Bang For Your Buck: Four 500 W Power Supplies Reviewed
Enthusiasts often say that you can never have too much performance. However, a 500W power supply is perfectly ample for a majority of mid-range PCs. This is one of those cases where a solid ratio of performance to price is preferable to gross excess.
FSP Everest 85 PLUS 500
The FSP Everest 85Plus 500 stands out immediately, due to its blue color. No other special features are noticeable at first glance, though. Instead, the blue PSU convinces through its internal qualities. This is hinted at by the packaging's 80 PLUS Bronze logo.
FSP plays it safe with the number of cables and connections. The ATX and CPU cables are hardwired, but all other cables—two PCIe, six SATA, and five four-pin Molex—are modular. The FSP power supply even comes with two floppy connectors, which surprised us.
You can't go wrong with the FSP Everest 85Plus 500 W power supply. Both in efficiency and equipment, Everest fares well, although it doesn't particularly excel in any way, either, as our results on the following page will show.
FSP Everest 85Plus 500 | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AC Input | 100-240V, 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 |
30 A | 30 A | 18 A | 18 A | 18 A | 18 A | 0.8 A | 3 A | |
Individual Output | Row 3 - Cell 1 | Row 3 - Cell 2 | Row 3 - Cell 3 | Row 3 - Cell 4 | Row 3 - Cell 5 | 9.6 W | 15 W | |
Rail Utilization | Sys | Sys | CPU & VGA | |||||
Combined Output | 140 W | 456 W | ||||||
Total Continuous Output | 500 W | |||||||
Peak Output | 550 W |
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Current page: FSP Everest 85 PLUS 500
Prev Page Enermax Pro87+ 500 W: Measurements Next Page FSP Everest 85 PLUS 500: Measurements-
haplo602 the yes/no graphs are funny .... how about a table ?Reply
anyway I did not notice voltage stability measurements and a "hot box" test. -
SpadeM It might be just me but the ripple/noise test wasn't performed on these PSUs. Also, at what temperature did you guys test for the efficiency? I'm hoping u tested it over 30 degrees Celsius.Reply
Other then that, it's a pretty quick analysis. Wish you'd open them up to actually see what components they used in their primary and secondary circuits. -
The Lady Slayer @SpadeM: there are other sites that dismantle power supplies, just google themReply
I'm happy that yet another site thinks highly of the CM Silent Pro series; I'm using the M600W currently. -
agnickolov For the last several years I've considered $50 the ceiling for a 500W PSU... To put it into perspective - this is the value choice. I did spend $80 on a 530W PSU 7 years ago, but that was then.Reply -
raclimja why no seasonic?Reply
according to most people that i know, seasonic is the very best brand that make quality psu for the money
newegg has a Seasonic S12ii Bronze 520w for just $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094&cm_re=seasonic_s12ii_bronze-_-17-151-094-_-Product
and according to reviews it is the very best power supply in its price range(it even beat the Corsair HX 620w)
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2162&page=4 -
p1n3apqlexpr3ss Ummm... just me or 4 rails @ 18A for the FSP and 3 rails @ 25A for the enermax seem really really really heaps for a 500W psu...?Reply -
p1n3apqlexpr3ss Oh and how can you have a 115V 110% peak load test on the silverstone?? :pReply
But yea very nice read, was expecting some more cheaper PSUs tbh though, the vantec ions seem to offer good price/performance, at least here in new zealand, dunno if you get them in america -
raclimja P1n3apqlExpr3ssUmmm... just me or 4 rails @ 18A for the FSP and 3 rails @ 25A for the enermax seem really really really heaps for a 500W psu...?Reply
in my opinion, if i am buying a 500w psu
my main concern will be efficiency
since i wont mind doing some crazy overclocking or tri-sli or quad fire over a 500w psu
also look at this very interesting result that i have found
a Core i7 920 + GTX 260 @stock under PRIME 95+ Furmark has only a maximum power consumption of 371w
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cases/display/system-wattage_7.html#sect0
and in real life usage i bet you wont even get close to that power consumption even when overclocked :) -
jhanschu I always enjoy reading about PSU's as I feel they are really the core to your system. Poor power means flaky system, and allow your electrical components to last longer.Reply
With that aside, in my opinion finding a value PSU is about weighing price and quality. Although the Pro87+ was a monster when it came to efficiency, it was still said to be available for around $140. First, that's a bit much for a budget/midrange PSU and secondly, I couldn't find that particular PSU anywhere online. I found the 600W variant on newegg for around the same price...but it's not the same PSU.
Pretty much the same goes for the other PSU's. I couldn't find them at any reputable online dealers (newegg, tigerdirect, zipzoomfly, etc.). And I do realize that it takes much time to do a review like this, but it seems like some of the more popular brands have been left out. Even if they don't have an 80plus "Gold" PSU at or around the 500W level. At least then you'd have a baseline for a so called normal efficiency power supply.
I did a lot of research when I purchased mine a couple of years ago when I last built a ground up system. I settled on a corsair VX550 and have been thoroughly impressed with how it's handled my moderate gaming system. Now this is a personal preference, but I've been so pleased with it, I doubt if I will go to another PSU label. But anyway, that's my $0.02.