Rosewill Capstone 450W and 650W 80Plus Gold
by Martin Kaffei on March 21, 2012 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- PSUs
- Rosewill
- Capstone
- 80 Plus Gold
Voltage Regulation
| +3.3V Regulation/Ripple and Noise | |
| Load | Voltage |
| 5% | +1.52% (3mV) |
| 10% | +1.52% (5mV) |
| 20% | +1.52% (9mV) |
| 50% | +0.91% (10mV) |
| 80% | +0.61% (14mV) |
| 100% | +0.30% (15mV) |
| 110% | +0.00% (17mV) |
| Crossload +12V max. | +0.91% |
| Crossload +3.3V/+5V max. | +0.30% |
| +5V Regulation/Ripple and Noise | |
| Load | Voltage |
| 5% | +3.00% (5mV) |
| 10% | +2.60% (6mV) |
| 20% | +2.60% (7mV) |
| 50% | +2.20% (11mV) |
| 80% | +1.60% (14mV) |
| 100% | +1.40% (16mV) |
| 110% | +1.00% (17mV) |
| Crossload +12V max. | +1.40% |
| Crossload +3.3V/+5V max. | +-0.00% |
| +12V Regulation (Worst Ouput)/Ripple and Noise (Worst Output) | |
| Load | Voltage |
| 5% | +1.58% (8mV) |
| 10% | +1.58% (9mV) |
| 20% | +1.42% (14mV) |
| 50% | +1.25% (21mV) |
| 80% | +1.08% (26mV) |
| 100% | +1.08% (39mV) |
| 110% | +1.00% (40mV) |
| Crossload +12V max. | +1.08% |
| Crossload +3.3V/+5V max. | -0.08% |
Noise Levels
| Loudness (subjective) | |
| Load | Opinion |
| 5% | audible fan bearing |
| 10% | audible fan bearing |
| 20% | low rotation noise |
| 50% | low rotation noise |
| 80% | rotation noise |
| 100% | strong fan noise |
| 110% | strong fan noise |
Efficiency and PFC
| Efficiency and Power Factor 230 VAC | ||
| Load | Efficiency | PFC |
| 5% | 81.52% | 0.797 |
| 10% | 87.21% | 0.810 |
| 20% | 91.35% | 0.839 |
| 50% | 92.11% | 0.949 |
| 80% | 91.52% | 0.979 |
| 100% | 90.74% | 0.981 |
| 110% | 90.14% | 0.984 |
| Efficiency and Power Factor 115 VAC | ||
| Load | Efficiency | PFC |
| 5% | 78.41% | 0.842 |
| 10% | 85.58% | 0.910 |
| 20% | 90.94% | 0.942 |
| 50% | 91.84% | 0.966 |
| 80% | 91.12% | 0.979 |
| 100% | 90.46% | 0.988 |
| 110% | 90.12% | 0.991 |
Both power supplies are almost identical. In addition small Gold PSUs are rare so we focus on the smaller model this time. The Rosewill CapStone 450W can deliver the specified power and even a bit more. The ripple and noise is low on all outputs, especially on +3.3V and +5V where less than 0.34% can be achieved. The efficiency is likewise well above the necessary values for 80 Plus Gold. Even at 10% the PSU was able to reach 87% (230V input)—an impressive result. In fact this PSU is close to 80Plus Platinum.
The power factor reaches a maximum of 0.991, again with rather low PFC results on 230VAC. Under load the power supply is clearly audible, and the fan's bearing can be heard sometimes. However, there isn't any background noise from the electronics. During the crossload tests +3.3V, +5V and +12V were within ATX specification. With 3% over the optimal value +5V starts quite high.
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Martin Kaffei - Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - link
@adeceI tried to get some cheap PSUs but it's very difficult. Manufacturers won't give me samples. In addition I live in Germany so I can't buy local brands which are available in the USA.
But I had some cheap PSUs as well and some of them died spectacular. Others had no problems but efficiency and voltage regulation was quite bad. In addition the small number of connectors is always unfavorable.
4745454b - Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - link
I agree to a point.First, if you meant the uber cheap/junk are fine you are way wrong. Those on newegg that advertise "up to 75% efficient" are the ones I'm talking about. If you are buying a 600W PSU for $20, there is something wrong.
Second, I to have mentioned that you don't need the 80Gold or platinum PSUs. Big difference in energy savings between "up to 75%" and 90%. Not so much when looking at 85% and 90%. The extra cost of moving to gold/plat isn't worth it yet. I personally feel that 80bronze is the sweet spot right now. Gold is quickly moving down in price however and some of them are looking good.
If you mean you don't need these super high end ones I'd agree. But there is no way I'd run of those cheapo's that weighs less less then my shoes.
Concillian - Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - link
What I pay for power and what power my computer uses, the cost of power saved does exceed the extra cost of the unit over the life of the PSU if I buy a $70-80 gold vs. a $40 cheapie... so the article does have a purpose.Just because you are not the target audience doesn't make the article irrelevant.
MooseMuffin - Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - link
I've had 2 cheap power supplies die on me over the years, and the catch was that neither one of them would die alone. In both cases they took my videocard with it. Never again.just4U - Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - link
There are alot of really good power supplies in the $50 range and I think for most people they do the trick nicely... and with a level of confidence that it's not going to be some major piece of junk. The PSUs many of you are refering to are the ones we wouldn't pay a buck for (yeah.. you've seen them!)Anyway.. after that it's pretty much up to you.. can go better, but certainly don't want to go worse. Besides alot of psu's in all price ranges come on sale so there isn't really a reason to cheap out in that area. Bad enough the OEMs do it all the time.
crazyglue - Friday, March 23, 2012 - link
Having built untold # of systems for family, friends, & for sale over the last 10 or so years, early on, about 1/4 have failed due to cheap PSU's. Since replacing with better units (at my cost!) I've settled on PC P&C (not OCZ) & all are still purring away.. Many 24/7 home servers-media units... You got lucky I guess, but that's not the norm.....lbeyak - Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - link
I grew increasingly more annoyed every time I saw a new error, and eventually I decided to post about them.Page 2 - Paragraph 1
"According to the manufacturer's specifications, the hole series is SLI-ready and uses a single +12V output."
hole -> whole
Page 2 - Paragraph 2
"The 550W model can deliver 648W on +12V and up to 110W on +3.3V and +5V."
I think you meant 650W here, not 550W.
Page 3 - Paragraph 1
"Here we show how the 450W model looks like."
Here we show how the 450W model looks. OR Here we show what the 450W model looks like. would make more sense here.
Page 4 - Paragraph 1
"This time SuperFlower ist the manufacturer. In the prictures above we show the 650W version only since the 450W model consists of the same design."
ist -> is
prictures -> pictures
Page 6 - Paragraph 2
"The Capstone series combines the resontant circuit with an asynchronous half bridge and DC-to-DC converter on the secondary side."
resontant -> resonant
Page 6 - Paragraph 5
"The FSP Aurum CM 650W is also very cheap, but it's louder and more expensice than the Capstone 650W."
expensice -> expensive
While I appreciate speed of article delivery, I get quite annoyed at errors that could have been prevented easily. Most of these errors could have easily been caught with a simple spell check program. I was just surprised that there were quite a few errors for such a short review (compared to some others on the site).
Thanks for the good review though Martin.
Martin Kaffei - Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - link
Fixed. Thanks a lot.In my next life I would like to become an US citizen.
lbeyak - Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - link
I'm not sure what you mean by that, but I will note that I am a proud Canadian.:)
Martin Kaffei - Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - link
That's nice as well.