So, here are the results of the tests:
 
Let’s go through the components one by one. The CPU’s 45-46°C in the Idle mode and 63°C under a load is an excellent result for a processor overclocked to 3.6GHz and cooled by an absolutely noiseless cooling system. The Zalman TNN500A gets the maximum possible score in this item.
 
The temperatures of the GPU and the graphics memory are 50-51°C in the Idle mode and 77-78°C under a load. This is not a catastrophe, but still very hot. For example, with the standard cooling system, the RADEON X800 Pro was 60-65°C hot under a load (see our article called PowerColor RADEON X800 PRO Graphics Card: Modification, Extreme Overclocking and a Duel against Leadtek GeForce 6800 GT).
 
So, while the Zalman TNN500A handles the RADEON X800 more or less successfully, I wouldn’t dare to install a more powerful graphics card into it.
 
The TNN500A has a serious chronic defect in its graphics card section: heat pipes only transfer heat off the GPU, while many graphics cards have hot memory chips that require active cooling at least. But installing a fan to blow at the memory chips on the graphics card means losing the main property of the TNN500A – its absolute noiselessness.
 
The temperature of the hard disk in the “cooling basket” with heat pipes was 44°C in the Idle mode and 57°C after half an hour of defragmentation. This is not just “too much”, that’s close to a catastrophe! I wonder what the temperature of a faster and higher-capacity drive is going to be here, if the old DTLA came under a threat of overheat. Obviously, the heat pipes are not efficient here, and quite naturally: there’s no fan to blow at them, and air circulates very slowly inside the case, mostly due to convection.
 
The situation changed dramatically as soon as I installed the drive onto the ledge of the side panel: 38°C Idle temperature and 44°C Burn temperature! Heat generated by the drive is immediately handed over to the side panel through that ledge and the thermal condition of the device gives no cause for concern. Installation of several hard disk drives on the ledges of the side panel doesn’t provoke any worsening of the thermal situation: the devices won’t heat each other up