A Look Inside And Component Analysis
Parts Description
Before proceeding with this page, we strongly encourage you to a look at our PSUs 101 article, which provides valuable information about PSUs and their operation, allowing you to better understand the components we're about to discuss. Our main tools for disassembling PSUs are a Thermaltronics soldering and rework station, and a Hakko 808 desoldering gun.
| Primary Side | |
|---|---|
| Transient Filter | 4x Y caps, 2x X caps, 2x CM chokes, 1x MOV |
| Inrush Protection | NTC Thermistor & Relay |
| Bridge Rectifier(s) | 1x |
| APFC MOSFETs | 2x Infineon IPI50R140CP (550V, 15A @ 100 °C, 0.14 ohm) |
| APFC Boost Diode | 1x Cree C3D10065A (650V, 10A @ 153 °C) |
| Hold-up Cap(s) | 2x Nippon Chemi-Con (400V, 390uF & 330uF or 720uF combined, 2000h @ 105 °C, KMR) |
| Main Switchers | 2x Infineon IPI50R140CP (550V, 15A @ 100 °C, 0.14 ohm) |
| APFC Controller | Infineon NCP1653A |
| Switching Controller | AA9013 |
| Topology | Primary side: Half-Bridge & LLC Resonant Converter Secondary side: Synchronous Rectification & DC-DC converters |
| Secondary Side | |
| +12V MOSFETs | 6x Infineon IPP023N04N G (40V, 90A @ 100 °C, 2.3 mohm) |
| 5V & 3.3V | DC-DC Converters: 8x Infineon IPD060N03L G PWM Controller: 2x NCP1587A |
| Filtering Capacitors | Electrolytics: Nippon Chemi-Con (105 °C, KY, KZE, KRG) Polymers: Nippon Chemi-Con |
| Supervisor IC | AA9013 & LM324ADG |
| Fan Model | Globe Fan RL4Z B1402512HH (140mm, 12V, 0.5A, 1800 RPM, 135.74 CFM, 36.7 dB[A], DBB) |
| 5VSB Circuit | |
| Rectifier | 1x Mospec S10C60C SBR |
| Standby PWM Controller | 29604 |
This unit's Super Flower Leadex platform is among the best available. It offers good reliability along with high performance. And thanks to its minimal energy losses, it can be cooled efficiently with a low-speed fan. On the primary side, a half-bridge topology is used along with an LLC resonant converter that provides almost lossless switching. On the secondary side, a pair of VRMs generate the minor rails, while the +12V rail is rectified by a number of FETs. All capacitors, both polymer and electrolytic, are provided by Nippon Chemi-Con. This helps the unit's reliability and allows EVGA to offer a 10-year warranty without worrying too much about an increased number of RMAs after several years.
The small PCB behind the AC receptacle doesn't host any EMI filtering components. Those are all installed on the main PCB and include four Y caps, a pair of X caps, two CM chokes and an MOV. There is, of course, an NTC thermistor for protection against large inrush currents, along with an electromagnetic relay responsible for bypassing it once the start-up phase finishes.
The single bridge rectifier is installed on the APFC heat sink; its markings are on the hidden side, so we couldn't identify it. In the APFC converter, two Infineon IPI50R140CP FETs are used, along with a single Cree C3D10065A boost diode. The bulk caps are a pair of Chemi-Cons with 390uF and 330uF capacities, so their combined capacity is 720uF. Normally, the capacity of the bulk caps should exceed 800uF to allow for a higher hold-up time, but this would have a negative impact on efficiency since larger APFC caps need larger pulses of current in order to keep their charge and naturally this results in greater energy losses. We would also like to see bulk caps rated for higher voltages, since 400V comes close to the APFC's 380V DC bus voltage.
A vertical daughterboard surrounded by black insulating tape hosts the APFC controller, an NCP1653A IC provided by On Semiconductor.
The main switchers, two Infineon IPI50R140CP FETs, are arranged into a half-bridge topology. An LLC resonant converter helps minimize the switching energy losses, providing a significant efficiency boost. The LLC resonant controller is a proprietary Super Flower IC with model number AA9013. The same IC most likely handles the PSU's protection features, and on the same PCB, we also find an LM324ADG quad op-amp.
A synchronous design is used on the secondary side, so the +12V rail's generation is handled by six Infineon IPP023N04N G FETs. Two small heat sinks cool the +12V FETs. Among them, several electrolytic Chemi-Con caps (all rated at 105 °C and mostly KZE-series caps) are used for ripple filtering. There's also a single polymer Chemi-Con cap in the same area.
A couple of voltage regulation modules (VRMs) generate the minor rails. Each VRM uses four of Infineon IPD060N03L G FETs, along with a NCP1587A PWM controller. Metal shields above the FETs provide EMI protection.
The fan controller's PCB uses an LM324ADG op-amp. We applied lots of glue to the PCB's base since it can easily break once you try to detach the fan and ECO switch headers. Next to the fan control PCB is the usual Mospec S10C60C SBR, used on most Leadex platforms, responsible for regulating the 5VSB rail. The standby PWM controller is a small IC with a "29604" marking. There is no info available on this IC.
On the front of the modular PCB, several Chemi-Con polymer and electrolytic caps provide extra ripple filtering to the rails. The electrolytic caps belong to Chemi-Con's KRG line limited to 1000-hour lifespans at 105 °C. However, because this is a low-stress area, you shouldn't run into any problems with them. Still, it'd be nice if the company used higher-quality electrolytic caps here.
Soldering quality is quite good. We did spot some component leads that should be shorter, though.
Super Flower isn't a fan of Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) fans, even though the competition uses them in their high-end solutions. Double ball-bearing fans are still good though, and given the Leadex platform's aggressive semi-passive mode, they'll undoubtedly last a long time.
The fan used in this PSU comes from Globe Fan and its model number is RL4Z B1402512HH (140mm, 12V, 0.5A, 1800 RPM, 135.74 CFM, 36.7 dB[A]). It typically spins slowly due to a relaxed profile. We had to push the 850 P2 very hard at close to 49 °C ambient in order to make the fan spin at full speed.