Tuesday, May 28th 2019

Zalman Z-Machine 500, TWCS 500 and X101 Cases Among Others Pictured

Zalman didn't forget to bring some cases to Computex, with the company bringing what appears to be there entire lineup spearheaded by the Z-Machine 500. It is an aggressive chassis that uses an open case design for maximum airflow and capable of handling just about any air or liquid cooling setup. It offers support for up to a 360 mm radiator in the front and a 240 mm radiator at the top and comes with five pre-installed 120 mm Spider RGB fans. Due to the internal layout, the motherboard I/O is up top, allowing for easy access. It should also be noted that while classified as an ATX mid-tower, it is only capable of handling 2x SSDs.

Zalman's TWCS 500 on the other hand while very similar to the Z-Machine 500 offers a unique hybrid cooling system, which is a combination of water cooling and immersion cooling. It has support for the same 5x 120 mm fans and comes with a 360 mm radiator pre-installed up front. There is space for a 240 mm radiator up top as well. Like the previous chassis it to is limited to 2x SSDs for storage. These basic features while acceptable can't hold a candle to two features Zalman has listed for this case, with the company listing "Ensure(d) Stability by Applying Insulating Fluoric Refrigerant (10 Degrees Cooler Than Other Cases)" and "Strengthen(ed) Antifouling Function Against Mineral Oil Refrigerant." It definitely makes the hybrid cooling functionality sound a whole lot more interesting. Hopefully, more info on these two features will be forthcoming soon.
Image #1 above is Z-Machine 500, the rest are the TWCS 500.

Next up for unique cases is the X101, which isn't your traditional box design instead featuring a triangular shape with prominent RGB lighting effects. These two aspects along make it stand out from the crowd in a hurry. As for actual functionality, it offers designated SSD and HDD racks along with easy cable management. Maximum graphics length is listed as 310 mm with the chassis having seven expansion slots. When it comes to storage space, it is listed as having 2x 5.25" bays and 2x 3.5" or 2.5" bays. Fan support is listed as 2x 120 mm up front with 6x 80 mm in the rear with 2x 200 mm Auto Spectrum RGB fans pre-installed of which one is in the top and the other in the bottom.
For the more Mini-ITX enthusiasts out there Zalman has the Z-Machine 300. It features a full aluminum body and acrylic window allowing enthusiasts to show off all there hardware. Meanwhile, it also has space for full-on custom water cooling and has been tailor-made for it since it comes with a pump and reservoir included. Cooling is handled by 2x 120 mm fans on top and 2x 120 mm fans on the bottom. Traditional air coolers will be limited to just 72 mm tall, so again this chassis is heavily geared towards custom water cooling. When it comes to storage space, they were quite generous as it supports 3x 2.5" mounting locations for SSDs. In regards to power supply support, the case will take an SFX or SFX-L unit. Finally, RGB lighting on the front makes an appearance here as well, giving the case an extra bit of bling.
In regards to other cases on display, Zalman had the M301, M302, Z201, Z202, Z203 and many more. These cases are more in line with what you would expect, considering they all feature traditional tower designs which you can see below.
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5 Comments on Zalman Z-Machine 500, TWCS 500 and X101 Cases Among Others Pictured

#1
FreedomEclipse
~Technological Technocrat~
Hopefully their legal issues have been sorted out and they can finally start pushing out products again.
Posted on Reply
#2
lexluthermiester
FreedomEclipseHopefully their legal issues have been sorted out and they can finally start pushing out products again.
? What legal issues?
Posted on Reply
#3
FreedomEclipse
~Technological Technocrat~
A good few years ago they almost went bankrupt because one of the owners or their parent company cleared the entire bank account and tried to do a runner. I cant remember the story exactly but it was definitely something to do with Zalmans parent company that revolved around money, was going bust so tried to throw Zalman under the bus as collateral but somehow Zalman got saved and they separated themselves from what was going on or at least tried to.

This is also one of the reasons theyve been really quiet since the skt 939 came and went. They just didnt have the budget to do anything and as result their international footprint just vanished overnight.

Maybe you ask if they just stopped distributing outside of Asia - but their parts are rare even in hong kong.

Every so often you come across a retailer with a small batch of their PSUs and maybe some cpu coolers and old watercooling parts from 2002-2005 back when they were doing their reserator series of water cooling stuffs.

People didnt know if Zalman had died, Zalman didnt even know if they had died but they were committed to trying to carry on and move forward

Heres a few news reports...

www.anandtech.com/show/8697/corporate-fraud-drives-zalman-to-bankruptcy

www.geek.com/chips/pc-cooling-specialist-zalman-goes-bankrupt-due-to-fraud-1608736/

www.tomshardware.com/news/zalman-after-moneual,30740.html

So it wasnt Zalman themselves that were doing dodgy stuff - it was their parent company. They are still owned by the same company according to wiki so i dont know if anything has changed
Posted on Reply
#4
lexluthermiester
FreedomEclipseA good few years ago they almost went bankrupt because one of the owners or their parent company cleared the entire bank account and tried to do a runner. I cant remember the story exactly but it was definitely something to do with Zalmans parent company that revolved around money, was going bust so tried to throw Zalman under the bus as collateral but somehow Zalman got saved and they separated themselves from what was going on or at least tried to.

This is also one of the reasons theyve been really quiet since the skt 939 came and went. They just didnt have the budget to do anything and as result their international footprint just vanished overnight.

Maybe you ask if they just stopped distributing outside of Asia - but their parts are rare even in hong kong.

Every so often you come across a retailer with a small batch of their PSUs and maybe some cpu coolers and old watercooling parts from 2002-2005 back when they were doing their reserator series of water cooling stuffs.

People didnt know if Zalman had died, Zalman didnt even know if they had died but they were committed to trying to carry on and move forward

Heres a few news reports...

www.anandtech.com/show/8697/corporate-fraud-drives-zalman-to-bankruptcy

www.geek.com/chips/pc-cooling-specialist-zalman-goes-bankrupt-due-to-fraud-1608736/

www.tomshardware.com/news/zalman-after-moneual,30740.html

So it wasnt Zalman themselves that were doing dodgy stuff - it was their parent company. They are still owned by the same company according to wiki so i dont know if anything has changed
Thank You for the links! Didn't know about any of that, or at least didn't remember. Looks like they've bounced back! :clap: :rockout: I always liked Zalman, they made great stuff! :toast:
Posted on Reply
#5
FreedomEclipse
~Technological Technocrat~
Just checked their website - Its been completely revamped since i last visted about a year ago when they were still advertising the fact that they sold SSDs and gaming monitors. Apart from the headphones they are peddling everything else just seems the usual stuff they used to do...

Their headphones do look hella rebadged though Seem to be a mix of Sennheiser, Audio Technica, Plantronics & Philips.
Posted on Reply
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