Five 550 And 600 W 80 PLUS Platinum Power Supplies, Tested

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A good power supply doesn't just provide you with ample output. Increasingly, vendors have put a bigger emphasis on delivering power more efficiently, too. We're testing five 80 PLUS Platinum-rated power supplies in the 550- to 600-watt range.

Kingwin Lazer Platinum 550 W

The Kingwin Lazer Platinum 550 W is listed for $170, though it often sells for less. This PSU’s surface finish is smooth compared to the other products in this round-up. While this is just an aesthetic design element, and not an indicator of quality, we mention it because we found no faults with the power supply’s manufacturing quality, either.

White fan blades offer a nice contrast to the more common black fans used in competing models. The cabling is semi-modular; the sleeved 24-pin ATX, 12 V auxiliary, and first PCIe cables aren't removable. Kingwin's modular cables are flat and unsleeved, which should help facilitate better airflow inside your enclosure.

The cable lengths and the number of connectors are better than average: four PCIe and eight SATA connectors are generous, while five four-pin Molex connectors are OK. In contrast to the Antec and Enermax supplies, Kingwin's solution sports one 12 V rail, which can be loaded up to 45.5 A. Because it's a single-rail supply, the modular cable sockets don't need to be labeled. After all, they're identically-shaped and tied into the same internal rails.

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Kingwin LZP-550
AC Input115-240 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 A45.5 An/an/an/a0.5 A2.5 A
Individual OutputRow 3 - Cell 1 Row 3 - Cell 2 Row 3 - Cell 3 Row 3 - Cell 4 Row 3 - Cell 5 6 W12.5 W
Rail UtilizationSysSysCPU And VGA
Combined Output100 W546 W
Total Continuous Output550 W
Peak Output650 W

TOPICS
Patrick Afschar
59 Comments Comment from the forums
  • what? no overload it until it blows test?

    and i was making popcorn.
    Reply
  • mousseng
    Is that a typo in the first chart for Kingwin's Lazer? It claims that it fails 80 Plus's 50% load spec (82% of 92%); I assume that was meant to say 92% (since that's what the chart below it shows).

    Pleasant read, though, I like PSU reviews.
    Reply
  • What happen to Seasonic? They have the 520W fanless SS-520FL Platinum version. No PSU test is complete without a seasonic to compare to, in my own opinion.
    Reply
  • dudewitbow
    jupiter optimus maximusWhat happen to Seasonic? They have the 520W fanless SS-520FL Platinum version. No PSU test is complete without a seasonic to compare to, in my own opinion.they asked for vendors for the PSUs. Theres the offshoot chance that seasonic declined the offer. On other sites, the 520w fanless seasonic unit was compared to Rosewill's 500w silent night unit. The seasonic unit I believe in that review barely edged out a victory.
    Reply
  • cangelini
    iknowhowtofixitEither the Rosewill FORTRESS was defective or your calibration was off for the last test. Your o-scope shots do not match those of other highly credible reviewers. Also, I'm curious of your testing methodology, but it was not listed.I believe this is still applicable to all of the power supply testing our German team does: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/psu-test-equipment,2657.html. I'm waiting for confirmation that I'm right.

    Edit: Yup, that's the correct testing equipment/procedure!
    Reply
  • Dun dun dun..................... no acoustic performance measured, the only reason some people buy high end PSU's.
    Reply
  • sebbesapa
    WOW! Thanks a bunch for including the 25watt "Low-Power PC" efficiency test! All other reviewers stop @ 20% load witch is not "idle" or "low load" at all. :-)
    Reply
  • sanilmahambre
    Power supply unit is where a system builder cannot use a word "BUDGET"
    Reply
  • jaideep1337
    I don't understand
    Why is the 80 plus spec officially test by having more load on the 3.3v and 5v rails?
    Clearly loading the 12v rail would give us a better overall image
    Reply
  • jaquith
    Interesting, IMHO the most important aspect is 'Ripple Voltage' @ Rated Load. The only mention I see is a vague reference in your conclusion page.
    Never mind I see the ripple data buried in the individual tests. It would have been better in the summary side-by-side tests.

    Nice article.
    Reply