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Ripple Measurements
To learn how we measure ripple, please click here.
The following table includes the ripple levels we measured on the CX450’s rails. The limits, according to the ATX specification, are 120mV (+12V) and 50mV (5V, 3.3V and 5VSB).
Corsair CX450 - CWT
| Test | 12V | 5V | 3.3V | 5VSB | Pass/Fail |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10% Load | 15.3mV | 8.3mV | 9.2mV | 6.2mV | Pass |
| 20% Load | 20.0mV | 8.2mV | 9.9mV | 7.0mV | Pass |
| 30% Load | 19.2mV | 8.2mV | 10.0mV | 7.3mV | Pass |
| 40% Load | 19.6mV | 9.2mV | 10.5mV | 7.8mV | Pass |
| 50% Load | 32.5mV | 9.1mV | 11.4mV | 8.2mV | Pass |
| 60% Load | 32.3mV | 8.5mV | 12.0mV | 8.5mV | Pass |
| 70% Load | 33.9mV | 10.4mV | 17.6mV | 8.7mV | Pass |
| 80% Load | 28.3mV | 11.3mV | 15.6mV | 11.5mV | Pass |
| 90% Load | 29.0mV | 12.3mV | 16.1mV | 12.1mV | Pass |
| 100% Load | 30.6mV | 12.6mV | 17.0mV | 14.1mV | Pass |
| 110% Load | 32.1mV | 13.5mV | 17.7mV | 16.3mV | Pass |
| Cros-Load 1 | 26.1mV | 7.3mV | 11.0mV | 8.7mV | Pass |
| Cross-Load 2 | 33.8mV | 13.7mV | 16.1mV | 12.2mV | Pass |
Corsair CX450 - Great Wall
| Test | 12V | 5V | 3.3V | 5VSB | Pass/Fail |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10% Load | 22.8mV | 7.4mV | 7.1mV | 6.5mV | Pass |
| 20% Load | 35.3mV | 8.8mV | 8.3mV | 7.0mV | Pass |
| 30% Load | 54.7mV | 10.0mV | 9.2mV | 7.6mV | Pass |
| 40% Load | 41.7mV | 10.6mV | 10.5mV | 8.1mV | Pass |
| 50% Load | 37.1mV | 12.1mV | 11.5mV | 9.0mV | Pass |
| 60% Load | 35.7mV | 14.4mV | 12.3mV | 9.8mV | Pass |
| 70% Load | 35.3mV | 14.8mV | 14.0mV | 11.1mV | Pass |
| 80% Load | 36.6mV | 14.7mV | 14.9mV | 12.8mV | Pass |
| 90% Load | 39.0mV | 15.6mV | 16.7mV | 14.6mV | Pass |
| 100% Load | 44.2mV | 17.9mV | 18.1mV | 14.9mV | Pass |
| 110% Load | 48.1mV | 20.0mV | 18.6mV | 20.1mV | Pass |
| Cross-Load 1 | 54.1mV | 13.9mV | 15.5mV | 10.7mV | Pass |
| Cross-Load 2 | 45.2mV | 14.8mV | 13.7mV | 15.7mV | Pass |
Comparison Graphs
The Great Wall-based unit's minor rails performed well. But ripple at +12V was higher than what we measured from CWT's model. That latter design served up excellent ripple suppression on all of its rails. To be sure, you don't often see 31 millivolt (mV) of ripple under full load at 47°C from a budget-oriented PSU.
Ripple Oscilloscope Screenshots - Great Wall
The following oscilloscope screenshots illustrate the AC (alternating current) ripple and noise registered on the main rails (+12V, 5V, 3.3V and 5VSB). The bigger the fluctuations on the screen, the bigger the ripple/noise. We set 0.01 V/Div (each vertical division/box equals 0.01V) as the standard for all measurements.
Ripple at Full Load
Ripple at 110 Percent Load
Ripple at Cross-Load 1
Ripple at Cross-Load 2
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