be quiet! SFX L Power 600W PSU Review

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EMC Pre-Compliance Testing

EMC, EMI & EMS Acronyms

Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC): The ability of a device to operate properly in its environment without disrupting the proper operation of other close-by devices.

Electromagnetic Interference (EMI): It stands for the electromagnetic energy a device emits, which can cause problems in other close-by devices if it is too high.

Electromagnetic Immunity (EMS): The tolerance to electromagnetic emissions.

Equipment & Standards

To properly measure the EMI that a device emits you need special equipment which is pre-defined by the CISPR 16-1-1 specification. To learn more about our EMI testing equipment, please check out How We Test Power Supply Units.

In order to minimize EMI noise, some standards have been established. The corresponding standards for IT (Information Technology) products are CISPR 22 and its derivative EN 55022, which is for products sold in the EU. In the EU, every product featuring the "CE" marking has to comply with the EN 55022 standard. Both CISPR 22 and EN 55022 standards divide devices into two classes, A and B. B-class equipment is for domestic environments, so their permitted EMI emissions are significantly lower than for A-class devices. 

Swipe to scroll horizontally
CISPR / EN55022 Limits
CISRP 22/ EN 55022 Class A Conducted EMI Limit
Frequency of Emission (MHz)Conducted Limit (dBuV)
Quasi-peakAverage
0.15 - 0.507966
0.50 - 30.07360
CISPR 22/ EN 55022 Class B Conducted EMI Limit
Frequency of Emission (MHz)Conducted Limit (dBuV)
Quasi-peakAverage
0.15 - 0.5066 - 5656 - 46
0.50 - 5.005646
5.00 - 30.006050

Conducted EMI Results

To conduct our EMC pre-compliance testing, we use the EMCView software kindly provided by TekBox Digital Solutions.

There are two peaks on the EMI graph, one of which goes over the quasi-peak limit. Otherwise, conducted EMI transmissions are pretty low.


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Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

Aris Mpitziopoulos is a contributing editor at Tom's Hardware, covering PSUs.

  • reghir
    Not sure take a look at NewEgg reviews which show 3 users reporting DOA units
    Reply
  • AC____
    How does it compare to Corsair's?
    Reply
  • Aris_Mp
    The SF600 has higher performance. This is shown in the relative performance chart. However in the overall noise score the SF600 is much higher as well, because its fan profile gets highly aggressive once you load its minor rails. In real life conditions where the minor rails are lightly used, it is quite silent.
    Reply
  • Aris_Mp
    DOA can happen for several reasons, with hard shipping conditions being one of them.
    Reply
  • expert_vision
    You know what baffles me? How is it possible that no monitoring is offered in today PSUs ? I used to have a HighPower PSU 10 years ago that had a simple 7 segment display, showing instantaneous power draw in watts, and a 3 header pin for FAN RPM. You'd think by today that would be standard. But no, instead they put freaking RGB in everything ...
    Reply
  • HERETIC-1
    Too expensive when you cheap out on a 85C primary cap.
    Reply
  • below
    I had bought one of them a few weeks ago and after installing in bitfenix portal case it has start to randomly make noises. I had rebuild my block two times just to make sure that there is nothing except PSU fan itself making that noise. The noise is comparably with very old HDD's or even Floppy crunching, its super annoying and only appears in PSU working state (when fan at the bottom) and mostly on high load, also noise could be very loud

    Also I have found some review on Spanish (I think) from amazon about this PSU and customer have exactly the same issue, so looks like it could be design problem.
    This PSU is a winner of most comparisons an reviews everywhere and I very dissapointed that none of reviewers couldn't find such awfull issue for quiet PSU.

    Also it should be a shame for company named 'be quiet' that it's 'silent wings' in that PSU making that horrible noises.
    Reply