- Jul 15, 2014
- 22,630
- 8
- 60,960
Today we are looking at a bottom of the barrel power supply - the Logisys PS480D. You may ask: why do I review such crappy units? For one thing, it saves me money, and there is no information known about these far-fetched power supplies, so I figured while sites like Jonnyguru and Tomshardware review good stuff, I'll take care of the crap. I specialize in crapology. This power supply was purchased for $20 new at Microcenter. Its labelled wattage is 480W, and this unit is a perfect example of why labelled wattage should never be used as a parameter of comparison. It's incredible how these companies get away with this stuff legally, but McDonald's coffee being too hot ends up breaking the news. I'm waiting for the day one of these companies get sued for their unacceptible and hazardous units.
Recently I was down south and was at a flea market. There happened to be a computer shop there, and Logisys units are what thine eynes witnessed. Yes, these are flea market power supplies. I probably should have snatched one, as I recall them being under $10. Anyway, this particular unit was very recently produced, February of 2016 to be precise; so these units are still in production and are selling. Can it be worse than the Diablotek EL 400W I reviewed the other day? We will see. So far out of these crappy power supplies, the Rosewill case-included APS-450CCP has been the highest quality by miles. It is probably the best dirt-cheap power supply on the market, it being about $12 new when bundled with appliable Rosewill cases. Logisys also sells some cases, so this unit may appear in some of them. So, shall we begin?
Logisys makes sure to advertise their greatest marketing point - dual SATAs! Wow, I couldn't believe a power supply even exists that could support more than one hard drive. This is actually a sticker - I'm wondering why they are paying for stickers when the money can be put into better components? Oh wait, I do know why, because the people buying these don't do their research, so stickers sell power supplies more than important stuff. I have no idea who is on that marketing team. We also have Energy Star efficiency as a bullet point, and a whole bunch of other not-important-stuff. Frankly, some of these bullet points don't even make sense. Either I need to do more research, or they are just making up stuff I've never heard of. They could have gone with a plain cardboard box to reduce ink costs. I should start a cereal brand like that - plain box that says "cereal" on it. Well, let's open it. There is no tape, so anyone could steal these in the store at ease; they could hide it in their bell-bottoms. Well, let's open it up.
The first thing to note is that this unit is not the same as it appears on the box. On the box, it shows the power supply with two AC receptacles - one for the input and another that can be used to daisy chain something like a monitor. The actual unit has just a red voltage selection switch in place of the second receptacle. Not a big deal, but it's weird when you bring the unit out of the box and notice that key difference. Some people may question if it's the proper unit or not. In addition, this unit is extremely light weight - lighter than the Diablotek I looked at before. Back in the day, this was used to measure quality. The power supply itself has "Logisys" engraved on the side. In the back by the cables is a grill punched into the chassis for some intake air. Since the unit has an exhaust 80mm fan, it's logical to have some holes for intake, opposed to units with a top-mounted fan which have holes in the top of the power supply.
The power supply itself is a safety hazard. The casing is very thin metal, and my knuckle already bled from it. If you're not opening the unit, you're not likely to encounter this, but the punched-in part where the fan is can be a hazardous area for one to get cut. A major disappointment is that this power supply comes with zero screws. If you want to install this into a computer and don't have screws, you'll have to buy some. Of course, that may be a good thing, since it will delay the funeral of the computer. No zip ties, goodies, or any manual come with the unit: just a power supply wrapped in plastic. A rubber band is present around the output cables. There is no physical protection, and knowing how UPS guys like to toss around items, the unit could be easily damaged. With no warranty shown either, that could be trouble if the deadline for retailer return is up. So, let's look at the cables that come with this power supply:
So much for the dual SATA marketing, because this unit actually comes with three SATA cables. The AC power cable that comes with this unit is a very nice length actually. Now, what concerns me is the wire gauge. The gauge on all these wires, even the important 12V wires, is 20AWG. That is not good at all, there is a reason 18 gauge is part of the ATX specification, because thinner wires heat up too easily and can cause problems. For instance, increased resistance can affect the voltage outputs. The following table specifies the cables and their lengths:
The AC power cable has a very nice length. The rest of the cables are a good length with 165mm between the two connectors on cables with two. Now, to show you how thin the wire gauge is, a close-up image is approved; it may or may not be noticeable in the image, but these wires are thin, 20AWG that is, as I have now confirmed via the wire text:
If this is running on just a basic system, the gauge should not be a huge concern; the only cable of concern would be the ATX12V cable, in which CPUs with particularly high power requirements could easily overheat the wire. If running a modern day Pentium, it should not pose a hazard, but this power supply is not safe for a lot of systems because of the thin wiring. So, let's open up the unit and see what's inside.
This is the point in time at which I bled. That casing was sharp. But no big deal, I'm a risk taker. Looking at what can be seen, the unit is properly grounded, so that is a good thing. There is a major mess of wires there past the AC receptacle - the OEM should think about zip tying those up to reduce clutter. The heatsinks are a little bizarrd with those dots poked into them. I question the quality of these heat sinks, as surface area does not appear to be fully maximized for better cooling potential of those MOSFETs attatched to them. The first thing I questioned when opening this was where all the EMI filtering components are? Thinking they may be hidden behind the back heat sink, I peeked all around and there simply is none. There is no EMI filter on this unit at all! There are no y capacitors, x capacitors, MOV, or CM chokes. A thermistor is actually present on this power supply unit. Overall, this is really bad, as a lack of these components can cause issues.
This power supply is not only a hazard to the computer but is not helpful to other electronics on the same grid. This is primarily the purpose of an EMI filter, to clean out the energy coming in and going out. This is an issue and goes against the ATX specification. This stuff is not an option, this is a necessity; I expect to see this stuff on even the cheapest power supplies. The one part I see present is a fuse, which is a form of protection in that it blows and breaks the circuit before any potential damage can be done. In addition to no transient filter, there is no power factor correction. Contrary to many misconceptions, this does not affect the efficiency of a power supply, which is the ratio of DC/AC. Power factor correction is the ratio of active/apparent power. Apparant power is active power + reactive power. Active produces the real work (remember power is the rate at which work is done) and reactive is the energy required to enable that real work, or active power, to be utilized. In the U.S., industrial locations are charged reactive power, too, so a high power factor correction is important in non-residential areas. Now, let's take a look at the fan:
At first look, it appeared to be a Logisys fan, but once I unscrewed it the backside revealed it is made by BOK in China and is rated for 2300RPM. Now let's look at the bulk capacitors:
These are from a brand I've never heard of, Zesendz. They have a capacitance of 470uF and are rated for 200V. The temperature rating is surpsisingly 105C, but it should not be taken very seriously considering the manufactuerer. Now, this power supply has two bulk capacitors instead of one because it has no power factor correction. Units with no or passive PFC employ a second capacitor to double the voltage if the switch is set to 115V. This is why if the switch is set to 115V when the actual AC voltage is 230V, problems can aries because it'll attempt to double an already-high voltage. Some high-end power supplies in the 1500W vicinity will employ two bulk capacitors in parallel to increase the net capacitance, since room can be tight in those higher-rated units. This can help increase holdup time. The major concern with these capacitors is simply the brand. There is a such thing as crappy capacitors, it is not some myth, it is reality.
On the left of the above image can be seen the empty PFC area of the PCB. Directly behind those capacitors on the heatsink is nothing on that side - switching transistors are on the other side of it. Now, let's take a look at the bridge rectifier, which is composed in this unit of four separate diodes:
Those four rings are the diodes used to convert the alternating current into a direct current; this direct current is a pulsating voltage. For you math geeks out there, think of it as the absolute value of a sine function. After the pulsating voltage, the switching transistors convert it back into alternating current, though the wave is square this time. The switching transistors give the voltage an extremely high frequency, much higher than the 50/60Hz at the wall outlet; this high frequency allows for smaller transformers, which is the fundamental difference in a switchmode and linear power supply. Above the four diodes is the black thermistor this unit employs. To the right of that the fuse. Now, an overhead shot of the switching transistors themselves:
They are labelled as "13007" and in the bottom-left corner have the text "JA" with "XB" in the bottom right. I am unable to identify the manufacturer, though there appears to be some form of a logo above all the text. After these switching transistors comes the transformer, which steps down the voltage. A glimpse of its yellow hue can be seen in the top-left corner of the above image. Now for the rectifiers, which I can only get a clear image of one:
The Schottkey rectifier shown above is an STPS2045CT. This particular rectifier has two manufacturers, but this one is made by ST. SGS-Thomson also manufactuers the same Schottkey. There is another rectifier that is unidentifiable, as it has no label. The last one is an ST-manufactured STPR1620CT. The PWM controller with supervisor IC is shown below:
This circuit is an LA8100PA made by Lii Semiconductors. Now, for the capacitors on this unit, there are a lot of Cheng. Every capacitor is rated at 105C. Ironically, there seems to be what appears as a few Nippon Chemi-Con. At least, they are identical to theirs and have the same logo, so I am assuming that for some far-out reason Logisys used a few Chemi-Cons on this unit. It may be an off-brand that looks like Chemi-Con, but it is nearly spot-on. No brand is displayed textually on the capacitors:
Now let's look at the secondary side of the PCB and see how soldering quality is:
The soldering is not too good. The OEM of this unit is unidentifiable. The only text on the bottom of the PCB is "ATX-2013A V1.3" - so apparently this unit was designed in 2013, or at least this platform.
Overall, this is a really crappy unit one should avoid at all costs. The lack of an actual transient filter is enough of a reason to avoid this unit. Having no power factor correction is another gripe. If one thing stands out as good, it is the 105C rated capacitors, but the brands are third-tier except for the Chemi-Cons.
Recently I was down south and was at a flea market. There happened to be a computer shop there, and Logisys units are what thine eynes witnessed. Yes, these are flea market power supplies. I probably should have snatched one, as I recall them being under $10. Anyway, this particular unit was very recently produced, February of 2016 to be precise; so these units are still in production and are selling. Can it be worse than the Diablotek EL 400W I reviewed the other day? We will see. So far out of these crappy power supplies, the Rosewill case-included APS-450CCP has been the highest quality by miles. It is probably the best dirt-cheap power supply on the market, it being about $12 new when bundled with appliable Rosewill cases. Logisys also sells some cases, so this unit may appear in some of them. So, shall we begin?
Logisys makes sure to advertise their greatest marketing point - dual SATAs! Wow, I couldn't believe a power supply even exists that could support more than one hard drive. This is actually a sticker - I'm wondering why they are paying for stickers when the money can be put into better components? Oh wait, I do know why, because the people buying these don't do their research, so stickers sell power supplies more than important stuff. I have no idea who is on that marketing team. We also have Energy Star efficiency as a bullet point, and a whole bunch of other not-important-stuff. Frankly, some of these bullet points don't even make sense. Either I need to do more research, or they are just making up stuff I've never heard of. They could have gone with a plain cardboard box to reduce ink costs. I should start a cereal brand like that - plain box that says "cereal" on it. Well, let's open it. There is no tape, so anyone could steal these in the store at ease; they could hide it in their bell-bottoms. Well, let's open it up.
The first thing to note is that this unit is not the same as it appears on the box. On the box, it shows the power supply with two AC receptacles - one for the input and another that can be used to daisy chain something like a monitor. The actual unit has just a red voltage selection switch in place of the second receptacle. Not a big deal, but it's weird when you bring the unit out of the box and notice that key difference. Some people may question if it's the proper unit or not. In addition, this unit is extremely light weight - lighter than the Diablotek I looked at before. Back in the day, this was used to measure quality. The power supply itself has "Logisys" engraved on the side. In the back by the cables is a grill punched into the chassis for some intake air. Since the unit has an exhaust 80mm fan, it's logical to have some holes for intake, opposed to units with a top-mounted fan which have holes in the top of the power supply.
The power supply itself is a safety hazard. The casing is very thin metal, and my knuckle already bled from it. If you're not opening the unit, you're not likely to encounter this, but the punched-in part where the fan is can be a hazardous area for one to get cut. A major disappointment is that this power supply comes with zero screws. If you want to install this into a computer and don't have screws, you'll have to buy some. Of course, that may be a good thing, since it will delay the funeral of the computer. No zip ties, goodies, or any manual come with the unit: just a power supply wrapped in plastic. A rubber band is present around the output cables. There is no physical protection, and knowing how UPS guys like to toss around items, the unit could be easily damaged. With no warranty shown either, that could be trouble if the deadline for retailer return is up. So, let's look at the cables that come with this power supply:
So much for the dual SATA marketing, because this unit actually comes with three SATA cables. The AC power cable that comes with this unit is a very nice length actually. Now, what concerns me is the wire gauge. The gauge on all these wires, even the important 12V wires, is 20AWG. That is not good at all, there is a reason 18 gauge is part of the ATX specification, because thinner wires heat up too easily and can cause problems. For instance, increased resistance can affect the voltage outputs. The following table specifies the cables and their lengths:
The AC power cable has a very nice length. The rest of the cables are a good length with 165mm between the two connectors on cables with two. Now, to show you how thin the wire gauge is, a close-up image is approved; it may or may not be noticeable in the image, but these wires are thin, 20AWG that is, as I have now confirmed via the wire text:
If this is running on just a basic system, the gauge should not be a huge concern; the only cable of concern would be the ATX12V cable, in which CPUs with particularly high power requirements could easily overheat the wire. If running a modern day Pentium, it should not pose a hazard, but this power supply is not safe for a lot of systems because of the thin wiring. So, let's open up the unit and see what's inside.
This is the point in time at which I bled. That casing was sharp. But no big deal, I'm a risk taker. Looking at what can be seen, the unit is properly grounded, so that is a good thing. There is a major mess of wires there past the AC receptacle - the OEM should think about zip tying those up to reduce clutter. The heatsinks are a little bizarrd with those dots poked into them. I question the quality of these heat sinks, as surface area does not appear to be fully maximized for better cooling potential of those MOSFETs attatched to them. The first thing I questioned when opening this was where all the EMI filtering components are? Thinking they may be hidden behind the back heat sink, I peeked all around and there simply is none. There is no EMI filter on this unit at all! There are no y capacitors, x capacitors, MOV, or CM chokes. A thermistor is actually present on this power supply unit. Overall, this is really bad, as a lack of these components can cause issues.
This power supply is not only a hazard to the computer but is not helpful to other electronics on the same grid. This is primarily the purpose of an EMI filter, to clean out the energy coming in and going out. This is an issue and goes against the ATX specification. This stuff is not an option, this is a necessity; I expect to see this stuff on even the cheapest power supplies. The one part I see present is a fuse, which is a form of protection in that it blows and breaks the circuit before any potential damage can be done. In addition to no transient filter, there is no power factor correction. Contrary to many misconceptions, this does not affect the efficiency of a power supply, which is the ratio of DC/AC. Power factor correction is the ratio of active/apparent power. Apparant power is active power + reactive power. Active produces the real work (remember power is the rate at which work is done) and reactive is the energy required to enable that real work, or active power, to be utilized. In the U.S., industrial locations are charged reactive power, too, so a high power factor correction is important in non-residential areas. Now, let's take a look at the fan:
At first look, it appeared to be a Logisys fan, but once I unscrewed it the backside revealed it is made by BOK in China and is rated for 2300RPM. Now let's look at the bulk capacitors:
These are from a brand I've never heard of, Zesendz. They have a capacitance of 470uF and are rated for 200V. The temperature rating is surpsisingly 105C, but it should not be taken very seriously considering the manufactuerer. Now, this power supply has two bulk capacitors instead of one because it has no power factor correction. Units with no or passive PFC employ a second capacitor to double the voltage if the switch is set to 115V. This is why if the switch is set to 115V when the actual AC voltage is 230V, problems can aries because it'll attempt to double an already-high voltage. Some high-end power supplies in the 1500W vicinity will employ two bulk capacitors in parallel to increase the net capacitance, since room can be tight in those higher-rated units. This can help increase holdup time. The major concern with these capacitors is simply the brand. There is a such thing as crappy capacitors, it is not some myth, it is reality.
On the left of the above image can be seen the empty PFC area of the PCB. Directly behind those capacitors on the heatsink is nothing on that side - switching transistors are on the other side of it. Now, let's take a look at the bridge rectifier, which is composed in this unit of four separate diodes:
Those four rings are the diodes used to convert the alternating current into a direct current; this direct current is a pulsating voltage. For you math geeks out there, think of it as the absolute value of a sine function. After the pulsating voltage, the switching transistors convert it back into alternating current, though the wave is square this time. The switching transistors give the voltage an extremely high frequency, much higher than the 50/60Hz at the wall outlet; this high frequency allows for smaller transformers, which is the fundamental difference in a switchmode and linear power supply. Above the four diodes is the black thermistor this unit employs. To the right of that the fuse. Now, an overhead shot of the switching transistors themselves:
They are labelled as "13007" and in the bottom-left corner have the text "JA" with "XB" in the bottom right. I am unable to identify the manufacturer, though there appears to be some form of a logo above all the text. After these switching transistors comes the transformer, which steps down the voltage. A glimpse of its yellow hue can be seen in the top-left corner of the above image. Now for the rectifiers, which I can only get a clear image of one:
The Schottkey rectifier shown above is an STPS2045CT. This particular rectifier has two manufacturers, but this one is made by ST. SGS-Thomson also manufactuers the same Schottkey. There is another rectifier that is unidentifiable, as it has no label. The last one is an ST-manufactured STPR1620CT. The PWM controller with supervisor IC is shown below:
This circuit is an LA8100PA made by Lii Semiconductors. Now, for the capacitors on this unit, there are a lot of Cheng. Every capacitor is rated at 105C. Ironically, there seems to be what appears as a few Nippon Chemi-Con. At least, they are identical to theirs and have the same logo, so I am assuming that for some far-out reason Logisys used a few Chemi-Cons on this unit. It may be an off-brand that looks like Chemi-Con, but it is nearly spot-on. No brand is displayed textually on the capacitors:
Now let's look at the secondary side of the PCB and see how soldering quality is:
The soldering is not too good. The OEM of this unit is unidentifiable. The only text on the bottom of the PCB is "ATX-2013A V1.3" - so apparently this unit was designed in 2013, or at least this platform.
Overall, this is a really crappy unit one should avoid at all costs. The lack of an actual transient filter is enough of a reason to avoid this unit. Having no power factor correction is another gripe. If one thing stands out as good, it is the 105C rated capacitors, but the brands are third-tier except for the Chemi-Cons.
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