| Zalman ZM-NC3000U Notebook Cooler |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Notebook | Compact PC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Written by Steven Iglesias-Hearst | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, 15 July 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Zalman ZM-NC3000U Notebook Cooler ReviewZalman is once again in the spotlight here at Benchmark reviews, returning today with the ZM-NC3000U notebook cooler. Regular visitors may remember the ZM-NC2500 Plus notebook cooler from Zalman was reviewed here not to long ago. While the function is the same, the design is very different. The Zalman ZM-NC3000U notebook cooler sports a big 220mm centre mounted fan and has a sand blasted, anodized aluminium vented surface surrounded by a glossy black outer bezel, which makes for a very nice look indeed. We aim to see in this review if this design difference will offer any more performance over its younger brother. Before you jump to the results page, please take some time to get a good look at the Zalman ZM-NC3000U notebook cooler and learn its features and specifications.
The speed of the 220mm fan housed within the Zalman ZM-NC3000U notebook cooler can be adjusted to suit your needs and the vented area covers nearly 60% of the top surface. Read on to find out more. Zalman Cooler Features
ZM-NC3000U Specifications
About Zalman Tech Co., Ltd.Zalman tech co., Ltd. was founded in 1999 and introduced to the computer industry the concept of "Noiseless computing." In a world filled with noisy computers, "silent" cooling solutions were sought everywhere and contributed to Zalman's rapid growth into the world's leader of high performance, ultra quiet PC cooling solutions. Zalman continues to lead in the industry through decisive R&D investments, peerless craftsmanship, intensive global marketing and generous customer support. Business diversification with innovation such as 2D/3D Convertible LCD Monitors, Heatpipe Cooled Power Supplies, Notebook Coolers, Surround Sound and Dual Stereo Headphones and FPS GUNTMGaming Interface holds true to Zalman's promise to provide "Cool Innovations". Closer Look: Zalman ZM-NC3000UThe Zalman ZM-NC3000U ships in a big box and is packaged very well, wrapped in a foam bag and held in place by two polystyrene side pieces. The box has a nice dark glossy appearance showing the Zalman brand name and model number and also showing the nice design of the cooler in the photo. Also in the bottom left corner are the main features of the ZM-NC3000U notebook cooler.
Flipping the box over you are presented with lots more info, important images and product specifications. The same features printed on the front of the box are reproduced on the back in eight different languages
The Zalman ZM-NC3000U notebook cooler is certainly big and the vented area covers lots of the surface area, the glossy bezel gives a nice look to the cooler but is easily spoiled by fingerprints and scratches. The Zalman ZM-NC3000U notebook cooler weighs 1.2kg which isn't very heavy at all and the construction is really solid.
Looking at the back of the Zalman ZM-NC300U notebook cooler you can notice the glossy bezel also extends here too for a nice finish to the overall look. The I/O panel is also located here.
The side view of the Zalman ZM-NC300U notebook cooler shows lots of essential ground clearance for the air intake, this design looks best suited to sitting on a flat surface rather than on your lap.
Follow on to the next section where we will get a more detailed look at the Zalman ZM-NC3000U notebook cooler and its features. Zalman ZM-NC3000U Detailed FeaturesA more detailed look here at the Zalman ZM-NC3000U notebook cooler now, there are a total of 1300 ventilation holes covering a little under 60% of the top surface area. Being made of aluminium the vented area is quite strong, there is a little bit of flex if you push down hard enough but the fan stops it going too far and it springs back to it's original position. There are two anti-slip rubber grips towards the back corners and a full length strip towards the front that prevent your laptop from sliding off the cooler.
Flipped over the Zalman ZM-NC3000U notebook cooler you can see a different plastic has been used for construction, good call in my opinion as this is a rarely seen side and as such does not need any such aesthetics. There are two feet at the back that allow you to gain a little more height for your convenience, they also have anti-slip rubber attached and a further two rubber grips can be seen towards the front.
As previously mentioned the Zalman ZM-NC3000U notebook cooler has a big 220mm fan installed, it is a nice black transparent design. The speed range on this fan is 620~720 rpm @ 17~23.5 dBA respectively, this is a very quiet fan even on its max speed setting.
Looking at the rear I/O panel now, from left to right are; Power on/off button, Fan speed control wheel, Mini USB power connector, 3x USB 2.0 ports, and an auxiliary 5v DC input for when attached devices need more power.
Included with the Zalman ZM-NC3000U notebook cooler is the Y-type USB power/data lead. The mini USB end plugs into the back of the cooler and the other two regular size USB plugs connect to your laptops USB ports.
This concludes the Functions and features part of the review, in the next section we will test the Zalman ZM-NC3000U notebook cooler and put it through it's paces to see how well it performs. Testing & ResultsTesting MethodologyDuring the test procedure temperatures were monitored by CPUID Hardware Monitor 1.16. No specific stress test programs were used to raise temperatures as the laptop gets hot enough on its own, instead I decided upon running a popular MMORPG (Fly For Fun) to raise temperatures. For the first test the game was loaded and once the laptop was sufficiently warmed up the game was turned off and it was allowed to cool without any assistance to give a reference temperature, then the laptop was cooled with the Zalman ZM-NC3000U cooler on it's lowest fan speed setting until temperatures stabilized and finally cooled further by the Zalman ZM-NC3000U on it's highest fan speed setting. Tests were replicated three times for accuracy and an average result is represented in the first graph below. For the second test the temperatures were taken while the laptop was in use (load temperatures). Once again the laptop was warmed up by running Fly For Fun and temperatures were taken under the following conditions 1) Laptop under load with no cooler, 2) Laptop under load with ZM-NC3000U cooling with fan on it's lowest speed setting, 3) Laptop under load with ZM-NC3000U cooling with fan on its highest speed setting. Tests were replicated three times for accuracy and an average result is represented in the second graph below. We have also Included the results from the previously tested Zalman ZM-NC2500Plus notebook cooler for comparison purposes. Test System
ResultsDuring the test procedure the ambient room temperature was monitored and was between 27C and 28C for the entire duration of the tests. The temperatures in the graphs below are in degrees Celsius and represent the cooling capabilities of the Zalman ZM-NC3000U notebook cooler.
As you can see this particular laptop does get pretty hot while in use, after a session of gaming it was allowed to idle and the temperatures were monitored. The laptops internal cooling leaves a lot to be desired, the three temperature sensors on the CPU, Motherboard and HDD respectively were hovering at 56C ~ 57C. The Zalman ZM-NC3000U was Able to drop those temperatures quite considerably, knocking 22C off the CPU temperature, 15C off the Motherboard temperature and 13C off the HDD temperature. As was noticed before with the ZM-NC2500Plus, not much difference was seen between the high and low fan speed settings
In the second test the results are noticeably different, there is a clear difference between the results for high and low speed fan settings, and a definite improvement was seen with the use of the Zalman ZM-NC3000U notebook cooler. Temperatures were reduced by 12C on the CPU, 12C on the motherboard and 11C on the HDD, a nice even all round performance thanks to the location of the fan. The Zalman ZM-NC3000U notebook cooler was able to reduce temperatures evenly across the range and has a slight edge 2 - 3 Degrees Celcius over its younger brother - the ZM-NC2500Plus, which wasn't able to cool the HDD as well as the other laptop components due to its rear intake design. The ZM-NC3000U is the clear winner here as its was not only able to cool more, but it was able to cool evenly too. Zalman ZM-NC3000U Final ThoughtsThe Zalman ZM-NC3000U notebook cooler is a very well made cooler and I think the balance of weight and materials is perfect, the design is very nice thanks to the glossy outer bezel and large ventilation area. The ZM-NC300U was able to outperform its younger brother thanks mainly to the position of the fan, it is a tried and tested design and I think Zalman have pulled it off nicely, while also keeping the noise level down to a very quiet nearly inaudible hum at full speed. If Zalman could get more speed out of the fan then I'm sure this cooler would have set an even bigger performance gap over the ZM-NC2500Plus.
Zalman ZM-NC3000U ConclusionIn this section I am going to write a brief five point summary on the following categories; Performance, Appearance, Construction, Functionality and Value. These views are my own and help me to give the Zalman ZM-NC3000U a rating out of 10. A high score does not necessarily mean that it is better than a different notebook cooler reviewed by another writer here at Benchmark Reviews, that may have got a lower score, it is however a good indicator of whether the product is good or not. I would strongly urge you to read the entire review if you have not already, so that you can make an educated decision for yourself. The Zalman ZM-NC3000U notebook cooler has performed very well in our tests and was able to shave 12C off of the temperatures of the laptops vital components. Not only was it able to cool well, but it was able to cool evenly. The appearance of the Zalman ZM-NC3000U notebook cooler is very nice also, the glossy black bezel gives a nice finish to the sand blasted anodized aluminium vented area. The design compliments my laptop very nicely which also has a glossy black exterior. The Zalman ZM-NC3000U notebook cooler weighs 1.2kg which isn't very much considering the size, it is very light but extremely well constructed. There is no bending or flexing in the plastic parts and the build quality is very good. The primary function of the Zalman ZM-NC3000U notebook cooler is obviously to cool, added to this is a three port USB 2.0 hub. although you only actually gain one port as the cable used to power it uses two ports on your laptop. The speed control is a nice addition although not entirely essential as the fan is still very quiet at full speed. The same can be said for the inclusion of the on/off switch, if you don't need to cool your laptop then you don't need a cooler. The Zalman ZM-NC3000U is available now for $59.99 at NewEgg.com, a very competitive price compared to similar priced coolers that lack features that the ZM-NC3000U has, such as extra USB ports, alternative power input source and fan speed control. The Zalman ZM-NC3000U is competitively priced, well designed, runs quiet and has great performance, If you are in the market for a notebook cooler that delivers on its name then you can't go wrong with the ZM-NC3000U. Pros:
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Comments
I just ordered this and can't wait to get it :-)
Thank you so much for this very useful test, guys.
Thank you!
So what I did, I bought a thin plexiglass plate and glued it underneath. So now I can use it on my lap, or while in bed under my cover and still use it and not blocking the fan!
Sure there are laptop cools that are built like I am asking, but they all have 2-3 small fans and thus resulting in high noise. Zalman is the only one I have found that uses one large fan!
I just placed my order on Amazon. Before clickin 'Buy', I did some background reading myself and saw/read many reviews. This by far is the most comprehensive and detailed review.
Excellent review. Thank you!
Can't wait for mine to arrive :)
Most 17" notebook users won't see as spectacular results as this review since the air is focused entirely on the centre of the notebook and there's a good chance that (like me) the intake fan(s) under the notebook are located towards the far sides next to or near a exhaust on the side/back of the notebook.
If anyone with a 17" notebook is in a similar situation I'd advise positioning the notebook so the rubber feet of the notebook sit on top of the rubber ridges on the surface of the cooler. The extra clearance should help the air being blown up to reach the intake fans more effectively (assuming they aren't right on top of the 220mm fan like the review notebook probably was).
Thanks again for this review, as Rhon said, it's a very professional article aside from the lack of 17" notebook as a comparison. My NC3000U should be arriving tomorrow so hopefully my theory to increase air flow to intake fans will bear fruit :)
I have tried others but nothing beats Zalaman when it comes to laptop cooling (cpu cooling, maybe; I don't own any cpu cooler from zalman). I wish the fan had higher rpm (you hardly hear it at full power) such as 1200rpm or so. I don't mind noise but that's me ^^
Zalman is a must even if it's more expensive.
Regards,
Valentin N