Zalman LQ310
In contrast to Corsair and Thermaltake,
Zalman is a new brand on the market of compact liquid-cooling system. You can
remember the renowned Zalman Reserator line, but it’s no longer includes the
small and reasonable-pricing products. Zalman thought that it would be
essential to provide such products. There are 3 among them and they are
different in pricing as well as in efficiency. Let’s start reviewing the junior
model, which is called Zalman LQ310.
The small and flashy box can be the nicest
model among the products included in this review. There’s a big picture of the
water block and the fan, as well as some description on the main functions of
the cooler at the front of the box:
Small
and flashy box
You can find a copy of the info in the
packing, including detailed technical specs, a list of supported platforms and
a picture of the main system components.
In fact, this is the 3rd time we
see these components in this review:
Accessories
Made in China, Zalman LQ310 has the price
of 67.99 USD (discount 20 USD on a discount card). Warranty is for 5 years.
What are the differences between Zalman
LQ310 and the Zalman LQ310 variants? Yes, it’s right in the design of its
water-block’s top.
Zalman
LQ310
Hardly can you find any differences in
these pictures:
Zalman
LQ310 variant
This is a radiator:
Radiator
And the water pump/block part:
Water-pump/block
And the thermal grease trail:
Thermal
grease trail
Though the fan is original, it’s a simple
black thing with only 7 blades and 120-mm diameter, but it holds the Zalman
logo:
The
fan holds the Zalman logo
ZP1225ALM is PWM adjusted in the range of
900 to 2,000 RPM. The noise level and the air flows are not set apart. The life
of the improved outer-tube buffer is 50,000 hours or over 5.7 year of
continuous working.
We don’t think we have to describe the installation
process one more time. We have already done that above as well as in some of
our previous reviews.
Common specification
·
Platform: Asetek 550LC
·
Dimensions (L x W x H), mm: 153 x120 x 53
·
Size of the useful body (L x W x H), mm: 150 x
112 x 17
·
Material: aluminum
1 Zalman
ZP1225ALM fan
·
Dimension, mm: 120 x 120 x25
·
Buffer: 1 sliding buffer
·
Max speed 900- 2000 (+/- 10%) RPM
·
Air flows – (CFM)
·
Noise – (dBA)
·
Nominal voltage: 12V
·
Max power consumption: 2.4 W
·
MTBF fan 50,000/5.7 hours/year
Pump
·
Size, mm 65x28
·
Rotor-rotational speed: 1,480 RPM
·
Ceramic washer (CFF1)
·
MTBF washer 50,000/5.7 hour/year
·
Nominal voltage 12 V
·
Parametric/actual power consumption 3.9/2.67 W
·
Noise 26-37 dBA
Water block
·
Material and structure: copper, micro-channel
structure
·
Platform compatibility: Intel LGA
1155/1156/1366/2011, AMD Socket AM2(+)/AMD3(+)/FM1(2)
Supplements
·
Tube length: 300 mm
·
Outer tube parameter 11 mm
·
Cool liquid : non-toxic, anti-corrosive
(propylence glycol)
·
Operating temperature range: 5..35 oC
·
Storage temperature range: -20..70oC
·
Total weight 673 g
·
Warranty 5 year
·
Price 67.99 USD
Zalman LQ315
The packing of Zalman LQ315 is similarly design
as the prior model, except for some color variants.
Similar
design
We can find the same info on the box but of
course, some technical specs will be different.
There are some multi-lingual guides among
the accessories:
Accessories
Zalman LQ315 costs $99.99 ($20 discount on
preferential card)
This cooler is not much different compared
to its low-level cousins. As a closed-loop system, it includes 2 components
connected with the pipe:
Zalman
LQ315
On the other hand, this system has a
thicker radiator and a taller water block.
Taller
water block
The aluminum radiator is completely
different. It has the dimensions of 153x120x38 mm, 10-mm thicker than other
radiators in this review. It only has 8 channels and a larger corrugated strip
with perforations:
The
aluminum radiator is completely different
Thus, the distance between the edges of the
band is 1.5-time larger compared to the first Asetek 550LC cooler, which should
make Zalman LQ315 more efficient at medium and slow fan speed even though the
radiator is thicker. We will quickly check this thing.
The height of the pump is increased from 28
to 32 mm:
The
height is increased from 28 to 32 mm
This doesn’t mean that there’s any
improvement in the coolant flow or some similar to that. The pump is longer
because it has to hold the preeminent Z integrated on its cap:
The
preeminent Z
The marketing tricks that attract Zalman
fans, Zorro, Godzilla, Jay-Z as well as many people who love the 26th
letter of the Latin alphabet.
Here are some photos showing the thermal
grease trail of this cooler:
Thermal
grease trail
Zalman LQ315 has the same fan as Zalman
LQ310:
The
same fan as Zalman LQ310
Its fan has the diameter of 113 mm while
the engine is 42.5 mm in diameter. The 4-wire cable is 345 mm long. According
to our measurement, the fan consumes up to 2.47 W and has a startup voltage of
3.3 V. that’s all we can share about it.
Besides the outstanding blue water block,
the installed Zalman LQ315 can be easy to recognize by the capitalized letter
on the edge of the radiator:
The
capitalized letters on the edge of the radiator
Now, when we have checked the main
functions of the 5 compact liquid cooling system, we can check them by actions.
Common specifications
·
Platform: Asetek 550LC
·
Dimensions (L x W x H), mm: 153 x120 x 63
·
Size of the useful body (L x W x H), mm: 150 x
113 x 26
·
Material: aluminum
1 Zalman
ZP1225ALM fan
·
Size, mm: 120 x 120 x25
·
Buffer: 1 sliding buffer
·
Max speed 900- 2000 (+/- 10%) RPM
·
Air flow – (CFM)
·
Noise – (dBA)
·
Nominal voltage: 12V
·
Max power consumption: 2.4 W
·
MTBF fan 50,000/5.7 hour/year
Pump
·
Size, mm 65x32
·
Rotor-rotational speed 1500 RPM
·
Ceramic washer (CFF1)
·
Washer MTBF 50,000/5.7 hour/year
·
Nominal voltage 12 V
·
Parametric/actual power consumption 3.9/2.96 W
·
Noise 26-37 dBA
Water block
·
Material and structure: copper, micro-channel
structure
·
Platform compatibility: Intel LGA
1155/1156/1366/2011, AMD Socket AM2(+)/AMD3(+)/FM1(2)
Supplements
·
Pipe length: 300 mm
·
Outer tube parameter 11 mm
·
Cool liquid : non-toxic, anti- corrosive
(propylence glycol)
·
Operating temperature range: 5..35 oC
·
Storage temperature range: -20..70oC
·
Total weight 742 g
·
Warranty 5 years
·
Price $99.99
