550W Roundup: Three PSUs at Different Prices
by Martin Kaffei on October 28, 2010 4:00 PM ESTTechsolo Noise Levels and Efficiency
| Sound Pressure Level | |
| Load | dB(A) |
| 10% | 22 |
| 20% | 23 |
| 50% | 28 |
| 80% | |
| 100% | |
| 110% | |
Wow! Our "silent" fan is moderately loud and hit nearly 30dB at 50% load, but even worse is the PFC-choke that's singing like a castrated dog. If you want to have a silent computer, please buy another power supply and protect your ears.
Efficiency and PFC
| 230VAC, 50Hz | ||
| Load | Efficiency | PFC |
| 10% | 68% | 0.490 |
| 20% | 74% | 0.505 |
| 50% | 73% | 0.556 |
| 80% | ||
| 100% | ||
| 110% | ||
| 115VAC, 60Hz | ||
| Load | Efficiency | PFC |
| 10% | - | - |
| 20% | - | - |
| 50% | - | - |
| 80% | ||
| 100% | ||
| 110% | ||
The efficiency hit a maximum of 74%, with under 70% at low load. There is no real power factor correction on display, and we're nowhere near 80 Plus certification. Passive PFC should be good enough to reach 0.700-0.800, but we only hit 0.55 before the PSU died.
Hopefully we've managed to convince you that if nothing else, getting one of the ultra-cheap power supplies is not something you want to do, particularly if you plan on running at anything close to the rated output. Our "550W" unit was able to function as a low-quality 275W PSU before giving up the ghost, but the 73% efficiency at that load means we're wasting 100W of power. Even a basic 80 Plus PSU would save 30-40W, which means if you're using the PC eight hours per day you would make up the difference in price within two years—and that's not even taking into account the cost of replacing hardware should the unit kill your other components in a fit of rage. In short: stay away, because this Black Mamba is poised to strike (and not in a good way)!
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MrSpadge - Thursday, October 28, 2010 - link
I know your plan was not to privde full market coverage.. but still, if an PSU as expensive as the Antect is included, which still gets "only" 80+ Bronze, it would have been nice to see a 80+ Gold heavy hitter like the Enermax 87+ or Seasonic X series included. In my opinion they're as good as ~500W PSUs currently get.MrS
EnzoFX - Thursday, October 28, 2010 - link
I really can't see a reason to turning to budget PSU's when there are often great ones on sale.For example, the Corsair 400 W one, every now and then, goes for $20 AR. Antec has a similar offering, at similar price, the EarthWatts 430W I believe. In higher range, another great example: The Corsair 650 TX for around $65 AR. In regards to my personal preference, all of these are known to be very quiet.
Granted, you do have to wait for the good pricing, but I consider it to happen often enough to simply pick one up when they do and have a spare ready. I suppose if you really can't wait, then you'd have to consider the other brands.
adrien_n - Thursday, October 28, 2010 - link
I've bought a Corsair CX400 PSU and it's efficient, silent, stable and it around 40 EUR I think.Bought it after reading about it on http://www.canardpc.com/dossier-36-450-Corsair_CX_... (french) (the whole article is a worthy read if you understand french). It's rated at 400W but if you sum up the powers, you get over 500W.
Stas - Friday, October 29, 2010 - link
I will always stand by Corsair PSUs. The PSU in my rig, CMPSU-520HX, has been reliable for 3 years. Outlived everything else in my machine (3 video cards, 2 CPUs, dozen of HDDs, 3 mobos, even 3 cases lol). Granted I buy quality parts or don't buy any at all, so none of those pieces actually died on me (except a 4 y.o. Hitachi HDD). I've also put in about 15 of Corsair PSUs in clients' rigs (from 400 to 850W versions, multi-12V-rails and single) in the past year and a half. Not a single one died or caused any instability. All are dead silent, too. Corsair's PSUs has become a standard in my eyes. Yes, there are more efficient offerings but they cost in the upper 100s and mid 200s. Between $50 and $150, I don't even think about what PSU to get, I just approximate the consumption and through the appropriate Corsair in the cart.chrnochime - Friday, October 29, 2010 - link
Well they either use CWT or Seasonic, so they're reliable because of these companies. IIRC they don't have any PSU that's specifically made *by* their own factory, all of their PSU are rebranded ones.strikeback03 - Monday, November 1, 2010 - link
Well, that is the case with most PSUs though. Corsair does pick good ODM designs and specify good components for the builds.HollyDOL - Tuesday, November 2, 2010 - link
I am very happy with Corsair PSUs as well and can only recommend... high efficiency, silent, very good current stability...gusc3669 - Thursday, October 28, 2010 - link
On page 1 under the Techsolo Black Mamba STP-550 I know that this PSU didn't perform but..."It just keeps getting better! This PSU is not available in the US, but it's still a nice representative of the crap-section."
Mr Perfect - Thursday, October 28, 2010 - link
Every once in a while it's good to call out the low end products like that Mamba, especially when it comes to PSUs. There are so many people who buy horribly cheap PSUs, or get one bundled with a case, and then see their whole machine go up in smoke. Which might actually make this more important the testing good supplies...It would also be helpful to explain some of the features and components of the supplies though. I imagine there are quite a few people who don't know what things like PFC are, or even that it existed.
Calin - Friday, October 29, 2010 - link
Reading only reviews from decent and high quality power supplies will suggest to the reader that all power supplies are decent or high quality. Good to know (at least every once in a while) that a certain power supply did blew up at not more than half the supposed load