Contents
- 1Introduction
- 1.1Packaging and accessories
- 2Connectors & cabling
- 2.1Casing & cooling
- 3Input filtering
- 4Primary side
- 4.1+5 V stand-by rail
- 5Secondary side
- 5.1Build quality
- 6Load testing
- 6.1Loading +5 V SB
- 6.2Voltage hold-up time
- 6.3Combined loading
- 6.4Combined loading ripple
- 6.5Crossloading, overloading
- 6.6Crossloading, overloading ripple
- 6.7Fan speed and temperatures
- 7Conclusion and evaluation
- 7.1Thanks
- 7.2Discussion
Connectors & cabling
The wires which are responsible for carrying large amounts of current are 16AWG (besides a few ground wires here and there which are 18AWG). I’m refering of course to the PCI Express and ATX 12 V cabling. The remaining wires are all 18AWG. All the cables are sleeved and are colored properly (i.e. Yellow for 12V, red for 5V, etc.). While that is a plus, none of the terminations are gold plated, nor do any of the peripheral molex connectors have clips for easier unplugging.
In total, we have:
Fixed cabling:
- Main ATX (20+4pin): 60 cm
Modular cabling:
- 1× EPS (8pin): 72 cm
- 1× ATX 12 V (4+4pin): 72 cm
- 4× PCIe (6+2pin): 62 cm
- 1× PCIe (6pin): 62 cm
- 8× SATA: 1× 61 cm, 2× 62 cm, 1× 77 cm cm, 2× 78 cm, 2× 94 cm
- 6× peripheral molex: 1× 62 cm, 1× 63 cm, 1× 78 cm, 1× 92 cm, 1× 94 cm, 1× 106 cm (OMG)
- 1× Berg for FDD: 121 cm (jeez)
Casing & cooling
The casing on this unit is somewhat more unconventional than what we are ordinarily used to, which I imagine adds to the overall manufacturing cost. To be honest, I’m not sure if it was neccessary, if not a bit excessive. It’s also worth noting that the modular cable connector assembly is composed of two seperate parts, one metal part which holds it all together and a plastic part that covers it. The grommet for the non-modular wires that is used to insulate them from the chassis seems to me to be made from a very durable rubber. Though once again, I should mention that this only adds to the overall cost of the unit. Perhaps it would have been prudent here for them just to have used an ordinary plastic grommet like most other PSUs use.
The chassis is made with 0.9mm SECC steel (and is thus quite strong) and it has a glossy finish, but I assume it’s just a powdered lacquer coating. The fan grille is seperate from the chassis, and basically consists of a plastic frame with long and relatively thick retention wires. This contributes to the overall quietness of the unit. The front of the unit has a rubber insulater wrapped around it, while the back of the unit has a rubber-coated plastic vibration-dampening rim. The back exhaust consists of punched hexagonal holes which almost surround even the AC receptacle. This ensures that there won’t be any trapped pockets of hot air inside the unit. I should note however that even with all that effort put into the ventilation, there’s still a small blind spot where hot air can be trapped over at the primary side.
The fan used is Be Quiet!’s own “Silent Wings 3” (SIW3-13525-MF), which is a 135mm, low-speed fluid-bearing fan. If I recall correctly, the ripples in the blades should help suppress air turbulence. As we can clearly see indicated on the label, it is rated at 1200 RPM. The BeQuiet Dark Rock TF CPU Heatsink, which comes with their 1400RPM version of this same fan has a rated airflow of 67.8 CFM and a noise rating of 26.7 dBA, so this one should be a tad more silent with only slightly lower overall airflow.
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