Power Supply Roundup #1

As computers evolve they need more and more power to function as they are supposed to. There are many demands put on your power supply, and it is supposed to handle them to be good enough for your system. The first is of course that it is powerful enough, you want to avoid voltage fluctuations and drops. The sound level is likewise something to keep in mind, you don’t want your computer to sound like a hydroelectric power station. In this little roundup we’ll take a closer look on no less than 6 power supplies, namely: Antec TrueBlue 480W, Enermax EG365AX-VE(G), Zalman ZM400A-APF, AOpen FSP350-60PN (PF), Levicom 450W and Levicom 550W.

As computers evolve they need more and more power to function as they are supposed to. There are many demands put on your power supply, and it is supposed to handle them to be good enough for your system. The first is of course that it is powerful enough, you want to avoid voltage fluctuations and drops. The sound level is likewise something to keep in mind, you don’t want your computer to sound like a hydroelectric power station. In this little roundup we’ll take a closer look on no less than 6 power supplies, namely: Antec TrueBlue 480W, Enermax EG365AX-VE(G), Zalman ZM400A-APF, AOpen FSP350-60PN (PF), Levicom 450W and Levicom 550W.
To get as good results as possible we have two different tests ready for these poor PSUs, but first, some specifications. Note that we didn’t grade price and availability. This is because several of the PSUs aren’t yet released, or simply very new on the market. This has made it impossible to find any information regarding prices for these PSUs, and we simply don’t have any information to judge from. This will be updated as soon as we find more information.

Specification wise Antec is really impressive, the PSU includes most of what there is to include. Function wise it has separate voltage regulators for +5V & +3.3V, this is very good since there otherwise is a limit for how much power these two voltages can deliver together. It’s possible to connect up to 3 fans on connections where the voltage is set depending on how warm the PSU is, something I think is both good and bad. It’s good because the PSU will obviously be more quiet, but still be able to cool when under heavier load. But it’s bad because the fans are controlled based on the PSU temperature, not the chassis temperature, and therefore may not push the amount of air actually needed.

Specifications
We look at the product’s claimed max output, and the total load. Take in mind that accessories etc. don’t affect the outcome!

Diagonally front

Diagonally front

Back

Antec has, as the only power supply in this roundup, internal lightning. The lightning consists of a number of bright blue leds which points in different directions, this together with transparent fans makes this power supply a very nice thing to look at. Even though  it is not enough as a single light source in a chassis, it’s a start, and lightning in a power supply is not standard yet, which gives it a little wow-factor.
Furthermore, Antec has chosen to cover the atx-cables with a wire loom which looks nicer, and gives a better airflow through your case.
The cooling is done by two fans, the speed is determined by the temperature. The noise is acceptable at maximum usage. You can barely hear it during low usage.

Diagonally front

Light from the monitor

Pitch black in the room

Design/Cooling/Noise
Here we take a look at how good the cooling is, the noise it makes and the aesthetic design.

Specifications: Enermax EG365AX-VE(G)
Voltages/Currents
+5V	32A
+12V	26A
+3.3V	32A
-5V	1A
-12V	1A
+5V SB	2.2A
Max load total	353W
Max load +3.3V & +5V total	185W
Other	–
Connections
Big connections	8+1
Small connections	2
Extra power connections	Yes, Aux and extra +12V
Other connections	Fan speed monitoring
Other specifications
Fans	1x80mm + 1x92mm
Tested by	UL, CUL, VDE, DEMKO, NEMKO, SEMKO & FIMKO
Other	Temperature controlled fans, 80mm is exchanged for a Papst. The ATX cables has a wire loom around them.

Enermax has very high individual currents for the different voltages, something we find very assuring as you can be sure that the power supply will handle the computer’s load no matter what components you put in it. The total max load is almost a little low considering the currents that are provided. We see something rare, an extra molex contact, labeled “extra”, which is transparent. Why they chose to label it that is a mystery to me, because it seems to function as all the other regular molexes.

Specifications
We look at the product’s claimed max output, and the total load. Take in mind that accessories etc. don’t affect the outcome!

The cooling is done by two fans, one 80mm and one 92mm, the speeds are depending on the temperature within the power supply. The Enermax power supply seems to have a higher efficiency than the other power supplies, because the outgoing air is not warm at all. The 80mm fan is exchanged for a Papst to make the whole thing a little quieter. The ATX cable has a wire loom around itself which is very good. Aesthetically, it has nothing more to give, since it’s just an ordinary gray power supply. The noise level is about the same as Antec’s power supply, even though it takes a bit longer before the fans starts spinning.

Diagonally front

Diagonally front

Rear

Design/Cooling/Noise
Here we take a look at how good the cooling is, the noise it makes and the aesthetic design.

Specifications: Zalman ZM400A-APF
Voltages/Currents
+5V	40A
+12V	15A
+3.3V	28A
-5V	0.3A
-12V	0.8A
+5V SB	2.0A
Max load total	400W
Max load +3.3V & +5V total	235W
Other	–
Connections
Big connections	6
Small connections	1
Other voltage connections	Yes, Aux and an extra +12V
Other connections	None
Other specifications
Fans	1x80mm
Tested by	UL, C-UL, CE, VDE, CB-NEMKO, FCC

Zalman supplies a very impressive current over +5V, but +12V is a big disappointment. 15 Ampere is by far too low for a 400W power supply, even though it might be enough in most cases, it’s still much too low. A VapoChill alone needs about 17A, which this power supply can’t deliver if we stick to the specifications. We can’t see any extra connections for fan speed monitoring or such either, and the cables are too short to fully reach within a full tower chassis.

Specifications
We look at the product’s claimed max output, and the total load. Take in mind that accessories etc. don’t affect the outcome!

Diagonally front

Diagonally front

The Zalman power supply is spray painted black, which gives computers with larger window kits using it an advantage, I think it’s more appealing than regular gray. The cooling is very bad, a single 80mm has to do the whole job itself. This can be heard during high load, because the fan produces an irritating whining noise.

The box

Rear

Design/Cooling/Noise
Here we take a look at how good the cooling is, the noise it makes and the aesthetic design.

Specifications: AOpen FSP350-60PN (PF)
Voltages/Currents
+5V	30A
+12V	16A
+3.3V	22A
-5V	0,3A
-12V	0,8A
+5V SB	2A
Max load total	350W
Max load +5 and +3.3	220W
Other	–
Connections
Big connections	9
Small connections	2
Extra voltage connections	Yes, Aux and extra +12V
Other connections	None
Other specifications
Fans	1x120mm
Tested by	UL,CSA level 3, TUV, NEMKO, CB, CE

This power supply follows the same trend as Zalman, it has a high max load on +5V, but maybe a little low on +12V. The cable length is enough, people with full towers will be able to plug in their upper hard drives, but might have some problems with the lower ones. No special accessories here either, the most differential is the cooling solution.

Specifications
We look at the product’s claimed max output, and the total load. Take in mind that accessories etc. don’t affect the outcome!

The cooling on this power supply is a little special, because it consists of one 120mm fan in the bottom. This makes it the quietest power supply in this roundup, and the noise it makes is less irritating because you don’t need to hear the high frequent whining. This also looks brutal viewed from underneath, and combined with some leds you might be able to create a really cool effect. The rear looks a little special, because it has only got one big air opening. This is of course because the 120mm does the job perfectly without any help from other fans.

Diagonally front

Diagonally front

Rear

Design/Cooling/Noise
Here we take a look at how good the cooling is, the noise it makes and the aesthetic design.

Specifications: Levicom 450W
Voltages/Currents
+5V	37A
+12V	17A
+3.3V	35A
-5V	1,0A
-12V	1,0A
+5V SB	2,0A
Max load total	450W
Max load +3.3V & +5V total	?
Other	–
Connections
Big connections	8
Small connections	2
Extra voltage connections	Yes, +12V and AUX
Other connections	No
Other specifications
Fans	2x80mm
Tested by	UL, CSA, TÜV, NEMKO, FCC; CB, CE
Other	Glowing power switch at the back, variable fan speed and a wire loom around the atx contact. You also get thumb screws.

This power supply has also got a power button which is lit even when it’s powered off, so that you can see that it is plugged in correctly in the wall outlet. The +12V is a little too low here too, my theory about this is that it “costs” more, talking about efficiency, to raise +12V rather than raising the +5V or +3,3V since an extra Ampere on +12V gives a 7W more boost than one Ampere extra on +5V. It comes with both regular- and thumb screws too, which is a nice gesture.

Specifications
We look at the product’s claimed max output, and the total load. Take in mind that accessories etc. don’t affect the outcome!

This power supply is, like Zalman’s, spray painted black. A wire loom is fitted on the ATX contact to make it look more clean, this is something that we see on almost every power supply in this roundup. You can also get this power supply with built in leds, but our model was not fitted with any. The power supply is cooled by two 80mm fans which you can control either manual or automatically. You can set the speed in three different speeds, and automatically if you wish, with a button at the back.

Diagonally front

Diagonally front

The package

Design/Cooling/Noise
Here we take a look at how good the cooling is, the noise it makes and the aesthetic design.

Specifications: Levicom 550W
Voltages/Currents
+5V	45A
+12V	21A
+3.3V	37A
-5V	1,0A
-12V	1,0A
+5V SB	2,0A
Max load total	550W
Max load +3.3V & +5V total	330W
Other	–
Connections
Big connections	5
Small connections	1
Extra voltage connections	Yes, +12v and AUX
Other connections	None
Other specifications
Fans	1x80mm, 1x92mm
Tested by	UL, CSA, TÜV, NEMKO, FCC; CB, CE
Other	Glowing power button, a wire loom around the atx cable. You also get thumb screws.

This is the most powerful power supply in this roundup, it has a total of 550W. Surprisingly enough, they have only equipped it with five large molex contacts, which is way too little for a system which would require 550W. The power button at the back on the power supply is lit then it is on, ie the computer does not have to be on for this. It is nice that they give you both regular screws and thumb screws, but to be honest, you don’t change your power supply very often. The currents are well divided between the different voltages, but 21A on +12V is almost too little to be able to feed a phase change cooler, if you have one.

Specifications
We look at the product’s claimed max output, and the total load. Take in mind that accessories etc. don’t affect the outcome!

This power supply is as its big brother, spray painted black. The fans are transparent, probably because you can get this power supply with leds in it, but ours was not equipped with leds. You can also get manual rpm control for the fans with this power supply. And the big atx contact has of course got a wire loom around it, this is getting more common. The level of noise is more or less equal to Antec’s and Enermax’ power supplies, which is not so strange because they are all cooled in the same way.

Diagonally front

Diagonally front

The package

Design/Cooling/Noise
Here we take a look at how good the cooling is, the noise it makes and the aesthetic design.

In this test I installed the power supply in my computer, and then I started 3D Mark 2001 SE with the most demanding tests an eternal number of times. After 1 hour I turned off the tests and read the values that MBM had to offer, and compared these values with the ones from 1 hour idle usage. The test system consists of one 2000+, an AD77Infinity, two 120gb Western Digital, two 40gb IBM Deskstar, a Plextor CDRW, a Gainward GeForce4 ti4200, a Soundblaster Live, a 3com NIC and 2x256mb TwinMOS w/ Winbond. The Vcore is set for 1,8V, but since all the power supplies gave the same voltage (1,76), I assume the mainboard is to blame.

The numbers more or less speak for themselves, none of the power supplies have any major problem keeping the specified voltages. Antec is very impressive with very small voltage differences, that 3.3V is at 3.28V should not be any problem at all.
Enermax is also keeping the differences quite low, though not so low as Antec. Furthermore, Enermax’ +12V is almost too high, but that should not be any problem.
Zalman shows off the best voltages, with very low voltage differences and more or less the specified voltage. It also has no problems keeping the voltages during full load, which is notable.
AOpen is also looking good, the voltages are close to the specifications and has relativity low voltage variations. Here we can also see that +12V is a little too high, but still in control. Both the power supplies by Levicom are almost at the same level as Enermax’ and AOpen’s, +12V is also too high. The winner here is of course Zalman, second is Antec and the others share a third place since the differences are very small between them.

I wanted to test how high voltage the power supplies could deliver when you loaded them at max. I have only seen one similar device, and it was built with effect resistors and dipswitches, but such a project would have cost me hundreds of dollars. It was too much, so I sat down and started to think, and came up with a much cheaper solution. Everything needed was found at home, different diameters of iron wire, copper wire, banana contacts, crocodile clips and a sink.
This sounds confusing, but it works like this: there are three different iron wires, one for +3,3V, one for +5V and one for +12V. Then you set the length, and therefore change the resistance which makes the wire very hot, the power is turned into heat. Unfortunately, I don’t have a current-measurer that can handle 40A, so I measure the voltage drops over a piece of copper, for which I know the resistance. The copper wire is thick enough, so it won’t get hot, and the copper wont heat up much due to resistance. I also used an oscilloscope to measure ripple, but it felt worthless after a while since I don’t know how much of that that gets filtered by the capacitors on the mother board.

Close up on the connections

The whole tester.

In this test we load the power supply up to its specified maximum with a power supply tester. The power supplies were first tested att the maximum specification for +3.3v, then +5v and finally at +12v. The other voltages were adjusted so that the power supply was at it’s maximum specificated output at the same time. The supplies were put to max for 5 minutes, then the voltage was measured with a multimeter, and finally the next voltage was loaded.
Note that Levicom’s 450W +3,3V and +5V values might be a little off, I chanced a little when I set them since I did not have the specification for their max amperes on +3,3V and +5V.

These results passed, except Enermax’ and Antec’s 3,3V. Antec’s is a little week at 3,12 V, something that might create stability problems. Enermax is very low, 2,88V is way too low. It seems like Enermax’ power supply has a little bit to optimistic specifications, because +12V is also a little on the week side.
We can also see that Zalman’s +12V has probably got more juice in there, which is not so strange considering that it is specified for only 15A. Levicom is rather good, even though the voltages are a little low, they are most likely not to cause any troubles. The one thing worth noticing is that Levicom’s 550W model has a little low +3,3V.

Today we have looked at six power supplies from both well known and not so known brands. Zalman, which is quite new in the power supply world, has surprised by having the most stable power supply in this roundup, and if they had just trimmed the +12V and the cooling it would have taken the first place with no challenge. Antec has a good reputation, and the power supply showed to be very stable, though the stress test was a little to much for its specifications. Enermax, which had very good specifications, failed during the stress test when the +3,3V became dangerously low, which surely would lead to shutdowns and stability problems. AOpen placed in the middle, because is has some weak specifications but passed the tests very good. Levicom, one, for me, until now unknown manufacturer, contributed with two very powerful power supplies. These had very good specifications, and passed both the tests quite good. The voltages dropped a bit, but it should not become a big problem. The most powerful power supply at 550W had way too few big connections, a big mistake by Levicom.

Below we have gathered all the grades for all the power supplies together with some pros and cons for each one.

Antec TrueBlue 480W Pros: + No limit for +3,3V & +5V + Blue leds installed + Very stable voltages Cons: – Little low +3,3V at the stress test Specifications: 8.0/10 Design/Cooling/Noise: 8.5/10 Price/Availability: -/10 Test in PC: 9.5/10 Stress test: 8.0/10 Final grade: 8.5/10	Enermax EG365AX-VE(G) Pros: + High separate currents + Papst fan for quieter operation Cons: – Did not pass the stress test Specifications: 7.5/10 Design/Cooling/Noise: 7.5/10 Price/Availability: -/10 Test in PC: 9.0/10 Stress test: 4.0/10 Final grade: 7.0/10
Zalman ZM400A-APF Pros: + Very good voltage values + Painted black Cons: – Weak +12V – Loud, only one 80mm fan Specifications: 7.0/10 Design/Cooling/Noise: 7.0/10 Price/Availability: -/10 Test in PC: 9.5/10 Stress test: 9.5/10 Final grade: 8.3/10	AOpen FSP350-60PN (PF) Pros: + Superb cooling + Passed the stress test good Cons: – Bad +12V Specifications: 6.5/10 Design/Cooling/Noise: 8.5/10 Price/Availability: -/10 Test in PC: 9.0/10 Stress test: 9.0/10 Final grade: 8.3/10
Levicom 450W Pros: + Pretty good specifications + Manual fan control + Good voltages at the PC-test Cons: – A little weak during the stress test Specifications: 7.0/10 Design/Cooling/Noise: 7.5/10 Price/Availability: -/10 Test in PC: 9.0/10 Stress test: 8.0/10 Final grade: 7.9/10	Levicom 550W Pros: + Good specifications + Very high output Cons: – Only 5 big connections – A little weak during the stress test Specifications: 8.0/10 Design/Cooling/Noise: 7.5/10 Price/Availability: -/10 Test in PC: 9.0/10 Stress test: 7.5/10 Final grade: 8.0/10