 Power Jitter
Observations |
|
Voltage jitter is read by accessing the power
options displayed in the motherboard BIOS, with the system obviously in an
unloaded state. *All voltages were read from the Motherboard BIOS of a Foxconn
NF4K8AC-8EKRS.
| Listed Voltages |
Lower Voltage |
Upper Voltage |
Jitter |
| +3.3V |
3.29V |
3.3v |
0.01v |
| +5.0V |
4.96v |
4.99v |
0.03v |
| +12V |
11.85V |
11.99V |
0.15v |
| -12V |
-12.00v |
-12.00v |
0.00v |
| -5.0V |
-5.00v |
-5.00v |
0.00v |
| +5.0Vsb |
5.00v |
5.00v |
0.00v |
Idle voltages are nice and stable, exactly what
we'd expect from a good power supply. There was a bit of jitter in the +12V rail
but not enough to sacrifice system stability.
When looking at the Seasonic Power Supply test results we see two values, wattage
and volt-amps. Since it might not be clear what they measure, here's a brief
overview.
The
volt-amp (VA) value is how much real power is being consumed by the power supply
being tested to provide the wattage (W) value. The higher the VA value is, the
more electricity is being used by the power supply. Because no electrical device
is 100% efficient, there will always be some loss when converting AC to DC. The
closer the volt-amps and wattage figures are to each other, the more efficient a
power supply is. This is called the Power Factor: wattage / volt-amps =
PF.
Since we're testing with a 120W dummy load, the
load on the power supply (wattage) should be as close to this figure as
possible. Anything above this load in apparent power describes the overhead and
wasted energy (given off as heat) for the particular power supply being tested.
For the
unloaded tests, the wattage and volt-amp figures should be as close as possible
to one another.
|
Seasonic Power Load
Tests |
| Power Supply |
Wattage |
Test Type |
Loaded |
Unloaded |
| Seasonic SuperTornado |
400 W
(A-PFC) |
Active Power |
177 W |
6 W |
| Apparent Power |
182 VA |
7 VA |
| Vantec iON2 |
350 W |
Active Power |
192 W |
10 W |
| Apparent Power |
277 VA |
21 VA |
| Antec TruePower 330 |
330 W |
Active Power |
195 W |
22 W |
| Apparent Power |
289 VA |
38 VA |
| Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W |
500 W |
Active Power |
193W |
22 W |
| Apparent Power |
307 VA |
40 VA |
| AOpen Silent Power AO400-12AHN |
400 W |
Active Power |
179W |
9 W |
| Apparent Power |
275 VA |
18 VA |
| Seasonic S12-430 |
430 W
(A-PFC) |
Active Power |
179W |
6W |
| Apparent Power |
180VA |
9VA |
| PC Power and Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 Express/SLI
|
510 W
(A-PFC) |
Active Power |
200 W |
29 W |
| Apparent Power |
202 VA |
32 VA |
| HEC Ace Power 580UB |
580 W |
Active Power |
183 W |
12 W |
| Apparent Power |
272 VA |
26 VA |
| Hec Win 550UB |
550 W |
Active Power |
184W |
10W |
| Apparent Power |
263VA |
22VA |
For a
power supply without Active PFC, the Hec Win 550UB actually performs a better
than comparable
units with efficiency just a hair under 70%. The Win 550UB wastes
less power than the other non Active PFC power supplies shown in
this comparative list, but is not as power efficient as the Active-PFC
power supplies.
Final Thoughts
Despite what
newbies might think, experienced users know that a reliable computer first
starts with a good power supply,
but there's no law that states the PSU has to be boring....
Gone are the days of of grey being the only colour power supplies
come in, now you can get them in all colours, shapes and sizes. In fact you can pretty much get
a power supply that suits the look of your computer, if you use cold cathodes
or LEDs, it's possible to get a power supply that shines in the same colour.
First impressions are important and HEC certainly knows
how to make an entrance! The Win 550UB (HEC-550TW-TF) 550W power supply shines with
its large 120mm blue LED fan and glossy black finish. This PSU was definitely
intended for the enthusiast with its eight molex, two floppy and two six pin
12V videocard connectors. Of course it's also a very flexible PSU with EPS12V and
AMD ATXGES compatibility.
The Win
550UB's power ratings are quite high as well and with two powerful 12V rails, the power
supply should be able to keep the most powerful system up and
running.
While far
from being as efficient as the power supplies with Active PFC, the HEC
-550TW-TF still performed quite well in its
class despite powering a large 120mm LED fan. Team that up with near silent
operation and you've got yourself a power supply that many people will
want.
The MSRP on the HEC WinPower Win 550UB power supply is $85 USD (have a look at the mfgr's website for links). Still if you find one at a good price,
I don't think you'll be disappointed!
Find out about this and many other reviews by
joining the Weekly PCstats.com
Newsletter today! Catch all of PCstats
latest hardware reviews right
here.
Related Articles
Here are a few other articles that you might enjoy
as well...
1. Seasonic S12-430 430 Watt Power Supply Review
2. AOpen Silent Power AO400-12AHN Power Supply Review
3. Ultra X-Connect Green UV 500W Power Supply Review
4. Vantec iON2 350W Power Supply Review
5. RAIDMAX LP-6100E 500W Power Supply Review
RSS Newsletter
