FSP Aurum Xilenser AU-500FL 500W
by Martin Kaffei on April 20, 2012 4:45 AM ESTFSP Aurum Xilenser AU-500FL 500W
FSP is one of the largest manufacturers for OEM power supplies and adapters. Now they're launching a new fanless series, the "Aurum Xilenser", for users that want absolute silence. We have the AU-500FL on our test bench today. Like the previous Aurum offerings, the new generation is 80 Plus Gold certified.
The casing for the AU-500FL has more ventilation holes than we're used to seeing, with perforations on practically every available spot! Besides the bottom (where a large fan might normally sit) and the back, Fortron has holes on the front and sides of the casing. Even the top (not shown, and assuming a top-mounted PSU; otherwise this is the "bottom") has a few extra holes to help with cooling. With no fan, there's obviously a need to remove heat and the extra ventilation should help in that regard. Of course, even a very slow fan would help a lot more, and perhaps a good CPU heatsink with a large, low-RPM 120mm fan is just what the doctor ordered. If you still want to be completely fanless, though, we'd exercise extreme caution before trying to stuff in 500W of components and other hardware!
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JarredWalton - Friday, April 20, 2012 - link
I should clarify: sites with referral codes so that you get money from any purchases are clearly spam and will be treated as such. If you link to Newegg for a relevant product and your post has a reason for the link, I'm not going to ban you. But if you have a referral code in there, beware!Iketh - Saturday, April 21, 2012 - link
pwnedmtoma - Saturday, April 21, 2012 - link
Mr. Kaffei said: "The AU-500FL has four PCIe connectors—quite nice for a passively cooled PSU".Why should this be a good thing? Who puts 2, 3 or 4 video cards in a system with a passive unit? I'm sure that no one, at least of all the targeted market of this unit. I see other manufacturers make similar moves: Seasonic puts two 6 pin connections in his 460W fanless models. I don't see why?
Perhaps someone care to clarify?
Iketh - Saturday, April 21, 2012 - link
I'm using both 6 pin connections from my seasonic 460w for a 6870... I may not understand your post.My system pulls 220w with prime95 running while playing a game (2600k and 6870) using a mild 3.8ghz overclock. I could throw another 6870 in there and still have 140w of headroom.
mtoma - Saturday, April 21, 2012 - link
What I meant was that who uses a powerful video card does not target absolute silence in a computer and I presume the target market of a such power supply is aiming absolute silence. Otherwise, (like you case) you may be better off with a more powerful PSU, in the same money you buy a Seasonic 460W fanless.Iketh - Saturday, April 21, 2012 - link
That's entirely an incorrect assumption. I do work with my "gaming" rig, and need it as quiet as possible.And I would only increase my power consumption if I went with a more powerful p/s because of efficiencies at certain loads. Most of it would be wasted!
Martin Kaffei - Saturday, April 21, 2012 - link
"Who puts 2, 3 or 4 video cards in a system with a passive unit?"Under certain conditions a fanless PSU can be useful. This PSU has high output reserves and is able to power most SLI and CrossFire setups. Please take a look at the following link:
http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/grafikkarten/20...
The hole PC with two GTX 680 needs 432W from power grid. The Seasonic X-Series X-660 in this PC has about 90% efficiency so the DC load is just 388.8W and far below the power rating of this PSU. Image the value setups with cheaper GPUs have. Of course cooling will be a problem and GPUs are usually louder than common PSUs, but some users might be interested in using water cooling for their graphics cards. It's a small target group but they would be quite unhappy without these solutions.
In addition there are more than enough single-chip GPUs with two 6-pin connectors, so two plugs are the minimum for a 400-500W PSU. Another good reason for fanless PSU is that fans are the only moving part in a PSU and very sensitive. Lifetime can be much longer without a fan when installing more powerful components.
Btw. you don't need to use my last name, Martin is enough.
Pappnaas - Sunday, April 22, 2012 - link
To support Martin's comment:From a silencers point of view it even might be worth a try to team up two passivly cooled cards, even if the number of suited modells may be small.
You might disagree, but that doesn't necessaryly mean your point of view represents all views.
szimm - Sunday, April 22, 2012 - link
Why the arrow-shaped ventilation holes...? Well, I guess it looks fancy depending on your tastes, but it seems like they would have gotten better airflow out of it by by not making the holes that shape. And isn't that the whole point? Maybe they are hoping the hot air will see the arrows and move out of the case...bryanl - Monday, April 23, 2012 - link
Could you explain this statement in the review?"The overall design definelty looks like a Seasonic X-460FL with different caps and no line filtering stage."
Because I see a line filter in the lower right of the large photo of the interior, attached to the AC socket. If it's not such a filter, what are the differential choke, 2 small disk Y capacitors, and yellow X capacitor?