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 +12V3 (main motherboard cable and video card auxiliary power connector) and +12V4 (peripheral power connectors) rails, while the +12V2 input was connected to the power supply +12V1 and +12V2 rails (EPS12V connector).
Input | Test 1 | Test 2 | Test 3 | Test 4 | Test 5 |
+12V1 | 5 A (60 W) | 10 A (120 W) | 14 A (168 W) | 19 A (228 W) | 26.5 A (318 W) |
+12V2 | 4.5 A (54 W) | 10 A (120 W) | 14 A (168 W) | 19 A (228 W) | 22 A (264 W) |
+5V | 1 A (5 W) | 2 A (10 W) | 4 A (20 W) | 5 A (25 W) | 6 A (30 W) |
+3.3 V | 1 A (3.3 W) | 2 A (6.6 W) | 4 A (13.2 W) | 5 A (16.5 W) | 6 A (19.8 W) |
+5VSB | 1 A (5 W) | 1.5 A (7.5 W) | 2 A (10 W) | 2.5 A (12.5 W) | 3 A (15 W) |
-12 V | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) | 0.5 A (6 W) |
Total | 135.0 W | 273.1 W | 388.8 W | 520.0 W | 657.0 W |
% Max Load | 20.8% | 42.0% | 59.8% | 80.0% | 101.1% |
Room Temp. | 45.1º C | 44.6º C | 46.1º C | 47.5º C | 50.º C |
PSU Temp. | 47.4º C | 46.7º C | 47.2º C | 48.6º C | 52.3º C |
Voltage Stability | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
Ripple and Noise | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
AC Power | 156 W | 311 W | 445 W | 604 W | 785 W |
Efficiency | 86.5% | 87.8% | 87.4% | 86.1% | 83.7% |
Final Result | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
This power supply could really deliver 650 W at 50º C, which is terrific.
The highlight from Commander 650 W is its efficiency, above 86% if you pull up to 80% of its labeled capacity (520 W). When pulling 650 W efficiency dropped a bit, but still well above 80% (83.7%).
Voltage regulation was also excellent, with all voltages within 3% from their nominal values – better than what is defined by ATX standard, which says they must be within 5% their nominal values. The exception was -12 V, which was however still within 5% from its nominal value (the tolerance for this particular output is 10%).
The only problem with this unit was noise level at +12 V when pulling 650 W from it, which was touching the maximum allowed. We’ve seen this same problem with all other power supplies based on this same CWT project, so this is a chronic problem from this particular design. This is the only reason we are giving this product our “Silver Award” seal instead of “Golden.” Noise levels at +5 V and +3.3 V, on the other hand, were amazingly low, far below the maximum allowed. Just to remember, the maximum allowed is 120 mV for the 12 V outputs and 50 mV for +5 V and +3.3 V outputs. All values are peak-to-peak. Below you can see the noise levels with this unit delivering 657 W (test number five).
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Figure 15: Noise level at +12V1 with the reviewed power supply delivering 657 W (101.2 mV).
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Figure 16: Noise level at +12V2 with the reviewed power supply delivering 657 W (117.6 mV).
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Figure 17: Noise level at +5 V with the reviewed power supply delivering 657 W (11 mV).
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Figure 18: Noise level at +3.3 V with the reviewed power supply delivering 657 W (12 mV).
Now let’s see if we can pull even more power from Commander 650 W.
