Intended uses and final thoughts
Thermal thoughtsUnder sustained full load for 30 minutes, the TNN 300 chassis became quite warm to the touch, suggesting that the heatpipe approach was functioning well. Overall cooling will, of course, be highly dependant upon ambient conditions. Run in the height of summer with the ambient room temperature hovering around the 27c mark, full load temperature for the Athlon 64 3500+ CPU ran between 65-70c. We can appreciate that CPUs with TDPs in excess of 100W will most likely overheat, so overclocking isn't really an option here. A temperature probe showed internal case temperature to hover around the 45c mark. That's the price you pay for not having any fans moving internal air around.
What's commendable, however, is that we encountered no stability-related problems during a week of testing. Indeed, the unit was only switched off once, for a few minutes, over a 6-day period.
Ease of upgrading
Zalman has had to make accessibility and upgradeability compromises when designing the TNN 300. Fanless running of a midrange system in a small chassis requires careful engineering that puts a premium on upgradeability. We reckon that most buyers will not upgrade the internal components at all, so readers that suffer from the common PC disease of upgradeitis need to look elsewhere.
Any good for gaming?
As supplied by Quiet PC, the system scored a more-than reasonable 17,868 marks in 3DMark01, a reasonable 3082 marks in 3DMark05, and a playable average 52.6FPS frame rate in our DOOM 3 Timedemo 1 HQ test at 1024x768. The integrated amplifier paved the way for connecting a couple of speakers without the need for a dedicated, discrete amp., too. We'd imagine that all but the die-hard gamers would be content with the setup's gaming performance.
Multimedia PC
Here's where the system excels. Its near-silent operation allows you to watch or listen to media files at low volumes, but just be sure to locate the chassis with adequate space around the heat plates. The added bonus of a remote control and useful iMON software puts the Quiet PC/TNN 300 high up on our media PC list. We would like to see the system ship with wireless connectivity installed as standard, however.
Value for money?
The answer to this depends upon just how much you prize a silent-running PC. The combined cost of the TNN 300 chassis and Quiet PC's internal components and building put this system's asking price at around £400 above that of a similarly-specced, off-the-shelf PC.
Final thoughts
Considered solely from an engineering viewpoint, the Quiet PC/Zalman TNN 300 is an overwhelming success. You begin to appreciate just how quiet it is when the near-silent hard drive begins to sound like a SCSI drive. The chassis is compact, well-made, looks good, and can accommodate internal components that are considered to be mid-to-high-end. Excellence in engineering is almost always accompanied by significant price premiums. That's true here, too, as the complete Quiet PC setup costs around £1,000, or around £400 more than an air-cooled setup.
Summarising the Quiet PC/TNN 300 system is quite simple, really. It's a niche product that will appeal, in no uncertain terms, to a select bunch of users that value silence above all else. If you happen to be one of them, the TNN 300 is a pretty unique product that will appeal to you. For the rest who don't mind the noise made by a few fans, you'll wonder what the fuss is about. We try to view products in relation to how well they fit their intended purposes. In that case, then, the Quiet PC/Zalman TNN 300 system is a well-executed idea with significant practical benefits to the right type of buyer.
HEXUS Right2Reply
We are pleased with the review by HEXUS.net and it's good to see that the product has been evaluated based on its intended purpose. As a multimedia PC solution, we feel the TNN 300 system is ideal for those that demand silence from their system. We are also pleased to announce that QuietPC UK are the exclusive distributor of the TNN 300 chassis, which should be available in approximately two weeks.
QuietPC
