do. However, for $35 and the increased noise, I expect better performance.

Pros:

- Good looks
- Quiet
- Easy installation
- Included fan controller

Cons:

- Disappointing cost/benefit ratio
- No longer silent cooling
- Lackluster cooling performance

 

 

If you have any further questions about this optional fan kit, please feel free to post them in our forum HERE.