Power Analysis

On Figure 8 you can see AcePower 480 W label stating all its power specs.

click to enlarge
Figure 8: Power supply label.

As AcePower 480 W and WinPower 480 W are internally the same product, their labels should be identical. However, the +12V2 output on AcePower 480 W is labeled as 15 A while the same output on WinPower 480 W is labeled as 16 A.

From the component analysis we’ve done on our WinPower 480 W article we came with some maximum theoretical numbers for the +12V output (480 W), +5 V output (300 W) and +3.3 V output (198 W).

As we mention all the time on our articles, the maximum current/power each line can really deliver will depend on other components, especially the transformer, the coil, the capacitor, the wire gauge and even the width of the printed circuit board traces used.

For the +12 V output HEC stated 17 A for +12V1 and 15 A for +12V2. This would give 204 W and 180 W, respectively, or 384 W.

For the + 5 V output HEC stated a 35 A maximum current, which translates to 175 W, while for the +3.3 V output the manufacturer stated a 30 A maximum current, or 99 W. On the label, however, HEC says that the combined power of +3.3 V and +5 V outputs is of 220 W (since they are connected to the same transformer output).

What we liked about this power supply is that on its manual the manufacturer was really honest: “Please note that the power output on all models will decrease 1%/º C starting at an ambient temperature of 40º C”. With this statement it seems that HEC labeled AcePower at 40º C (and not 25º C) and also provided us an idea of how much power this unit can deliver when operating at 50º C (432 W).

Anyway, all positive outputs are labeled with a current well below the maximum current each rectifier can deliver.

Unfortunately we don’t have the necessary equipment to make a true power supply review; we would need to create a real 480 W load to check if this power supply could deliver its labeled power or not.

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