Protection Features
Check out our PSUs 101 article to learn more about PSU protection features.
OCP (Cold @ 30°C) |
12V: 99.6A (140.68%), 12.075V |
OCP (Hot @ 43°C) |
12V: 99.6A (140.68%), 12.083V |
OPP (Cold @ 31°C) |
1202.85W (141.51%) |
OPP (Hot @ 44°C) |
1203.66W (141.61%) |
OTP |
✓ (167°C @ 12V Heat Sink) |
SCP |
12V to Earth: ✓ |
PWR_OK |
Proper operation |
NLO |
✓ |
SIP |
Surge: MOV |
This unit's OCP triggering points are very close under both hot and normal conditions, and the same goes for OPP. Although the 12V triggering point is above the 130-135% region, load regulation and ripple suppression are fine, a clear sign that the platform can handle the additional load without any issues. OTP is reasonably set, and the other protection features we evaluated also work well.
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.
No problems here since the 3.3V rail is always lower than the other two.
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
Efficiency Graph
Ripple Graphs
The lower the power supply's ripple, the more stable the system will be and the less stress will be applied to its components.
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).
The hottest parts are the main transformer and the 12V heat sinks. Temperatures are not that high given the applied load, the operating conditions, and the lack of active cooling. It would be ideal, though, if the polymer caps on the VRMs were further away from the 12V heat sinks, as these can get quite hot under tough conditions and high loads.
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