Zalman TNN 500AF Totally No Noise Computer Case

The aptly-named Totally No Noise 500AF (TNN 500AF) is the world’s first absolutely noiseless and fanless computer case, from the number one quiet cooling manufacturer, Zalman. With a constant desire to have the ultimate PC comes faster and therefore noisier fans. As PC’s become commonplace in a home environment, as well as in more specific fields such as audio and video production, so the benefit of a noiseless system is clear. When a high performance totally silent PC platform is required, this is the case of choice!

Zalman TNN 500AF - The ultimate choice for a noiseless computer!

Developed using heatpipe technology to create a 100% passively cooled environment, Zalman have employed a radical new approach to PC internal design by using a combination heatpipe system. The gold-plated heatpipes move heat to the outside of the chassis which has a huge extruded surface area. The heat is then effortlessly dissipated into the surrounding air. Built from 5-7 mm thick aluminium and at 500 mm high, in effect the entire TNN 500AF chassis is one giant heatsink!

Increased reliability and lower maintenance

Computer fans have an expected lifetime of between 20,000 and 50,000 hours (approx. 2-5 years). Because the TNN 500AF does not use any fans, the system will never suffer from unreliability or damage due to fan failure. Neither will there be any unreliability due to the build-up of dust which would normally be caused by the use of fans. By taking advantage of the natural convection process, the amount of inflowing air is very small and this almost completely eliminates internal dust build-up. Traditionally, fan filters are used where there is a need for high system reliability, but of course these are not necessary with a convection cooled PC such as one based on the TNN 500AF. Again, maintenance costs are reduced, and reliability is increased.

Reduced Electromagnetic Interference (EMI)

The TNN 500AF is made from solid aluminium which is up to 7 mm thick in places! Not only does this give an extremely robust and long-lasting PC, but, combined with the TNN EMI prevention system, it means that EMI (electromagnetic interference) is almost completely eliminated.

Aluminium Heatsink Chassis

The casing sides of the TNN 500AF comprises two large extruded aluminium heatsink plates. These plates transfer all heat from the processor, graphics card, etc., to the surrounding air through a process of natural radiation and convection. Since this requires no moving components, a PC based on the TNN 500AF is absolutely silent.

Heatpipe Processor Cooler

The TNN 500AF comes with an integral CPU cooler which transfers heat from the processor to the chassis using six copper heatpipes. Each 6 mm heatpipe is gold plated to eliminate oxidation, and has coolant permanently sealed inside it. Since heatpipes do not require any power or fan cooling, they are absolutely free from noise and require zero-maintenance. The TNN500AF is compatible with P4 S478/LGA775 and Athlon 64 S754/939 CPUs.

Heatpipe Graphics Card Cooler

The TNN 500AF includes a VGA cooler which transfers heat from the GPU to the chassis using three heatpipes, in a similar way to the processor cooler. Like the processor cooler, the result is excellent cooling with zero noise. The three VGA heatpipes drain heat from the GPU at a rate of 75 watts/sec; enough to cool high end graphics cards. The TNN500AF is compatible with all graphics cards that have push-pin holes around the GPU, up to and including Matrox Parhelia, ATi X850 and nVidia 6800 Ultra.

Fanless Power Supply Unit

The power supply in the TNN500AF is a unit which has been specially designed for the TNN chassis. It employs revolutionary Multi PCB transformer and Heat Source Contact (HSC) technologies in order to provide ample power (400W) without the need for any active (fan) cooling. As you would therefore expect, it operates in complete silence.

The heat from the power supply components is transferred to the TNN chassis through an aluminium panel, which is in direct contact with the chassis. The TNN power supply has a lifespan of over 50,000 hours and an impressive 80% AC/DC conversion efficiency, which is about 10-15% higher than a conventional ATX power supply! This helps reduce electricity consumption and heat generation.

As you can see from the image to the left the TNN 500AF power supply is supplied with a 6-pin PCI-Express power cable, 20 and 24 pin ATX connectors, two SATA power cables, six large 4-pin hard drive connectors and two small 4-pin floppy drive connectors.

Conventional power supplies tend to have a lower output voltage due to something called “line-dropping phenomenon”. The TNN500AF power supply extends the output voltage sensors up to the motherboard connection for +3.3V, +5V and +12V rails to prevent the phenomenon. This helps to ensure voltage accuracy and system stability.

Other Features

Rear-Mount Thermal Blocks - These are included to help reduce the temperature of the FETs (Field Effect Transistor) by 10° to 30°. They can also reduce the Northbridge temperature by around 10°.

Front Ports and drive bays - The TNN500AF has easy access to Audio, four USB and two Firewire ports. It also has two 5.25” bays for optical drives and four 3.5” bays for hard drives.

Heatpipe Northbridge Cooler - Even the Northbridge chip has been given the heatpipe treatment. The single 5mm diameter heatpipe is able to transfer 20W of heat.

Lockable Door - One downside to the earlier TNN500A was that is was not possible to lock the sides of the case. The TNN500AF now has a lockable door, this means if you do not have the key you will not be able to access the internals of the PC.

Remote Control and Software - Also supplied with the TNN 500AF is the fantastic iMON with the black RCS remote control and Multi-Median. This will allow you to take control of the TNN 500AF remotely!

Other things worth a mention - The TNN 500AF comes with four heavy duty casters which can support one ton each. They are equipped with brake and height adjustment features. Concealable handles on the top of the case make it easy to move the PC around, although at over 30kg we would not suggest it is something to be taken with you on holiday or to Lan parties!

Switching on a totally silent PC for the first time and seeing it boot up is actually quite a strange experience, because normally you would hear some noise and see some movement! Sadly, for the TNN 500AF to operate as a PC, it will be necessary to install a hard drive which will make some noise. But all is not lost because the TNN 500AF package includes a hard drive heatpipe cooler (ZM-2HC2). This serves to reduce vibration and noise from the hard drive, and also gives extra cooling.

However, the best acoustic result is obtained by your choice of hard drive in the first place. We would strongly recommend the Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 or the Samsung SpinPoint range as easily being the quietest hard drives currently available.