Power Supply Roundup: 730W to 900W
by Christoph Katzer on November 22, 2007 3:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Cooler Master M850 - 850W
Cooler Master sent its high-end M850 power supply, which comes with a shiny mirror finish paintjob. A large 135mm fan on the bottom is responsible for cooling. There are plenty of holes at the back to serve as an exhaust. The unit lacks a power switch, which might be a concern for some people; however, since most people use power strips for their computer and peripherals this shouldn't be a major problem. The sticker on the AC jack was unnecessary, and the residue it left after removal is something we could have done without. Next to the jack is a small LED that indicates the status of the power supply. During our high temperature stress tests, the lamp glowed red the whole time; however, the PSU still worked fine as we can see from the results.
The label shows a total of six 12V rails which are rated at 18A (four) and 28A (two); however, the combined power is only 768W. This means there is around 10A per rail with combined power. This approach of writing whatever seems convenient on the label is a new trend, as though the manufacturers want to show there's no need to worry about power requirements. Incidentally, the 1000W version of this power supply has the same ratings for its 12V rails; the only difference is a higher combined power. The only way to manage this is with OCP. With six rails - and especially with two rails rated much higher than the others - it would have been great if Cooler Master listed the exact power distribution in the manual. They have provided this information for the 24-pin, 4-pin, and 8-pin ATX connectors, but not for the equally important graphics cards connectors.
Cables and Connectors
The cables are delivered in a nice, sleek bag that can be folded up. The cables are waiting patiently to come out and play. All are sleeved and the 6/8-pin PEG connectors differ in color. With ten Molex and eight SATA connectors the Cooler Master M850 is well equipped, and the length of up to 90cm is good for larger cases.
Looking inside will make any electronics enthusiast's heart beat faster. It's just a beautiful arrangement, and the two transformers will offer a great deal of power distribution. The primary side has a huge coil with two capacitors made by Nippon Chemi-Con and rated at 420V, 270µF, and 85°C (each). The secondary caps are made by Teapo. The soldering on the PCB for the cable management could be nicer, but the rest of the inside looks very clean. The heatsinks are well sized and thick. They are able to take a lot of heat from the attached components, and the space between the fins leaves enough room for air to reach the components on the PCB. Temperature diodes attach to the secondary heatsink on both sides - the two shrinking hoses where they attach to the fins are visible.
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tynopik - Friday, November 23, 2007 - link
the efficiency charts are fantastic as you can see exactly how all the units compare at a specified wattagebut then you go back and do the acoustics charts by % load? why?
if i want to see how all the units compare at a 500w load, there's no easy way to do that as that might be a 68% load on one unit and a 55% load on another unit
Christoph Katzer - Friday, November 23, 2007 - link
Next time will doVidmar - Saturday, November 24, 2007 - link
Thanks for doing the charts in watts instead of load. I've been asking for that for some time. As has been said here it makes it much easier to find a good unit based upon a known wattage your system uses. Good article.tynopik - Friday, November 23, 2007 - link
great!and then once all units are tested to the same baseline, that opens the door for dynamic comparisons
as you build up a database of reviews, you could have a dynamic system where you can choose a 400-500 watt unit you reviewed 9 months ago and a 600 watt unit you just reviewed and it will generate the comparison charts on the fly
something for the future perhaps ;)
Etern205 - Thursday, November 22, 2007 - link
Newegg is selling the Antec TruePower Quattro 850 at $249 whilethe 1KW version is selling for $299 with a -$80 instant rebate!
850w version
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
1KW version
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
Traciatim - Thursday, November 22, 2007 - link
Could you please design and test with a machine that actually uses 700+ Watts of DC output?Jjoshua2 - Thursday, November 22, 2007 - link
I like the old review better. I don't have time to read the whole reviews, so I just read the conclusion and then go over a few interesting paragraphs. I hope you have a longer conclusion next time!Thanks.
Christoph Katzer - Friday, November 23, 2007 - link
Ehm there are 8 pages comparison/conclusion.... not enough?Of course people not appreciating the work and just read the last page find it boring... so next time I write a page about 10 PSUs and that'd be enough? ...
Googer - Thursday, November 22, 2007 - link
Check the hot deals section of Anandtech forums, a little while ago I posted a $50 price drop of the Silencer 750 down to a budgetable $150.
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid...">http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...=40&...
Christoph Katzer - Friday, November 23, 2007 - link
That would be a really good deal indeed.