350-450W Roundup: 11 Cheap PSUs
by Martin Kaffei on July 3, 2012 1:30 PM ESTFSP Raider 450W 80Plus Bronze Measurements
Voltage Regulation
| +3.3V Regulation/Ripple and Noise | |
| Load | Voltage |
| 5% | 3.28V (7mV) |
| 10% | 3.27V (9mV) |
| 20% | 3.26V (12mV) |
| 50% | 3.22V (14mV) |
| 80% | 3.19V (15mV) |
| 100% | 3.18V (14mV) |
| 110% | 3.17V (19mV) |
| Crossload +12V max. | +0.91% |
| Crossload +3.3V/+5V max. | -2.42% |
| +5V Regulation/Ripple and Noise | |
| Load | Voltage |
| 5% | 5.03V (6mV) |
| 10% | 5.07V (8mV) |
| 20% | 5.07V (16mV) |
| 50% | 5.05V (18mV) |
| 80% | 4.99V (17mV) |
| 100% | 4.97V (20mV) |
| 110% | 4.95V (22mV) |
| Crossload +12V max. | +3.20% |
| Crossload +3.3V/+5V max. | -4.80% |
| +12V Regulation (Worst Ouput)/Ripple and Noise (Worst Output) | |
| Load | Voltage |
| 5% | 12.01V (3mV) |
| 10% | 11.97V (6mV) |
| 20% | 11.93V (13mV) |
| 50% | 11.87V (28mV) |
| 80% | 11.91V (30mV) |
| 100% | 11.92V (33mV) |
| 110% | 11.91V (32mV) |
| Crossload +12V max. | -4.25% |
| Crossload +3.3V/+5V max. | +3.25% |
Noise Levels
| Sound Pressure Level (Ambient: 16dBA, 1m distance) and Temperatures (Δϑ to 23.2 °C ambient temperature) | |
| Load | Opinion |
| 5% | 19 dBA (1.5°C) |
| 10% | 19 dBA (2.5°C) |
| 20% | 19 dBA (4.8°C) |
| 50% | 24 dBA (5.2°C) |
| 80% | 26 dBA (7.9°C) |
| 100% | 28 dBA (8.8°C) |
| 110% | 28 dBA (9.2°C) |
Efficiency and PFC
| Efficiency and Power Factor 115 VAC | ||
| Load | Efficiency | PFC |
| 5% | 78.15% | 0.852 |
| 10% | 84.46% | 0.918 |
| 20% | 87.62% | 0.938 |
| 50% | 88.67% | 0.956 |
| 80% | 87.73% | 0.971 |
| 100% | 87.19% | 0.983 |
| 110% | 86.84% | 0.988 |
| Efficiency and Power Factor 230 VAC | ||
| Load | Efficiency | PFC |
| 5% | 79.49% | 0.827 |
| 10% | 85.36% | 0.881 |
| 20% | 89.07% | 0.928 |
| 50% | 90.54% | 0.941 |
| 80% | 88.93% | 0.967 |
| 100% | 88.21% | 0.979 |
| 110% | 87.57% | 0.984 |
We can hardly imagine that this is just a Bronze unit, but who cares as long as the price is low (MSRP is $55, tax excluded). FSP told us, "It's an authentic 80 Plus Bronze product, [...] but as you mentioned; its efficiency is close to the AURUM". 12V stays above 11.90V at 110% load.+3.3V starts very low and reaches 3.18V at full load. All of the rails have no remarkable transients and ripple is always below 50% of the allowed level. At high loads, FSP is a little louder than most other PSUs in this roundup, but they are very similar overall.
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CeriseCogburn - Sunday, July 8, 2012 - link
These are all elitist power supplies, not you get what you pay for power supplies.Try to find 6 pin + 6+2 pin on a 450W anywhere... they are RARE.
This is NOT the cheap power supply review - this is the name brand poular low wattage PS review.
marvdmartian - Monday, July 9, 2012 - link
Sorry, but were you looking for a review of, say, a PowMax power supply?? Not sure why you refer (twice, in two posts) to these power supplies as "elitist.Trust me, you don't need to make $100K/year salary to own these. Especially the Corsairs, which are regularly on sale for <$20, after mail in rebate.
CeriseCogburn - Tuesday, July 10, 2012 - link
I just said why, but you're "not sure" why, probably the "not sure" from the movie Idiocracy.Black1969ta - Saturday, July 14, 2012 - link
more like a member of the Cabinet.rickcain2320 - Thursday, July 12, 2012 - link
Don't ever mention PowMax in my presence ever again, speak not that word.zero2dash - Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - link
Very surprised to see the VP-450 not make the list of candidates.Between what you have here, I've used both the Corsair CX line and the Rosewill Green line. After a disappointment with the CX and coil whine, it was replaced with a Rosewill RG and I couldn't be happier.
Bottom of the barrel, me personally I'd go with either the RG or now the Antec VP-450.
I'm not spending $50 on a <500w PSU, sorry. You can get a decent 500-600w, sometimes having to wait on a rebate or a coupon code but nonetheless - Antec NeoEco, Antec HCG, even a Corsair TX2, for not much more than that.
Martin Kaffei - Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - link
Speaking of prices. The Raider is not available yet and the going price will be much lower than the MSRP.Antec didn't reply to my email and I wasn't able to get the US version in Germany. Anyway, I will try to get cheap Antec PSUs next time. Thank you for your comment.
JonnyDough - Wednesday, July 11, 2012 - link
That's because you're a moron. Just because it supplies lower wattage does not mean that it is any less important or valuable than an 800w power supply. Voltage regulation is pretty simple, getting no ripple and getting good efficiency is a bit harder. You pay for quality, not for wattage. If you want junk, then buy junk. This was for people who are serious about their PCs and want them to work well and last for awhile.Lonyo - Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - link
While this is a nice article on low(er) power PSUs, would it be possible to see some sort of real world enthusiast article which focuses on NAS/HTPC boxes and power?For instance, there's a Zotac Atom DTX board with 6 SATA connectors and two PCIe slots (x1 and x16 I think). Theoretically you could have 14+ HDDs hooked up (killer NAS for the motherboard form factor).
Something looking at the power of a NAS or HTPC with regards to PSUs would be nice. A 70% efficient 400w PSU would consume a lot more (relative) power on a low wattage box than something like a DC power supply with adapter (from experience), since they can get closer to 95% I believe in lower power situations.
It would also be nice to see peak (boot) power for such a HDD loaded system in terms of what sort of PSU is required to boot the thing without staggered spinup.
I personally made a G620T system with a 250w mATX PSU, which I swapped out for a PicoPSU, and dropped power use from about 35w IIRC, to 25w, which is a lot in % terms, although in absolutes it's not all that significant.
Just a thought for an article if there is the desire. I definitely am interested in low power HTPC and NAS boxes (considering building a NAS box with the above mentioned Zotac DTX board in the coming months).
Martin Kaffei - Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - link
I'm able to review all PSUs with AC input and DC output.SFX, TFX PSUs, Picos in combination with laptop adapters.
How about some 300W SFX units and 90W adapters? Most PicoPSU are very good but the adapter is usually a bit of a problem. Nobody takes a look inside. Quite often the quality is abysmal .