Codegen P-Case 460W - Low Price, Poor Quality
by Martin Kaffei on April 27, 2012 8:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- PSUs
- Codegen
- P-Case 460W
- Q3335-A2
Cables and Conenctors
| Cables and Connectors (650W) | ||
|
Connector type (length) |
Main | 1x 24-pin (30cm) fixed |
| ATX12V/EPS12V | 1x 4-pin (30cm) fixed | |
| PCIe | 0x 6/8-pin | |
| Peripheral | 1x HDD, 1x SATA (ca. 30, 45cm) fixed | |
| 1x HDD, 1x SATA, 1x FDD (ca. 30, 45, 60cm) fixed | ||
The main cables are very short at less than 40cm, and there are only two SATA and two Molex power connectors along with a single FDD connector for disk drives and some fan controller. We don't want to be too quick to judge, but this is not a good configuration for a 460W PSU; it looks more like a 200W PSU. We'll get into more details now.
Voltage Regulation
| +3.3V Regulation/Ripple and Noise | |
| Load | Voltage |
| 5% | 3.36V (8mV) |
| 10% | 3.35V (12mV) |
| 20% | 3.34V (27mV) |
| 50% | 3.29V (34mV) |
| 80% | |
| 100% | |
| 110% | |
| Crossload +12V max. | |
| Crossload +3.3V/+5V max. | |
| +5V Regulation/Ripple and Noise | |
| Load | Voltage |
| 5% | 5.21V (12mV) |
| 10% | 5.19V (14mV) |
| 20% | 5.16V (19mV) |
| 50% | 5.02V (25mV) |
| 80% | |
| 100% | |
| 110% | |
| Crossload +12V max. | |
| Crossload +3.3V/+5V max. | |
| +12V Regulation (Worst Ouput)/Ripple and Noise (Worst Output) | |
| Load | Voltage |
| 5% | 12.31V (16 mV) |
| 10% | 12.36V (10mV) |
| 20% | 12.44V (46mV) |
| 50% | 12.78 V (80mV) |
| 80% | |
| 100% | |
| 110% | |
| Crossload +12V max. | |
| Crossload +3.3V/+5V max. | |
Noise Levels
| Loudness (subjective) | |
| Load | Opinion |
| 5% | audible fan bearing |
| 10% | low rotation noise |
| 20% | low rotation noise |
| 50% | strong rotation noise |
| 80% | |
| 100% | |
| 110% | |
Efficiency and PFC
| Efficiency and Power Factor 230 VAC | ||
| Load | Efficiency | PFC |
| 5% | 58.50% | 0.477 |
| 10% | 66.62% | 0.513 |
| 20% | 71.01% | 0.540 |
| 50% | 73.32% | 0.576 |
| 80% | ||
| 100% | ||
| 110% | ||
The power factor reaches a maximum of 0.576. We had to test this PSU with 230VAC only but everybody can image how low the results would be with 115VAC input. Under load the power supply is clearly audible, and the fan's bearing can be heard sometimes. The PSU didn't survive 80% load and died. It was impossible to document the results here. Moreover there was a clear overvoltage on 12V during 50% load. According to ATX specification the upper limit is 12.60V. In addition ripple & noise could be lower.
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27 Comments
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gamoniac - Friday, April 27, 2012 - link
Not too often we see a review on a low-end PSU. Thanks for reviewing this one; it's an eye opener.damianrobertjones - Friday, April 27, 2012 - link
I love this review :)Now all we need is honest, down to earth reviews of:
- Apple kit
- Netgear products
- Android operating system
martinw89 - Saturday, April 28, 2012 - link
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5310/samsung-galaxy-...and especially
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfgs4EUeTlk
KompuKare - Friday, April 27, 2012 - link
Thanks for reviewing a low-end PSU. It's rare to find any reviews at this price-range. Seems €30 is too high a price though considering you can buy a Corsair VX430 for under €40.Would be nice to see some more budget PSUs reviewed - maybe there's even one which can actually delivery its rated output.
Iger - Friday, April 27, 2012 - link
To be fair - it's €30 with the case!Sabresiberian - Friday, April 27, 2012 - link
How is there anything fair about selling junk, at any price?pgari - Saturday, April 28, 2012 - link
Codegen products are normally sold in markets with poor and expensive oferings:Here in Argentina a Codegen 500 PSU can be found by us$22.
The cheapest brand name alternative would be a CoolerMaster 460W eXtreme Plus RS-460-PCAR, the lowest in Coolermaster portfolio, at us$75.
The minimum PSU recommended for the for a Gamer configuration would be the Antec Vp450 at us$89
Considering that other PC componentes are also a lot more expensive than in USA, and that average income is 5 times lower, what PSU would you use for running a basic configuration for Internet browsing, Outlook and Word?
Klinky1984 - Sunday, April 29, 2012 - link
The review itself says you could probably get away with this PSU if you used it in a lower power demand situation. A budget CPU w/ integrated or budget graphics probably would not stress this PSU. Though you can't trust that the Codgen 500W available in your market has the same components as the 460W in this review.kmmatney - Friday, April 27, 2012 - link
I found a decent cheap PSU that seems to work well. I used it for a month on my main gaming rig, with an unlocked and overclocked Phenom @ 3.6 Ghz, and an HD6850.http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results....
it's fairly quiet and seems to be able to supply decent power. I currently use a Corsair HX650, but this cheap one seems to due well for a basic gaming machine.
SilthDraeth - Friday, April 27, 2012 - link
If you aren't using it anymore, you might think about contacting Anandtech to see if they will do a review on it.Maybe you dodged a bullet, maybe not.