We decided to disassemble this power supply to see if it internally is really different from generic power supplies. Please read our Anatomy of Switching Power Supplies tutorial to understand how a power supply works inside and to compare this power supply to a generic one.
In this page we will have an overall look, while on the next page we will discuss in details the quality and rating of the components used.
We can point out several differences between this power supply and a low-end (a.k.a. “generic”) one: the construction quality of the printed circuit board (PCB); the use of more components on the transient filtering stage; the active PFC circuitry; the use of a thermal sensor on the power diodes heatsink for controlling the fan speed and for shutting down the power supply in case of overheating; the power rating of all components; the design; etcetera.
On Figure 6 you can have an overall look this power supply from inside.
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Figure 6: Inside Cooler Master iGreen Power 430 W.
The first place we like to take a look when opening a power supply to have a hint about its quality is its filtering stage. On generic power supplies this stage has only one coil, two ceramic capacitors, one or two metalized polyester capacitors and, if we are lucky, one MOV (Metal-Oxide Varistor). This power supply from Cooler Master uses four ceramic capacitors, one MOVs, three metalized polyester capacitors and two ferrite coils, plus a ferrite bead on the main power cord. At least here Cooler Master made a terrific job.
Another very interesting feature from this power supply is that its fuse is inside a fireproof rubber protection. So this protection will prevent the spark produced on the minute the fuse is blown from setting the power supply on fire.
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Figure 7: Transient filtering stage (part 1).
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Figure 8: Transient filtering stage (part 2).
On Figure 9 you have a better shot of the 120-mm fan used on this power supply, and on Figure 10 the circuit used to control it. As mentioned, the fan speed is controlled according to the power supply inner temperature and load.
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Figure 9: Fan.
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Figure 10: Fan control circuit.
On Figure 11 you can see its active PFC circuit, which is located at the power supply primary at the voltage doubler circuit.
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Figure 11: Active PFC circuit.
Now let’s have a more detailed discussion on the components used on iGreen Power 430 W.
