APS is the entry-level power supply series from Zalman, targeted to users that want a good power supply at an affordable price, featuring active PFC, 120-mm fan but no modular cabling system as other units from this manufacturer, what helps lowering the price from this series. We have already tested the 360 W model from this series, which achieved excellent results. Is the 460 W also a good product? Let’s see.

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Figure 1: Zalman ZM460B-APS.

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Figure 2: Zalman ZM460B-APS.

This power supply is very small, being 5 ½” (14 cm) deep, and as mentioned featuring a 120-mm fan on its bottom and active PFC circuit, allowing Zalman to market this product in Europe.

Since this product does not have a modular cabling system, all cables come from inside the power supply housing, all using a nylon protection that comes from inside the unit.

The main motherboard cable uses a 20/24-pin connector and ZM460-APS has two ATX12V connectors that together form an EPS12V connector. Even though these connectors are available on the same cable and protected by the same nylon sleeving, they use individual wires, so they act as being available on individual cables, which is the best configuration.

This power supply comes with one cable containing two 6-pin auxiliary power plugs for video cards. For a better current/power distribution we prefer when these connectors are attached to individual cables and not sharing the same cable.

This unit comes with two cables containing two standard peripheral power plugs and one floppy disk drive power plug each and two cables containing two SATA power plugs each.

Even though the number of plugs is enough to a mainstream PC, we think it would be better if this unit had at least two more peripheral power plugs and two more SATA power plugs.

All wires are 18 AWG, which is the correct gauge to be used nowadays.

ZM460-APS also comes with an adaptor with speed selection for fans with 3-pin connectors. This adaptor, which can be installed on any peripheral power plug, provides two outputs: one with +12 V (full speed) and another with +5 V (a little bit less than half-speed).

Like all other power supplies from Zalman, ZM460B-APS is manufactured by FSP. This manufacturer is also in charge of some power supplies from OCZ (GameXStream and StealthXStream series) and SilverStone (Strider series).

By the way, on our review from SilverStone Strider ST50F we left a question answered, pending our review on Zalman ZM460B-APS: is SilverStone Strider ST50F and Zalman ZM460B-APS the same power supply with a different label? The answer is yes. Even though some semiconductors are different, they have the exact same specs. The only difference is the number of peripheral power plus: SilverStone’s model has six peripheral power plugs and six SATA power plugs, while Zalman’s have only four of each.

As you would image, this power supply uses the same project as Zalman ZM360B-APS, which we have already reviewed, but with stronger semiconductors, as you would imagine. The project from these two power supplies and from Strider ST50F is also very similar to the one used on Zalman HP series, which have a few details changed to support higher currents/power, plus the addition of a modular cabling system.

During our internal analysis we will be comparing the components used on ZM460B-APS to the ones used on ZM360B-APS and SilverStone Strider ST50F.

Let’s now take an in-depth look inside this power supply.