Power Supply Torture Test

An anonymous reader writes "With the latest batch of power hungry graphics cards, the PSU in your computer is more important than ever. If you're looking for a new power supply, check out this group test. They've tested 19 PSUs - some good, some bad and some downright explosive!"

Comments

350W Power Supply

[JohnHegarty]

If you ask me (and i think you did) the power rating on power supplys useless. I have seen 300W power supplies (good ones) with better power output then cheap 400W.

Its the same scam the PMPO ratings on speakers.

Re:350W Power Supply

[Silver Sloth]

And this is why we read reviews to get the truth behind the figures.

Or we would do if the site wasn't /.ed!

Re:350W Power Supply

[gweihir]

Its the same scam the PMPO ratings on speakers.

Not quite: PMPO is honest. People just don't bother to find out what it means (almost nothing).

Writinng 400W on a PSU that fails at 380W is a lie.

Re:350W Power Supply

[telecsan]

The single number wattage rating is not enough to classify a power supply. That combined number is the total power that can be supplied by the 3.3V, 5V, and 12V rails. You can never get 400W worth of power off just the 12V rails (and their negative voltage counterparts). This explains your ability to get a better 300W supply than one 'rated' at 400W. It depends on the ratio between the different voltage supplies. That is why this article is utter trash. Their testing methodology only really looked at the load on the 12V rails. They didn't even bother to vary the load on the 5V or 3.3V rails. I'm sorry, but this doesn't even make for a passable grade school science fair project. If you were going to use 20k worth of equipment, at least come up with some decent tests. Geez!

Re:350W Power Supply

[swayze]

I've read anywhere from 40 - 100W; amount being used at a given time will vary depending on processor load. Compare this with say a 75W lightbulb and it doesn't seem like very much usage.

And here's a quasi-interesting (I guess) story on how much the internet uses. How Much Electricity Does the Internet Use?

Re:350W Power Supply

[Anonymous Coward]

"Failure" is "inability to operate in accordance with all relevant standards and published specifications". When this occurs during the warranty period, the unit is defective. Don't make things difficult simply for rhetorical purposes.

Re:350W Power Supply

[JesusCigarettes]

Writinng 400W on a PSU that fails at 380W is a lie.

It's not necessarily a lie. For instance, if a power supply has a claimed rating of 500 watts, it may be that they tested its capabilities at 15 degrees Celsius. While that's not a reasonable temperature to expect the inside of a computer case to be, it is still true that the power supply could adequately generate 500 watts at that temperature.

The issue here is also that people don't bother to figure out what the numbers mean, or don't do any research about their $12 "600w" power supply. A good power supply manufacturer will tell you that their power supply generates 450 watts at 35 degrees Celsius.

Pity they didn't include...

[hcdejong]

noise measurements. A l33t PSU is no good if it sets up a howling gale in my room.

Re:Good, I guess...

[ArsonSmith]

The power supply is one of those strange things that a cheap one wont make your computer any slower, at least most of the time, but when it blows on you it sure sucks. I have a home server that has only been restarted twice in 4 years. both times have been failed power supplies.

Be Careful

[serith]

To tie a cheap oem 300watt power supply to a whopper of a PC that you just blew a few thousand dollars on is the biggest mistake most people make, and overlook. Dirty unreliable power supplies that feed your PC are like heart attacks waiting to happen. If you're going to invest heavily into building a new computer, do not over look your PSU. If you do a little research (other than compare maximum power to price) regarding Max power @ watt operating temperature, you'll see that most cheap PSU's are rated say 300watts, but for a nice 30 degree Celsius operating temp. Now let's think about that. How many PC's operate that cool? Also, your better built PSU's will typically weigh a lot more, because they're simply better built. Nice and heavy means beefier power supplies, larger capacitors (to give your board that extra oomph it requires when you boot, or when you load it up), and it might even mean you have PFC included--a Power filter controller. These PSU Companies aren't always out to get the consumer by the jugular.

Re:Good, I guess...

[animaal]

I don't trust any source that has the word "trusted" in their name

Yes, it shows they're trying too hard to appear honest. A bit like a country namimg itself "Peoples Democratic Republic of ....". It most likely isn't.

Re:Power Supply Ratings

[Anonymous Coward]

>Design engineers cannot anticipate and design in protection for all conditions and still give you a power supply you can afford.

Buzzz! It is a matter of a correctly designed softstart circuit that adds in the proper delay so that what you described won't happen.

Journalistic integrity, they've heard of it.

[Anonymous Coward]

As TR admits, these reviews were conducted at Maxpoint's facilities in Germany where they make Tagan PSUs. A Tagan PSU won the group test.
Nanopoint has been shopping round most of the UK magazines and web sites trying to get them to go to Germany for the same thing, heavily pushing Tagan's products. At least one UK magazine did a similar group test and, surprise, Tagan won that too.
Maybe Tagan just make really good products, but it doesn't come across as the most impartial group test ever written.