BitFenix Formula Gold 450W PSU Review: Compact, Efficient, And Near-Silent

Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

Load Regulation, Hold-Up Time & Inrush Current

To learn more about our PSU tests and methodology, please check out How We Test Power Supply Units. 

Primary Rails And 5VSB Load Regulation

Load Regulation testing is detailed here.

Hold-Up Time

Our hold-up time tests are described in detail here.

Latest Videos FromTom's Hardware

Measured hold-up time was over 17ms, while the power-good signal's hold-up time came close to 16ms. Most important, it was accurate.

Inrush Current

For details on our inrush current testing, please click here.

The inrush current was low with 115V and a bit high with 230V input.

Load Regulation And Efficiency Measurements

The first set of tests reveals the stability of the voltage rails and the BF450G’s efficiency. The applied load equals (approximately) 10 to 110 percent of the PSU's maximum load in increments of 10 percentage points.

We conducted two additional tests. During the first, we stressed the two minor rails (5V and 3.3V) with a high load, while the load at +12V was only 0.1A. This test reveals whether a PSU is compatible with Intel's C6/C7 sleep states or not. In the second test, we determined the maximum load the +12V rail could handle with minimal load on the minor rails.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Test # 12V 5V 3.3V 5VSB DC/AC (Watts) Efficiency Fan Speed PSU Noise Temps (In/Out) PF/AC Volts
1 1.944A 1.983A 1.981A 0.985A 44.893 82.577% 537 RPM 10.3 dB(A) 38.21°C 0.936
11.978V 5.043V 3.334V 5.079V 54.365 44.74°C 115.32V
2 4.885A 2.976A 2.971A 1.184A 89.393 87.655% 537 RPM 10.3 dB(A) 38.67°C 0.972
11.973V 5.041V 3.333V 5.068V 101.983 45.89°C 115.26V
3 8.229A 3.473A 3.454A 1.384A 134.497 89.423% 537 RPM 10.3 dB(A) 38.93°C 0.982
11.968V 5.040V 3.332V 5.058V 150.406 47.48°C 115.20V
4 11.576A 3.970A 3.964A 1.585A 179.698 89.925% 537 RPM 10.3 dB(A) 39.55°C 0.986
11.963V 5.040V 3.331V 5.048V 199.831 49.23°C 115.13V
5 14.595A 4.963A 4.955A 1.787A 225.029 90.080% 537 RPM 10.3 dB(A) 40.18°C 0.989
11.957V 5.039V 3.331V 5.038V 249.811 51.38°C 115.16V
6 17.546A 5.957A 5.946A 1.990A 269.524 89.756% 537 RPM 10.3 dB(A) 40.50°C 0.990
11.952V 5.038V 3.330V 5.027V 300.284 54.09°C 115.09V
7 20.566A 6.952A 6.937A 2.194A 314.836 88.872% 678 RPM 15.3 dB(A) 41.83°C 0.990
11.948V 5.036V 3.330V 5.015V 354.258 56.42°C 115.02V
8 23.591A 7.947A 7.932A 2.399A 360.148 88.233% 854 RPM 21.2 dB(A) 42.67°C 0.990
11.942V 5.035V 3.329V 5.004V 408.177 57.83°C 114.95V
9 27.018A 8.446A 8.414A 2.401A 405.035 87.870% 1182 RPM 31.1 dB(A) 43.34°C 0.990
11.937V 5.034V 3.328V 4.999V 460.950 58.67°C 114.99V
10 30.384A 8.945A 8.930A 2.505A 449.768 87.287% 1346 RPM 34.3 dB(A) 45.21°C 0.990
11.932V 5.032V 3.327V 4.992V 515.274 60.92°C 114.92V
11 34.153A 8.948A 8.931A 2.507A 494.579 86.736% 1630 RPM 39.4 dB(A) 46.29°C 0.991
11.927V 5.032V 3.326V 4.988V 570.212 62.27°C 114.85V
CL1 0.738A 12.001A 12.000A 0.000A 109.284 84.933% 545 RPM 10.9 dB(A) 43.59°C 0.978
11.960V 5.035V 3.336V 5.082V 128.671 55.49°C 115.22V
CL2 37.514A 1.001A 1.000A 1.000A 461.365 88.330% 1346 RPM 34.3 dB(A) 45.13°C 0.991
11.941V 5.037V 3.328V 5.041V 522.320 58.13°C 114.92V

Load regulation on all of the rails was tight, and we like that this PSU features quiet operation even under the taxing conditions of our test bench. It took cranking the load up to 110% of the BF450G's maximum-rated capacity and dialing the temperature beyond 46°C to make this PSU's fan spin at full speed. Even then, noise output remained under 40 dB(A). Although we ran our tests at grueling ambient temperatures, BitFenix's BF450G showed that it deserves its 80 PLUS Gold certification.

As we noted with the BF650G, our power factor readings were a little on the low side. CWT should tune its APFC converter for better performance.

MORE: Best Power Supplies

MORE: How We Test Power Supplies

MORE: All Power Supply Content

Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

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

  • 2Be_or_Not2Be
    Nice - I really like how quiet these models are running.

    Of course, it's also funny that the Formula Gold model is less noisy on average than its "Whisper" mate.
    Reply
  • Dark Lord of Tech
    Excellent , thanks Aris!
    Reply