Contents
- 1Introducing the Topower SilentEZ 350W
- 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
- 6.2Hold-up time
- 6.3Combined loading
- 6.4Combined loading ripple
- 6.5Crossloading, overloading
- 6.6Crossloading, overloading ripple
- 6.7Fan speed, temperatures and noise
- 7Conclusion and evaluation
- 7.1Thanks
- 7.2Discussion
Connectors & cabling
The SilentEZ 350W cabling only uses 20AWG wires. Everything has black sleeving which is nice, but clearly shows us Topower was quick in adopting appealing features, but it cut corners elsewhere to save costs. Good that it only has 6-pin PCIe cables (I think the 6+2 pin did not exist yet back then), otherwise they would most likely stick two on the 20AWG wires. It is worth nothing there are 5 modular cables, but only four connectors…
In total, we have:
Fixed cabling:
- 1× Main ATX (20+4 pin): 47 cm
- 1× EPS (4+4-pin): 48 cm
Modular cabling:
- 2× PCIe (6-pin): 2× 44 cm
- 4× SATA: 2× 45 cm, 2× 61 cm
- 5× peripheral molex: 45 cm, 60 cm, 2× 76 cm, 92 cm
- 1× Berg for FDD: 91 cm
We can see the modular cabling uses what we know as 6-pin PCIe. Only two contacts however conduct +12 V and two are for return, as the remaining two are for +3.3 and +5 V. That also applies for the PCIe cables, and it is also connected in the manner you have to connect it the right way (black connector here, blue to the VGA), otherwise you short all the outputs of the unit at once. Which is funny as both ends of the PCIe cables are the same connector type here, with only different color…little more thinking, Topower!
Casing & cooling
The metal chassis of the SilentEZ 350W consists of about 0.85mm SECC steel (the thickness is uneven), and it has nice glossy finish. This time it actually looks like ordinary wet painting, not the usual powder one. There is wire grill over the fan which is also nice. Notice the sticker over one of the screws, after nine years it was almost impossible to get rid of it.
The backside uses ordinary hexagonal pattern. The perforations cover most of it, they are even under the receptacle and AC double-pole switch. The blue button is for – wait for it – toggling between fan full-speed and thermally-driven controller. Well, there is a small number of people who like to run their PSU on full fan speed, acting as vacuum, sucking the air from case – don’t ask. The “ActivePFC” sticker hides spot for voltage selector, clearly Topower was re-using casing for another platform with voltage doubler.
The fan is 12cm with sleeve bearing, model MH1225L12S from Muhua Industrial Co., Ltd. (now Muwha Industrial). Seems that they changed focus from fans to lenses in the meantime. I found no proven information though some source claims it is rated at 1200 RPM and 23.5 dBA. There is still some oil in the bearing. A plastic sheet covers about a third of the fan surface, seems that this bloody thing was already common back then.
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