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 and peripheral power connectors), while the +12V2 input was connected to the power supply +12V2 rail (ATX12V connector). Thus on this review+12V1 and +12V2 really represent the power supply rails with the same name.
Input | Test 1 | Test 2 | Test 3 | Test 4 | Test 5 |
+12V1 | 2 A (24 W) | 4.5 A (54 W) | 7 A (84 W) | 9 A (108 W) | 11 A (132 W) |
+12V2 | 2 A (24 W) | 4.5 A (54 W) | 7 A (84 W) | 9 A (108 W) | 11 A (132 W) |
+5V | 1 A (5 W) | 2 A (10 W) | 4 A (20 W) | 6 A (30 W) | 8 A (40 W) |
+3.3 V | 1 A (3.3 W) | 2 A (6.6 W) | 4 A (13.2 W) | 6 A (19.8 W) | 8 A (26.4 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) | 0.5 A (6 W) |
Total | 67.3 W | 135.5 W | 212.1 W | 279.5 W | Fail |
% Max Load | 19.2% | 38.7% | 60.6% | 79.9% | Fail |
Room Temp. | 44.2º C | 43.3º C | 45.1º C | 43.4º C | 43.4º C |
PSU Temp. | 48.7º C | 47.6º C | 48.8º C | 49.1º C | 49.1º C |
Voltage Stability | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Fail |
Ripple and Noise | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Fail |
AC Power | 83 W | 161 W | 254 W | 344 W | Fail |
Efficiency | 80.7% | 84.2% | 83.5% | 81.3% | Fail |
Final Result | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Fail |
This power supply exploded when we tried to pull 350 W from it (test number five). On the next page we posted the video of the explosion and detailed information about it.
If you pull up to 80% of this power supply labeled capacity (i.e., up to 280 W) it works very nice, presenting efficiency above 80% all the time, with a decent efficiency when you pull between 40% and 60% from the labeled power (between 140 W and 210 W).
Voltage was always between 3% of their nominal value, which is always good to see, including the -12 V output, which is usually more distant than its nominal value.
Ripple and noise level was the highlight from this product. Noise at +12 V achieved a maximum of 34 mV (right before the power supply explosion), noise at +5 V achieved a maximum of 17.6 mV and noise at +3.3 V achieved a maximum of 11 mV. Just to remind, the maximum admissible is 120 mV for +12V and 50 mV for +5 V and +3.3 V. All these values are peak-to-peak figures.
