2003 Power Supply Roundup Part II: Better Faster Cheaper
by Kristopher Kubicki on July 31, 2003 1:58 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
We took the time to put our power supplies under a multimeter to determine the extreme values of each power supply
We came under a little scrutiny in our last review because we used hard drives to perform our “stress testing.” Well all you EE folks can eat your hearts out because we built our own resistance platform out of junk found around our lab and the local university basement. After several power supplies and ECS motherboards later, we came up with something capable of putting our power supplies under 300W of load (60W on the +3.3V, 100W on the +5.0V, and 140W on the +12V rail).
Below is a table of the Voltages we recorded while the system was under load. Using a multimeter we measured the power supplies from the ATX cable. The highest and lowest values demonstrated were recorded.
Measured Voltages
|
|
+3.3V Low |
+3.3V High |
+5V Low |
+5V High |
+12V Low |
+12V High |
|
Allied AL-A400ATX |
3.260 |
3.280 |
4.965 |
5.005 |
11.780 |
11.880 |
|
Antec TrueControl 550 |
3.275 |
3.320 |
4.970 |
5.015 |
11.880 |
11.990 |
|
Antec TruePower 330 |
3.280 |
3.315 |
4.980 |
5.030 |
11.920 |
11.995 |
|
Enermax EG465AX-VE FCA 460W |
3.295 |
3.330 |
4.980 |
5.040 |
11.960 |
12.020 |
|
Enermax EG651P-VE FMA 550W |
3.300 |
3.325 |
4.985 |
5.045 |
11.965 |
12.030 |
|
Enhance ENS-0246 460W |
3.290 |
3.320 |
4.950 |
5.040 |
11.895 |
11.980 |
|
Fortron FSP400-60PFN |
3.280 |
3.320 |
4.985 |
5.025 |
11.895 |
12.000 |
|
Kingwin KWI-450WABK |
3.300 |
3.340 |
4.985 |
5.040 |
11.990 |
12.220 |
|
PC Power & Cooling TurboCool 475 |
3.295 |
3.310 |
4.990 |
5.005 |
11.990 |
12.050 |
|
Sparkle FSP350-60PN |
3.275 |
3.320 |
4.980 |
5.035 |
11.925 |
11.995 |
|
ThermalTake PurePower 480W |
3.280 |
3.335 |
4.945 |
4.995 |
11.860 |
11.970 |
|
TTGI/SuperFlower 520SS 4Fan |
3.300 |
3.355 |
5.005 |
5.080 |
11.995 |
12.235 |
|
TTGI/SuperFlower 420SS |
3.305 |
3.350 |
4.990 |
5.045 |
11.990 |
12.225 |
|
TTGI/SuperFlower 350SS |
3.295 |
3.365 |
4.995 |
5.040 |
11.995 |
12.195 |
|
TurboLink 420W |
3.250 |
3.295 |
5.010 |
5.035 |
11.790 |
11.895 |
|
Vantec Ion 400W |
3.270 |
3.320 |
4.925 |
5.040 |
11.880 |
11.940 |
|
Vantec Stealth 520W |
3.260 |
3.335 |
4.925 |
5.045 |
11.890 |
11.945 |
|
Zalman ZM400A-APF |
3.285 |
3.320 |
4.985 |
5.035 |
11.895 |
11.990 |
Our table confirms the reverse of the previous interference test. Again, the sturdier constructed power supplies ended up performing with the tigheset specifications. The TurboCool 475 performed incredibly well; even with our high expectations we could not believe the performance. It is our guess that the PC Power & Cooling engineers really know what they are doing.
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Anonymous User - Saturday, August 2, 2003 - link
#11, yes P=IxV, but the power ratings in the table were obviously taken from manufacturers' data rather than actual measurements, which is why when any power rating for any of the positive voltages is divided by that voltage, the quotient exactly equals an integer. That would not be a problem if all manufacturers applied identical standards to their specifications, but many computer users have learned that this isn't the case.Anonymous User - Saturday, August 2, 2003 - link
Perhaps you could include a Q-Tec PSU in the next review? They retail here in Sweden at about 60% of the price of corresponding Enermax and other high quality units, so assuming they aren't totally lousy they're very cheap.Anonymous User - Friday, August 1, 2003 - link
I agree with #15. Definitely take a look at the PC Power and Cooling 400w Silencer PSU. I own two of these units and they're very high quality with reasonably low noise.Anonymous User - Friday, August 1, 2003 - link
Enlight power supplies are always being excluded from these PSU comparsions. I have a Enlight 360W PSU and it's very stable and very quiet. Test some Enlight PSUs!Anonymous User - Friday, August 1, 2003 - link
I appreciated the comments concerning AMD users, but what I really need is some sort of guidance on AMD processor speed vs combined power or 3.3V rail current for upgrading older systems. Many older cases have limited power supplies and I'm trying to figure out the fastest processor I can install and still have reliable operation. Example: A 300 watt supply with 25A of 3.3V can only support up to a Athlon 1600+ on an ECS K7S5A Pro or a 350 watt with a combined power of 200W can support up to 2200+. Oh, and forget that old 250 watt power supply altogether. I need something like that... yeah, I know: your mileage may vary, void where prohibited by law, no watts were endangered in the making of this article.....:-)Anonymous User - Friday, August 1, 2003 - link
Next time you guys might want to check out the PC P&C Silencer 400. It's built just as heavily as the Turbo Cool but with a quieter fan.Anonymous User - Friday, August 1, 2003 - link
Hey guys, im sure 1 or 2 of you resistorheads are an ee or will soon be one.. ripple and noise are only part of a good pwr supply.. we need the facts... how many watts do these power supplies really put out. how do they respond with a big load.. will they take an overload.. how well are they protected...thats what i wanna read aboutMIDIman - Friday, August 1, 2003 - link
WOW - excellent review. I'm getting a zalman for my silent box.Nice to see you guys pumping out articles quickly again! Thanks!
idenyit - Friday, August 1, 2003 - link
hey just wondering the allied A400ATX hows that compare with the B400ATX thats offered on newegg? any differences?Anonymous User - Friday, August 1, 2003 - link
#10, doesnt P=IV? The Power and Voltage measurements were given.