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Part 1: Four Cheap 80 PLUS Bronze Power Supplies, Reviewed
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1. High-Efficiency Power Supplies At A Fair Price

While we all love the latest, greatest, and fastest hardware, it's just as important to us that the more affordable, accessible components perform well. Today is the first story in a two-part series where we round-up power supplies you might find in the bargain bin of your favorite online store. We asked each vendor to send us samples with 80 PLUS Bronze ratings or better, selling between $45 and $70.

In this piece, we have power supplies from Antec, Chieftec, Cougar, and Enermax. The second part will include Cooler Master, Gigabyte, OCZ, and Seasonic.

This time around, we're looking at output ratings ranging from 350 W (Cougar A350) to 550 W (Chieftec Nitro 2). Each of the four models features an 80 PLUS Bronze rating, which means that they should all achieve at least 82% efficiency at 100% and 20% load, and 85% efficiency at medium load. 

Unfortunately, not all of these units are available in the U.S., which makes price comparisons difficult. The Antec HCG-400 goes for around $45 though, which is pretty reasonable for a 400 W power supply.

Updates to Our Testing Methodology

Based on reader feedback, we're including acoustics in our testing suite. You'll see us do this moving forward, employing three load levels: 40 W as a simulation of an idle PC or a system engaged in light office work, 200 W for a medium-grade gaming PC, and 600 W for a high-end gaming PC. When 600 W is more than the maximum allowable combined load on the PSU’s 12 V rail or rails, we skip this test and make do with the other ones.

In order to simulate various loads, we built a test rig consisting of fifteen 12 V/40 W light bulbs. Thus, we can apply any load from 40 W to 600 W to the 12 V rail of a power supply, and it's guaranteed to incur no phase shift, since the load is neither inductive nor capacitive. As DC-powered light bulbs are perfectly silent, this is also a good way to measure sound levels without a lot of ambient background noise. We measured sound levels a foot away from each PSU's fan, and gave the power supplies 30 minutes to achieve an equilibrium after setting a new load level.

A Brief Remark about a Measurement Anomaly

All of the PSUs in this round-up exhibited a strange phenomenon during the ripple and noise test, which baffled us. They showed a strikingly similar pattern of spikes on the oscilloscope screen during the ripple test, causing all PSUs to fail that metric. Typically, this would lower each power supply's score. But because we knew it'd be unlikely for every make and model to suffer from the same design or manufacturing defect, we took a closer look at our test setup. We even asked Enermax and be quiet! to help us troubleshoot the issue with their equipment. The spikes didn't happen in either vendor's lab. So, after examining our test equipment, our cabling, and our test methodology, we were finally able to explain this annoying issue.

Recently, we swapped out the Tektronix DPO3034's probes with newer and supposedly higher-quality replacements. As soon as we switched back to the old probes, the spikes disappeared. It'd be natural to suspect that the new probes are defective. However, we've tested higher-end PSUs like Corsair's AX1200i with the new and old probes, and never saw any spikes.

After testing and retesting, we concluded that the brief spikes are real and are not caused by faulty test equipment. In fact, they could be caused by the probes having a wider bandwidth range. We deem them irrelevant to judging these PSUs, and we're disregarding them as we evaluate ripple voltage, though our screen shots and benchmark analysis do document them. After all, it's conceivable that even short spikes degrade or even damage some PSU components over time.

2. Antec HCG-400

Antec’s three letter acronym HCG stands for High Current Gamer, which doesn't mean that the power supply transfers electric charge out of your PC and into you. Rather, the company is suggesting that its 400 W PSU is up to the task of delivering consistent power at high load levels, such as the ones you'd encounter in a taxing 3D game.

Although a $45 power supply like the HCG-400 isn't high-end by any means, we do like build quality of its chassis and the fully sleeved cables. Even the length of those cables can be considered sufficient for a budget-oriented PSU. The number of connectors you get, however, leaves something to be desired. There is but one six-pin auxiliary PCI Express plug, five SATA connectors, and four four-pin Molex leads.

Antec HCG-400
AC Input100-240 V, 50-60 Hz
DC Output+3.3 V+5 V+12 V (#1)+12 V (#2)+12 V (#3)+12 V (#4)-12 V+5 Vsb
20 A20 A30 An/an/an/a0.8 A2.5 A
Individual Output     9.6 W12.5W
Rail UtilizationSysSysCPU & VGA
Combined Output120 W360 W
Total Continuous Output400 W
Peak Output440 W

3. Antec HCG-400: Measurements

Efficiency According to the 80 PLUS Spec

Efficiency by Load

Antec's HCG-400 confirms our positive first impression with solid benchmark results. It easily beats the requirements of the 80 PLUS Bronze spec, especially at 20% and 100% load. At medium power draw, it’s spot-on. Even at low loads, the PSU can maintain good efficiency numbers. For instance, at a 50 W load, it offers 79% efficiency. Of course, as expected, efficiency falls off at lower loads. In this case, it's 70 percent at 25 W, though that's the best outcome from any other power supply in our round-up.

We confirmed that the HCG-400's inrush current and hold-up time are within the expected range. Actually, its hold-up time is the longest (and thus, best) of all test candidates. The HCG-400’s stand-by power draw is quite low. Moreover, its ripple voltage and noise are the lowest among all test candidates. The 12 V rail has just 30 mV of ripple on it. That's only one-quarter of the maximum allowed value, 120 mV.

This Antec PSU is fairly quiet, too. At 40 W power draw, it's barely audible at 30.9 dB(A). At 200 W, this value increases by just one decibel.

A Close Look at the PCB

The Antec PSU’s FR3 PCB is manufactured by Seasonic. Its solder quality is decent, but there is room for improvement. We like that Antec doesn't try to save a few pennies by foregoing shrink tube insulation where the wiring is soldered onto the PCB. Putting the input filter on a separate PCB like Antec does seems the safest option. The input filter consists of four Y capacitors, one X capacitor, and one ferrite coil, which means that no corners are cut and nothing is left out. All capacitors are made in Japan, the primary one by Hitachi and the others by Nippon Chemi-Con.

4. Chieftec Nitro 2 85+ BPS-550C2

The Chieftec Nitro 2 85+ 550 is almost too expensive for this round-up, at least based on its online price in Europe. It doesn’t seem to be available in the U.S. yet. But we allowed it to take part in this test for the benefit of our international audience (and despite our encouragement that all submissions be for sale worldwide). It sports some upscale features, such as partially modular cable management, which may justify its higher price.

Only the 24-pin ATX cable and two ATX12V cables are soldered on; the others are modular. You get two 6+2 auxiliary power connectors, for example, which are more than any of the other submissions include, helping justify this PSU's higher price. This makes it possible to employ CrossFire or SLI technology natively, providing you're using the right graphics cards. The remaining modular connectors include four Molex and six SATA connectors. The cable lengths are merely average; the Chieftec Nitro 2 doesn't score any bonus points against its competition there. It does, however, utilize a single +12 V rail able to supply up to 45 A of current.

Chieftec Nitro 2 85+ BPS-550C2
AC Input100-240 V, 50-60 Hz
DC Output+3.3 V+5 V+12 V (#1)+12 V (#2)+12 V (#3)+12 V (#4)-12 V+5 Vsb
25 A25 A45 An/an/an/a0.8 A3.0 A
Individual Output      9.6 W15 W
Rail UtilizationSysSysCPU & VGA
Combined Output130 W540 W
Total Continuous Output550 W
Peak Output650W

5. Chieftec Nitro 2 85+ BPS-550C2: Measurements

Efficiency According to the 80 PLUS Spec

Efficiency by Load

Chieftec's 550 W PSU comes out swinging, proving that spending a little more on a power supply can make a difference in the efficiency measurements. While it's only 80 PLUS Bronze-certified, it satisfies the efficiency requirements without breaking a sweat. In fact, it exceeds the Bronze standard's requirements by about two percentage points in all three categories, coming close to the Silver standard. On top of that, its standby power is the lowest of all test candidates; so is its inrush current. We repeated the inrush current metric several times to be sure, and the outcome did not change.

The hold-up time of the Chieftec PSU is also quite long at well over 20 ms (at 230 V, you're looking at a hold-up time of 24.6 ms without electricity). The ripple and noise values are within spec. They're not excellent, but within the ATX standard, which we consider to be OK. The PSU's sound level is average among the test candidates.

A Close Look at the PCB

After cutting open the riveted enclosure, we figured out that the OEM manufacturer is Channel Well Technology in Taiwan. The input filter is partially located on a separate PCB, adjacent to the mains socket. Here we find two Y capacitors and one X capacitor. Four additional Y capacitors sit on the main PCB, along with another X capacitor, a MOV, and three choke coils. The capacitors are manufactured by Nippon Chemi-Con. The soldering quality is OK.

6. Cougar A350

While the case quality of the Cougar A350 seems excellent, this inexpensive PSU almost feels cheap (a first impression that may be affected by its smaller-than-average 120 mm fan and low weight). Of course, this just a subjective impression, and it doesn't necessarily translate into sub-standard performance. Before we get to the testing, though, let’s discuss the A350’s feature set.

At 350 W, the Cougar A350 is the least powerful PSU in this round-up. With that said, 350 W of output should be sufficient for normal office use and even for mainstream gaming. Like the Antec unit, it only has one six-pin PCIe connector. In addition, you get a 24-pin ATX connector, three Molex connectors, and four SATA plugs. This thing isn't luxurious by any means, but it's apropos for what Cougar charges. The cables for the drives and peripherals are longer than we'd expect, but we would have liked at least four more inches on the ATX, ATX12V, and PCIe runs. In this price range, we don’t expect cable management and the Cougar A350 doesn’t offer it. Surprisingly for a low-output unit like the A350, the +12 V supply is split into two rails, each of which is rated for up to 14 A.

Cougar A350
AC Input100-240 V, 50-60 Hz
DC Output+3.3 V+5 V+12 V (#1)+12 V (#2)+12 V (#3)+12 V (#4)-12 V+5 Vsb
21 A15 A14 A14 An/an/a0.3 A2.5 A
Individual Output  32 A  3.6 W12.5 W
Rail UtilizationSysSysCPU & VGA
Combined Output103 W276 W
Total Continuous Output350 W
Peak Outputn/a

7. Cougar A350: Measurements

Efficiency According to the 80 PLUS Spec

Efficiency by Load

Cougar's A350 does not pass all of the tests in our suite. While the ripple and noise metrics come back fine, we discovered that the voltages on the 3.3 V and the 5 V rails are marginal at 100% load. They're not in violation of the ATX spec, but they're close. In other words, there are no reserves at all. Exceed the specified amps just a tad, and you get out-of-spec voltages.

But that’s not even the main flaw. The real problem is that this power supply fails to satisfy its 80 PLUS Bronze rating, coming up short in the efficiency requirements in all three load ranges. In one case, the 20% load test, it's more than three percent shy of the specification. Such a clear shortcoming cannot be excused as a measurement variance. As a result, any other positive test result becomes irrelevant; the A350 fails.

A Close Look at the PCB

When we look inside of Cougar's submission, we see a couple of likely causes for the failure. We definitely get the impression that cost-cutting was one of this product's design criteria. Instead of shrink tubing, we find globs of insulating paste. At least the soldering job seems alright. The capacitors on the secondary side are manufactured by Taiwan-based Teapo. The big capacitor on the primary side is sourced from United Chemi-Con. The input filter, spread across a sub-PCB next to the mains socket and the main PCB, looks somewhat haphazard. The visual impression of this PSU reinforces our negative test results.

8. Enermax Triathlor 385W

The Triathlor series from Enermax sits at the lower end of this vendor's product portfolio, both with respect to its price and feature set. While we do notice the company's cost-cutting efforts, this 385 W PSU superficially appears to offer better build quality than Cougar's A350. Admittedly, our first impressions comes from the Enermax PSU's greater weight. Chalk it up to penny-pinching that the peripheral cables are only sleeved up to the first connector. From there, they're individual wires.

Cable length is a mixed bag. The 24-pin ATX, ATX12V, and auxiliary PCI Express cables are sufficiently long. However, the SATA connectors wind up as the first two positions on both peripheral cables. So, all of your SATA-based devices need to be 20" away from the power supply or closer. This is further aggravated by the fact that the first and second SATA connectors are a mere 4” apart. Somewhat turned off by such a problematic configuration, we were then surprised to find Velcro strips for tidying up the cable routing. Like Cougar's submission, the Enermax PSU employs two 12 V rails, each of which supplies up to 20 A.

Enermax Triathlor 385W
AC Input100-240 V, 50-60 Hz
DC Output+3.3 V+5 V+12 V (#1)+12 V (#2)+12 V (#3)+12 V (#4)-12 V+5 Vsb
20 A20 A20 A20 A  0.5 A2.5 A
Individual Output      61
Rail UtilizationSysSysCPU & VGA
Combined Output100 W384 W
Total Continuous Output385 W
Peak Output425 W

9. Enermax Triathlor 385W: Measurements

Efficiency According to the 80 PLUS Spec

Efficiency by Load

Once we ignore those brief spikes mentioned in the introduction, the results look good. Enermax's Triathlor surpasses the ATX spec on all voltage rails. The PSU also complies with the 80 PLUS Bronze spec, passing the other tests in our suite, too.

At 40 W of load, the Enermax PSU is less noisy than all other test candidates; it registers a mere 30.4 dB(A). At 200 W, the reading is 31.9 dB(A), which is still really good.

A Close Look at the PCB

Although the Triathlor series sits at the low end of Enermax's power supply portfolio, it doesn't look like corners were cut in building this model. The components inside are all high-quality hardware. The important capacitors are made in Japan. The primary one comes from Panasonic, and all capacitors on the secondary side are manufactured by Nippon Chemi-Con. The layout resembles the Pro82+ series; for instance, all heat sinks are mounted in the middle of the PSU, which improves cooling. The soldering quality and component composition seem good. The input filter consists of four Y capacitors, two common mode chokes, one X capacitor, and one MOV.

10. Test Configuration, Hold-Up Time, And Inrush Current
Test Hardware
AC SourceChroma Programmable AC Source 6530
Power MeterYokogawa WT210 Digital Power Meter
Loads4 x 600 W Chroma 63306 for 12 V testing

4 x 300 W Chroma 63303 for 5 and 3.3 V testing

using Chroma HighSpeed- DC Load Mainframes 6334 
OscilloscopeTektronix DPO3034 Digital Phosphore Oscilloscope (300 MHz)
Test Procedure
Voltages110 and 230 V
Standby Power0.25 A fixed current to simulate PC standby power on 5 Vsb
80 PLUS Efficiency Testing100/50/20% load, relative to specified total output
Load distribution across 12/5/3.3 V rails at the same proportion as specified for 100% testing at 110 V according to ATX 2.3 specification
Efficiency at Fixed Loads25, 50, 85, 300, 500 W loads
Load distribution across 12/5/3.3 V rails at the same proportion as specified for 100%
Peak Load Test110% Overload Testing at maximum combined 12 V
Temperature TestAir intake vs. Outtake temperature delta
tracking highest delta during all tests

More test results for this PSU and others can be found in our Power Supply Charts.

Hold-Up Time And Inrush Current

11. Efficiency According To The 80 PLUS Spec, Standby Power, And Sound Level

More test results for these power supplies can be found in our Power Supply Charts.

Efficiency According to the 80 PLUS Spec

 

Standby Power Measurement

Sound Level

12. Which One Of These Power Supplies Is Right For You?

Is it possible to find a high-quality power supply that doesn't break the bank? Yes, of course, so long as you do your research and avoid the lemons scattered across this difficult-to-benchmark segment. Really, you can’t go wrong with the Antec HCG-400. Exceptional workmanship and a myriad of connectors make this PSU a great buy in the value class. The electrical quality is excellent, as evidenced by the PSU’s efficiency numbers, and ripple and noise measurements. In short, Antec's HCG-400 offers the best value for the money.

Offering 550 W output power, Chieftec's Nitro 2 85+ is by far the most powerful power supply in this round-up, but its price also reflects that. However, if you are a gamer looking for a replacement PSU, the Nitro 2 85+ could be a good option, if you can find it. Unfortunately, it's not available in the U.S. yet. The Nitro 2 85+ doesn’t scrimp on features. Modular cable management, extra connectors, and an efficiency rating that nearly qualifies for 80 PLUS Silver grading are but a few reasons to like it. If we were judging on an absolute scale, this is the best PSU in our round-up. Then again, it only barely qualifies for the budget classification we assigned.

Cougar's A350 costs about half of the Chieftec Nitro 2, and that may sound like a bargain. But you get what you pay for. Let’s brush aside concerns about the sub-par build quality and the cheap-looking and shoddily-put-together interior. The cable lengths are OK, at least. The maximum output is adequate for office PCs. And the PSU does what it is supposed to do. However, it doesn’t deserve its 80 PLUS Bronze logo, which may lure unsuspecting customers into buying this power supply. Were the manufacturer to drop its Bronze rating and simply label it 80 PLUS-compliant, we'd have less to criticize.

Lastly, we have Enermax's Triathlor. The electrical quality of this 385 W product is excellent, and it passes all of our tests. With that said, it doesn’t stand out, either. You might counter that a budget-oriented power supply doesn't need to stand out. We'd point out, then, that Enermax's cable configuration is going to be problematic for a lot of people. Otherwise, this is a good PSU.

Because this is the first round-up where we took acoustic measurements, we'll summarize the results really quick. The differences between each power supply were marginal. You're going to notice the noise from each and every submission. However, they're really pretty quiet, and it's much more likely that your CPU or graphics card cooler is going to be more audible.

13. Model Comparison Table
Overview: Efficient Budget PSUs
MakeAntecChieftecCougarEnermax
Model
HCG-400Nitro 2 85+ BPS-550C2A350Triathlor 385W
Price
~$45
N/A
N/AN/A
Certification80 PLUS Bronze80 PLUS Bronze80 PLUS Bronze80 PLUS Bronze
Dimensions (WxDxH)6" x 6.3" x 3.4"
6” x 6.3” x 3.4”6” x 5.5” x 3.4”6” x 6.3” x 3.4”
Weight5.7 lbs.6 lbs.4.6 lbs.4.4 lbs.
Operating Temperature
32-104 °F32-104 °Fup to 122 °F32-104 °F
Warranty3 years2 years3 years3 years
Specifications
SpecificationATX12V v2.3ATX12V v2.3ATX12V v2.3ATX12V v2.3
Nominal Power
400 W550 W350 W385 W
Maximum Power
440 W650 W for 60 sec-425 W
AC Input100-240 V100-240 V100-240 V100-240 V
AC Voltage SelectionAuto voltageAuto voltageAuto voltageAuto voltage
DC Output +3.3 V20 A25 A21 A20 A
DC Output +5 V20 A25 A15 A20 A
DC Output +12 V (#1)30 A45 A14 A20 A
DC Output +12V (#2)N/AN/A14 A20 A
DC Output +12 V (#3)N/AN/AN/AN/A
DC Output +12 V (#4)N/AN/AN/AN/A
DC Output -12 V0.8 A0.8 A0.3 A0.5 A
DC Power +12 V Combined360 W540 W276 W384 W
PFCactiveactiveactiveactive
Specified Hold-Up Time17 ms16 ms>17 ms16 ms
MTBF100,000 hours>100,000 hours 100,000 hours 100,000 hours
Cooling
Main Fan
135 mm140 mm120 mm120 mm
Speed of Main Fan
400-1400 RPMUp to 2300 RPM600-1800 RPM500-1800 RPM
Aux. Fan
n/an/an/an/a
Speed of Aux. Fan
n/an/an/an/a
Cables and Connectors
20+4 pin Motherboard1x (55 cm)1x (55 cm)1x (45 cm)1x (55 cm)
CPU1x (60 cm)2x (55 cm)1x (45 cm)1x (60 cm)
PCI Express 6-pin/6+2-pin (Graphics)1/0x (55 cm)0/2x (55 cm)1/0x (45 cm)0/1x (50 cm)
Molex 4-pin (Peripherals)4x (50 - 80 cm)4x (55 - 70 cm)3x (80 - 95 cm)4x (70 - 80 cm)
SATA Power5x (50 - 80 cm)6x (55 - 95 cm)4x (50 - 65 cm)4x (50 - 60 cm)
4-pin Floppy1x (95 cm)1x (85 cm)1x (95 cm)1x (90 cm)
Special Features
AccessoriesScrews, Cable TiesN/AN/A
Screws, Velcro Strips
Cable ManagementNoYesNoNo