The XPG Cybercore II 1300W ATX 3.0 PSU Review: A Slightly More Modest High-End PSU

Hot Test Results (~45°C Ambient)

As is the case with all PC PSUs, the overall performance of the CYBERCORE II 1300W PSU drops as the ambient temperature rises. With the ambient temperature above 45°C, the energy conversion efficiency drops by almost 0.5% across the nominal load range regardless of the input voltage. Regardless, the drop is almost entirely evenly distributed across the entire load range and not significantly higher at higher loads, suggesting that there is practically no significant thermal stress on the components.

The high ambient temperature forces the thermal control circuit to start the fan when the load is at roughly 350 Watts, as the unit strives to maintain safe operating temperatures. We notice that the engineer who programmed the thermal control circuit has it trying to maintain its main component temperatures under a certain temperature threshold, as the component temperatures hardly change between 20% and 80% of the unit’s rated capacity. When the CYBERCORE II 1300W is fully loaded for prolonged periods of time, the temperature will rise and does reach uncomfortably high figures, but running such a PSU continuously at maximum load is not a feasible real-world scenario.

As expected, the high ambient temperature changed the fan’s cooling profile, forcing it to start earlier. The fan reaches >40 dB(A) figures almost instantly once it starts and its speed keeps increasing as the load increases, managing to keep the unit’s temperatures almost entirely stable across the majority of the load range. The fan reached 100% of its speed when the load was just over 1 kW, after which point the noise stays stable but the internal temperatures of the CYBERCORE II will rise if the load persists for long periods of time.