Why you can trust Tom's Hardware
Protection Features
Check out our PSUs 101 article to learn more about PSU protection features.
Protection Features | |
OCP |
12V: 146A (135.19%), 12.24V 5V: 30.2A (120.8%), 5.107V 3.3V: 31.5A (126%), 3.351V 5VSB: 3.8A (126.67%), 5.026V |
OPP |
1802.69W (138.67%) |
OTP |
✓ (151°C @ 12V Heat Sink) |
SCP |
12V: ✓ 5V: ✓ 3.3V: ✓ 5VSB: ✓ -12V: ✓ |
PWR_OK |
Proper Operation |
NLO |
✓ |
SIP | Surge: MOV Inrush: NTC Thermistor & Bypass Relay |
This is a highly capable and powerful platform. Still, we would like to see within 130% OCP at +12V and OPP. There are no-load regulation or ripple issues at such high loads, but at high operating temperatures, things might change under the same load conditions. Moreover, there is no need, in such a high capacity PSU, to provide such a large overpower window.
DC Power Sequencing
According to Intel’s most recent Power Supply Design Guide (revision 1.4), the +12V and 5V outputs must be equal to or greater than the 3.3V rail at all times. Unfortunately, Intel doesn't mention why it is so important to always keep the 3.3V rail's voltage lower than the levels of the other two outputs.
DC Power Sequencing Scope Shots
The 3.3V rail is lower than the other two in all cases, so there are no issues here.
Cross Load Tests
To generate the following charts, we set our loaders to auto mode through custom-made software before trying more than 25,000 possible load combinations with the +12V, 5V, and 3.3V rails. The deviations in each of the charts below are calculated by taking the nominal values of the rails (12V, 5V, and 3.3V) as point zero. The ambient temperature during testing was between 30 to 32 degrees Celsius (86 to 89.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
Load Regulation Charts
Load Regulation Charts
Efficiency Chart
Ripple Charts
The lower the power supply's ripple, the more stable the system will be and less stress will also be applied to its components.
Ripple Suppression Charts
Infrared Images
We apply a half-load for 10 minutes with the PSU's top cover and cooling fan removed before taking photos with a modified FLIR E4 camera able to deliver an IR resolution of 320x240 (76,800 pixels).
IR Images
We didn't notice increased temperatures, despite the 650W load with the fan disconnected. The hottest part during these tests was the main transformer.
MORE: Best Power Supplies
MORE: How We Test Power Supplies
MORE: All Power Supply Content
Current page: Protection Features, DC Power Sequencing, Cross-Load Tests and Infrared Images
Prev Page Load Regulation, Hold-Up Time, Inrush Current, Efficiency and Noise Next Page Transient Response Tests, Timing Tests, Ripple Measurements and EMC Pre-Compliance TestingAris Mpitziopoulos is a contributing editor at Tom's Hardware, covering PSUs.
Nvidia GeForce 256 celebrates its 25th birthday — company talks about a quarter century of GPU progression
Intel LGA1851 socket has a new ILM that helps CPUs run a bit cooler — MSI claims 1ºC to 2ºC lower CPU temperatures
Quartz mine crucial for making chips reopens ten days after Hurricane Helene's devastation