We conducted several tests with this power supply, as described in the article Hardware Secrets Power Supply Test Methodology.
First we tested this power supply with five different load patterns, trying to pull around 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% of its labeled maximum capacity (actual percentage used listed under “% Max Load”), watching how the reviewed unit behaved under each load. In the table below we list the load patterns we used and the results for each load.
If you add all the power listed for each test, you may find a different value than what is posted under “Total” below. Since each output can vary slightly (e.g., the +5 V output working at 5.10 V), the actual total amount of power being delivered is slightly different than the calculated value. On the “Total” row we are using the real amount of power being delivered, as measured by our load tester.
+12V1 and +12V2 are the two independent +12V inputs from our load tester and during out tests the +12V1 input was connected to the power supply +12V1 (main motherboard cable, peripheral power connectors and video card auxiliary power connector), while the +12V2 input was connected to the power supply +12V2 rail (EPS12V connector). Thus on this review+12V1 and +12V2 really represent the power supply rails with the same name.
For the test number five we had to respect the current limits for the +12 V outputs, so we had to pull more power from +5 V and +3.3 V outputs than we’d like to.
Input | Test 1 | Test 2 | Test 3 | Test 4 | Test 5 |
+12V1 | 4 A (48 W) | 8 A (96 W) | 12 A (144 W) | 16 A (192 W) | 16 A (192 W) |
+12V2 | 4 A (48 W) | 8 A (96 W) | 12 A (144 W) | 16 A (192 W) | 18 A (216 W) |
+5V | 1 A (5 W) | 2 A (10 W) | 4 A (20 W) | 5 A (25 W) | 15 A (75 W) |
+3.3 V | 1 A (3.3 W) | 2 A (6.6 W) | 4 A (13.2 W) | 5 A (16.5 W) | 15 A (49.5 W) |
+5VSB | 1 A (5 W) | 1 A (5 W) | 1 A (5 W) | 1.5 A (7.5 W) | 2 A (10 W) |
-12 V | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.8 A (9.6 W) |
Total | 113.6 W | 215.8 W | 325.9 W | 427.3 W | Fail |
% Max Load | 20.7% | 39.2% | 59.3% | 77.7% | Fail |
Room Temp. | 45.4º C | 45.3º C | 45.9º C | 48.6º C | 48.6º C |
PSU Temp. | 47.9º C | 47.1º C | 48.0º C | 52.9º C | 52.9º C |
Voltage Stability | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Fail |
Ripple and Noise | Pass | Pass | Pass | Fail | Fail |
AC Power | 136 W | 253 W | 393 W | 554 W | Fail |
Efficiency | 83.5% | 85.3% | 82.9% | 77.1% | Fail |
Final Result | Pass | Pass | Pass | Fail | Fail |
This power supply exploded when we tried to pull 550 W from it (test number five). On the next page we posted the video and pictures showing this.
During our tests this power supply could only achieve good results when we pulled up to 60% (330 W) from it. Under this circumstance efficiency was between 82.9% and 85.3%, which isn’t bad at all.
The problem was when we pulled 80% from its labeled capacity (440 W) efficiency dropped to 77% and noise and ripple skyrocketed to values far above the maximum allowed. Noise and ripple at +12V1 jumped to 157 mV (from 81.4 mV during test three), jumped to 115 mV (from 51.2 mV during test three) at +12V2 and jumped to 58.1 mV (from 23.6 mV) at +5 V. At +3.3 V noise and ripple was within spec (24 mV). All these numbers are peak-to-peak values and the maximum allowed is 120 mV for the +12 V outputs and 50 mV for the +5 V and +3.3 V outputs. It is interesting to note that Huntkey says this power supply can have a maximum noise level of 200 mV for +12 V and 100 mV for +5 V and +3.3 V. This is ridiculous, as this violates the ATX specification.
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Figure 16: Noise level at +12V1 with this power supply delivering 427.3 W (157 mV).
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Figure 17: Noise level at +12V2 with this power supply delivering 427.3 W (115 mV).
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Figure 18: Noise level at +5 V with this power supply delivering 427.3 W (58.1 mV).
