In the PC enthusist world there are certain names that everyone knows and one of those names is/should be Zalman. When it comes to quality and proformance they're a company that delivers again and again. If you're like me the first thing that comes to mind when someone says Zalman is coolers, but today I'm going to be reviewing a power supply. Power supplies are very important, because if you dont have power all your parts are just paper-weights. The power supply I'm reviewing is the Zalman ZM850-HP DUAL HEATPIPE COOLED Modular Power Supply. Lets get to it.

As with almost every PSU ( Power Supply Unit ) review, the first thing a reviewer will likely notice is the weight, and this unit didnt disappoint. Although I didnt have a scale, I can tell you that just by lifting it up if judged by weight alone, it's in the "Mike Tyson" class of power supplies (minus the ear bite of course). The box Zalman packs the PSU in is good looking , but doesnt do it justice and isnt anything that would "jump out at you" sitting on a shelf. The spots you see arent on my lens, they're really on the box.With the typical print listing features, specifications and some pictures of the connectors, connection ports and enternal parts and heatpipes, this is just another power supply box, and if the packaging is what stops a customer and makes them look, this might get overlooked.

Once the box is opened, I was greeted with two more boxes. One was for all the modular cables and one was for the power supply itself, wrapped in bubble wrap. There was a bag with mounting screws, a velcro strap and a dual plug fan connector, and the user/owner's manual.

I took out the power supply and unwrapped the bubble wrap and was simply amazed at the finish. Not crome or gloss black or some other fancy color; this unit is a black anodized (or something close to it) style polished to a perfect mirror finish. Now I know this won't make it proform better , but its a DaYuM SWEET FINISH and if their attention to the finish is any indication of their attention to quality, this unit will rock! You'll see what I mean as we take a closer look at the unit.

Setting the power supply aside, I turned to the second box and the modular cables. Eight modular cables total come with the unit; two for PCI-E2, three for ODD/HDD, and three for S-ATA. A year or so ago I would have said this was overkill, but more and more you hear about someone who has enough hardware for three or four computers crammed into one case, myself being one such person. This many extra cables is therefore a good thing. All of the cables have black sleeving and black end connectors. The molex connectors are the EZ-grip style which makes plugging and unplugging a breeze, and the PCI-E cables are clearly labeled. All of the terminal ends are gold plated and all the wiring is 16AWG.

With the modular cables out of the way, I went back to checking out the power supply and all its features. The first thing I looked at was the switch that I thought was for power and also thought was put in the wrong place. The green sticker told me that this wasnt a power switch but a noise filter switch , for suppressing electronic noise enterferance. I couldn't get my camera to pick up the lettering on the green label, but it states "Standby Noise Suppressor". On this same side are the main cables coming from the unit and ports for the modular cables which are all clearly labeled, and different shapes to prevent plugging in the wrong parts/cable.The main cables which are not modular include the following - Mainboard (24+4 pin), CPU (4+4 pin), two PCI-E (6+2 pin), one S-ATA ( 3 plugs), and one ODD/HDD (3 plugs). See the finish again, DaYuM it's slick!

The top or bottom depending on case mounting sports a 140mm Zalman ZF1425ATF fan with a fan grill that has the same finish as the rest of the unit. On the side is the standard information sticker listing the electrical specifications and International Safety and ECM certifications. One other certification that is not on the power supply but is on the box is "80 PLUS". This is new and something I'm not familiar with, so I'll quote from the user manual; "80 PLUS is an innovative, electric utility-funded incentive program that strives to intergrate more energy-efficient power supplies into desktop computers and servers", and while I'm not familiar with this incentive program, it does sound like a good thing to be a part of. The last thing of interest on the outside of the case is the lack of an "On/Off" switch, which means to power down you'll need to unplug the unit. There is a green L.E.D. on the back to indicate wether the unit is getting power or not. Here again you see the awsome finish they put on this PSU, and yes I'm still drooling over it!!

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