Comparison: Cooling Performance


Note: The first column is 10% load, the second 20%, the third 50%, and the last column represents 100% load.

We decided to take a different approach to showing cooling performance in this review. Rather than showing rock temperatures, we show the difference between the internal heat and the exhaust heat, which is called Delta K. If Delta K is positive, it means there is heat building up inside of the power supply; the larger the bar, the hotter it is inside the PSU. The negative part indicates cooling performance is very good and hot air is being ventilated. It's normal for power supply to gain heat at higher loads, and it's up to the fan in heatsinks to dissipate this heat as much as possible.

Looking at the charts, we can see that the "noisy" Seasonic units do very well at removing heat, because of the higher fan RPMs. Lower noise levels directly correlate with higher temperatures, which we see on the Cooler Master and Tagan models for example. Although the Arctic Cooling power supply has a quiet fan, the cooling performance is still very good. Of course, this has a lot to do with the extremely high efficiency of the Fusion, which we'll see in a moment -- high efficiency means less heat produced in the first place.

Comparison: Acoustic Noise Comparison: Efficiency
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  • just4U - Monday, February 23, 2009 - link

    Excellent!! I am curious as to how those solutions compare to standalone "standouts". I think the days where we see some no name powersupply that isn't very good in systems (as a general rule) are gone. That's been replaced (in North America) now with seeing solutions by Antec, Fsp, ect as the standard. So the comparison's are of interest.
  • vailr - Saturday, February 21, 2009 - link

    Any idea when any "Gold certified" ~500W PSU's will be available (on Newegg, or another online vendor)?
    Such as:
    Thermaltake W0338 TP-500AH3NCG 500W
    Seasonic SS-550LT 550W
    Channel Well PUK500V-G 500W
    Discussed here:
    http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid...">http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid...
  • Christoph Katzer - Saturday, February 21, 2009 - link

    I think we will see first units in summer.
  • Mastakilla - Saturday, February 21, 2009 - link

    I'm looking for a cheap 450W - 550W Powersupply (cheap but still a bit decent, around 50 euro), so I was really interested in this article...

    Unfortunatly the only PSU in pricerange, the Artic Cooling, is unfindable in the Benelux (EU). Also the next in price (Tagan Superrock), which actually is too expensive already, is unfindable here...

    so I still don't know what to get
  • Kiijibari - Sunday, February 22, 2009 - link

    Buy an Enermax 525W, they were tested earlier here on anandtech and are very good PSU.

    They should be available easily in Europe :)

    cheers

    Kiiji
  • Mastakilla - Monday, February 23, 2009 - link

    Thanks for the tip, but those enermaxes are again waaaaaaaay above budget (89+ euro!!)

    The Corsair CX400 is 43 euro
    That Artic Cooling 550W is 68 euro (shipped from DE)

    I'm looking for something in between... (around 50-55 euro)
    like a decent 450-500W Powersupply...
  • MadMan007 - Wednesday, August 19, 2009 - link

    Corsair VX450 or HX450 (we unfortunately do not get the HX450 in the States :( Sad because it's 80+ Bronze)
  • Kiijibari - Monday, February 23, 2009 - link

    Sounds like you are looking for a (very) good *and* cheap PSU.

    That is imo impossible. You either get cheap China crackers or good, expensive ones.

    Do you *really* need ~500W ?

    If not then try the Enermax 425W. That is my last idea, otherwise I would suggest to raise your budget :)

    cheers

    Kiiji
  • Mastakilla - Tuesday, February 24, 2009 - link

    no, you're wrong...

    the Corsair CX400 apparently isn't that bad and is VERY cheap...

    I'm willing to pay a little more for a little better, but it seems like paying a little more will only get me worse :(

    Paying A LOT more does get better though, but then I'm over my budget for the pc i'm composing...
  • Christoph Katzer - Saturday, February 21, 2009 - link

    Try Caseking.de
    http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/Netzteile/Arct...">http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/Net...0R-80Plu...

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