Zalman Z9 Plus - Cheap, Cool and Quiet Build

Soldato
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So, it's no secret that I'm not rich, far from it in fact. But I still like to have a fast computer that is also quiet and looks nice. Recently I upgraded to a Q6600, and my budget £18 case just had virtually zero airflow. At first I was a bit reluctant to buy a case, thinking I'd have to spend a fair bit to get anything half decent. This is where the Zalman Z9 plus comes in, for £45 it's an absolute bargain, and ticked all the boxes for my needs.

So this morning as expected I had a box arrive :)

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Just a couple of shots of how it looks straight out the box.

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Here's the old case I've put up with far too long, cheap and nasty really!

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A comparison of the two

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Cable management was non-existant too!

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While it was in bits I decided to change the fan on the PSU, it's by far the noisiest thing in there. I swapped the fan connector over however the PSU has a variable fan speed, and at the lowest setting it didn't spin at all.

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The solution was to solder in a +12v wire (the green one) so it runs at full speed all the time. It's not great but it does the job, I hope to get another corsair PSU at some point as this thing lets the whole computer down really.

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This is a fantastic idea, connectors to split the wires from the front panel :)

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Dust filters in the expansion slots too :)

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Now time to get building, mobo in.

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HDD in, the anti-vibration mounts are very good indeed.

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I had a spare 120mm fan, I plugged it in and it was dead silent so strapped it to the trusty old 8800GT.

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The cable management in this case is very good, my PSU lets it down a bit though. Eventual everything will be braided :)

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Everything now in

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A couple of arty shots :) (the front USB ports have a nice tight fit :))

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I was very lucky here, the fan just touches on the GPU cooler!

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Tried to get pictures in the dark but they turned out horribly :( It looks absolutely fantastic though.

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Best £45 I've spent in a very long time :)

Future plans:

PSU change
Motherboard change (Can't adjust vcore on this one :()
GPU upgrade
 
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Soldato
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it looks FANTASTIC

i was weighing up getting one of these or a cm-690 II lite and ended up not getting the zalman, the other was a fiver more with a lot more features in my view

nice upgrade, i;d suggest a new psu next :p
 
Soldato
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Looks great mate! Mines not out of the box yet so so far it looks like this:

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Just waiting for the rest of the MSi Z68 boards to come out to decide how I want to spend my money. I've been really good so far.

My 2500k has effectively cost me £135
6950 FrozR III was £179.99 from EPIC TUESDAY
H50 I got for £40 on OcUK promo
XMS3 4GB I got second hand but never used for £30.

EDIT:

Also, got my Z9 when it was on promo to so it cost me £40.
 
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Soldato
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it looks FANTASTIC

i was weighing up getting one of these or a cm-690 II lite and ended up not getting the zalman, the other was a fiver more with a lot more features in my view

nice upgrade, i;d suggest a new psu next :p

I looked at that case also but I much prefer the Zalman and I'm glad I got it now :) Don't worry PSU is 1st in priority to be changed. I don't have a job so I need to be extremely careful with my money :(

Looks great mate! Mines not out of the box yet so so far it looks like this:


Just waiting for the rest of the MSi Z68 boards to come out to decide how I want to spend my money. I've been really good so far.

My 2500k has effectively cost me £135
6950 FrozR III was £179.99 from EPIC TUESDAY
H50 I got for £40 on OcUK promo
XMS3 4GB I got second hand but never used for £30.

Cool that'll be a very nice build :) I think I'll get a H50 once I have a new mobo so I can clock a bit higher :)
 
Soldato
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I'm too cheap to buy a backlit keyboard so I got a pair of 12" cathodes from china for about £3 :p

Small pile of bits, an old 12v transformer I had, a switch and the cathodes.
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Soldered up the switch and stuck them in, they looked better than I expected :D
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I shall tidy the wiring tomorrow :p Wish I had some smaller heatshrink too :(
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Soldato
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Gotta make do with what you've got and you've done pretty well! It's pretty good thinking. And at only £3 that's pretty good going too.

I want a backlit mechanical keyboard, but at the moment I've got far too many other peripherals and components I need to get so that's pretty low down the line of priority. Still need to get my mobo, optical drive, some thermal paste, copy of windows 7, bigger monitor, new chair and a decent set of gaming headphones. Then a keyboard ranks after all that!
 
Soldato
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I have a Saitek Eclipse II which is backlit, but I really like this Logiteck keyboard, it's quiet and more responsive than the Saitek :)

Anyway I tidied it all up, it's just right, not too bright :)
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And mounted the switch, all tie wires are tucked away out of sight aswell now :)
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For £3 I'm really pleased lol.

I have some Edifier speakers coming Monday :)
 
Soldato
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Looks brilliant mate :D I'd be well proud of that if I were you :)

If you ever DO decide it's too bright, just make a little box/cover for the cathodes out of tinted perspex :) - or maybe wire yourself a 12v rheostat into the live to the cathodes... would give you a dimmer control then wouldn't it :)

Good work :)
 
Soldato
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The LED's are always on, you'd have to change the fans if you want them switch-able.

Well, my speakers still haven't turned up :(

I have a new motherboard coming soon though, couldn't resist :D
 
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