Zalman recommends using its ZM460-APS power supply with the HD160 system case, so we took it for our tests (you can read more about this PSU in our article called ATX Power Supply Units Roundup: 9 Powerful Models Tested ).

Enclosed with the power supply were sticker braces that we used to neatly place the cables inside the case.

A special plate is to be fastened on the PSU before you try to install it into the case.

And then the PSU goes right in:

The user manual tells that the power supply is to be installed in such a way that its fan faced the vent hole in the right side panel. This is a typical solution among those users who try to manually minimize the noise from their PCs, but it seems like the first time we meet it in an off-the-shelf product. The PSU takes air from the outside and exhausts it outside, too, thus taking no part in heat transfer within the case. This solution hasn’t been popular among PC case makers, though. We decided to ignore the recommendation and place the PSU the usual way. This had no effect on the thermal conditions of the PSU itself, but including it into the heat transfer inside the case helped reduce the CPU temperate by about 2-3°C under load. This is not much, but why shouldn’t you neglect an opportunity to win a few degrees in temperature by simply turning the PSU around? The noise level remains the same irrespective of the PSU orientation.

The single problem with the PSU emerged after its installation:

There are just too many cables for a HTPC case here! Zalman hasn’t yet followed the recent trend of equipping PSUs with detachable cables, so you have to deal with the excess cables somehow.