Legit Cooling Reviews

Zalman ZM-F4 135mm Multipurpose Fan Review

Manufacturer: Zalman
Product: Zalman ZM-F4 135mm Multipurpose Fan
Date: Sat, Apr 02, 2011 - 12:00 AM
Written By: Charles McGraw -
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Testing Methodology & Results


Legit Reviews Testing Equipment

Today we'll be testing 4 Aspects of these fans:

  • Sound Pressure Level (recorded in dBA)
  • Airflow (recorded in CFM)
  • Static Pressure (recorded in mmH20)
  • Heat Tolerance (testing done at 30*C)

The Testing Equipment that I will be using was purchased by me and it includes:

  • Dwyer Differential Pressure Gauge Model 2000-00 AV
  • General Tools DCFM8906 Digital Air Flow Meter
  • Tenma Digital Sound Level Meter
  • Kintrex IRT0421 Non-Contact Infrared Thermometer
  • Universal Enterprises DM383B Digital Multimeter
Today we will be testing these fans against some other fans of my collection to give a comparison against fans offered by the competition.

Zalman ZM-F4 135mm Multipurpose Quiet Fan Airflow Testing
Whoa... let's just say I'm a bit stunned. To reiterate from earlier in the review, this is a 135mm rotating at 1300RPM spitting out close to 70 CFM. That's absolutely great.

Zalman ZM-F4 135mm Multipurpose Quiet Fan Sound Pressure Testing

I will not lie; I re-ran all of my tests twice at this point. This fan was almost going up to 26dB(A) like advertised, but it was throwing out almost 70CFM while doing so. On a quick point to point measurement, that is almost a 2.5 to 1 Airflow to Noise Ratio. To really put that in perspective, most 120mm fans have a good 2:1 ratio going on.

Zalman ZM-F4 135mm Multipurpose Quiet Fan Static Pressure Testing
Well, here is where we run into what you could say is the downside to this fan. It is not really a fan designed for heatsinks. Static Pressure is only coming in at a hair below 2mmH20 which is still very good as most 140mm fans only have a static pressure rating between 1mmH20 and 1.5mmH20.

Nonetheless, if you are looking for top end performance on a heatsink I might suggest looking elsewhere. If you are looking for a great exhaust fan for your case, this would be a great choice.

Next Page - Conclusion & Final Thoughts on the Zalman ZM-F4


Review Index
Page 1 - Introduction The Zalman ZM-F4 Multipurpose Fan
Page 2 - Unboxing The Zalman ZM-F4 135mm Multipurpose Fan
Page 3 - Testing Methodology & Results
Page 4 - Conclusion & Final Thoughts on the Zalman ZM-F4