550W Roundup: Three PSUs at Different Prices
by Martin Kaffei on October 28, 2010 4:00 PM ESTTechsolo Noise Levels and Efficiency
| Sound Pressure Level | |
| Load | dB(A) |
| 10% | 22 |
| 20% | 23 |
| 50% | 28 |
| 80% | |
| 100% | |
| 110% | |
Wow! Our "silent" fan is moderately loud and hit nearly 30dB at 50% load, but even worse is the PFC-choke that's singing like a castrated dog. If you want to have a silent computer, please buy another power supply and protect your ears.
Efficiency and PFC
| 230VAC, 50Hz | ||
| Load | Efficiency | PFC |
| 10% | 68% | 0.490 |
| 20% | 74% | 0.505 |
| 50% | 73% | 0.556 |
| 80% | ||
| 100% | ||
| 110% | ||
| 115VAC, 60Hz | ||
| Load | Efficiency | PFC |
| 10% | - | - |
| 20% | - | - |
| 50% | - | - |
| 80% | ||
| 100% | ||
| 110% | ||
The efficiency hit a maximum of 74%, with under 70% at low load. There is no real power factor correction on display, and we're nowhere near 80 Plus certification. Passive PFC should be good enough to reach 0.700-0.800, but we only hit 0.55 before the PSU died.
Hopefully we've managed to convince you that if nothing else, getting one of the ultra-cheap power supplies is not something you want to do, particularly if you plan on running at anything close to the rated output. Our "550W" unit was able to function as a low-quality 275W PSU before giving up the ghost, but the 73% efficiency at that load means we're wasting 100W of power. Even a basic 80 Plus PSU would save 30-40W, which means if you're using the PC eight hours per day you would make up the difference in price within two years—and that's not even taking into account the cost of replacing hardware should the unit kill your other components in a fit of rage. In short: stay away, because this Black Mamba is poised to strike (and not in a good way)!
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Gonemad - Wednesday, November 3, 2010 - link
I had a Thermaltake ThoughPower (can't remember exact model) that performed fairly for 5 years. It operated non-stop for 1 year in-between that time. I bought it separately from a Thermaltake Case, that had several fans. Worth every dime, both of them.But...
I had to replace an original case fan, so I decided "what t'e hell' and slapped a cheap-o-dozen fan in its place. VERY. BAD. IDEA.
The whole thing worked fine for 6 months, then the ASUS metering software showed steady voltage dropping, curiously on the 3.3V rail as I later found out. Then it alarmed in an intermittent fashion, for no apparent reason, as it got to 10% Low Voltage on that rail.
Guess what? The fan LOCKED, and effectively pushed the PSU to 110% or above (who knows?), FOR FREAKING 6 MONTHS.
THE PSU DIDN´T QUIT ON ME.
As I opened it for regular maintenance (hey, 6 months, remember?) I found the locked fan, and a funny smell that could be felt only very near the PSU vent. You know the smell, don't you? That's the smell of a dying PSU. The fan almost burned my hand when I touched it, proving that the PSU was not at fault; in fact, it performed above and beyond any expectation, and possibly avoided a fire hazard. It was still operational when I removed it, but the smell was ever greater each time it was turned on, even for a few minutes, proving the whole thing had collapsed after all that operating time. The fan didn't short out, which would have triggered any safety (fuse, probably?) on the PSU, it just didn't rotate anymore on its bearings, and became a power drainer on the circuit, eating away the average life-time of the component.
The good PSU purchase decision not only proved a wise decision, it avoided me lots of hassle and grief. The cheap fan, on the other hand, destroyed a perfectly good piece of equipment.
"Caveat Emptor" indeed.
gurboura - Saturday, November 6, 2010 - link
It seems right from the start that you have something against TechSolo, you also talk about how it was loud at almost 30dbA, but yet, the Antec is at 32 and the OCZ tops at 26, still close to that 30dbA level."If you want to have a silent computer, please buy another power supply and protect your ears." Couldn't this have been said the same for the Antec since it was actually louder than the TechSolo?
When doing doing these type of articles your supposed to have an unbiased opinion and its pretty obvious from the start that that wasn't true.