FSP Dagger 600W SFX PSU Review

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.

Ripple Measurements

To learn how we measure ripple, please click here.

The following table includes the ripple levels we measured on the SDA600's rails. The limits, according to the ATX specification, are 120mV (+12V) and 50mV (5V, 3.3V and 5VSB).

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Test12V5V3.3V5VSBPass/Fail
10% Load17.4mV21.4mV26.6mV10.6mVPass
20% Load19.3mV20.5mV29.5mV11.4mVPass
30% Load25.1mV22.7mV34.1mV11.5mVPass
40% Load21.2mV23.3mV38.9mV11.4mVPass
50% Load22.6mV25.6mV43.7mV11.8mVPass
60% Load22.0mV27.5mV49.6mV16.1mVPass
70% Load23.0mV29.2mV54.9mV19.7mVFail
80% Load23.2mV30.0mV62.5mV17.3mVFail
90% Load27.1mV33.2mV63.7mV18.1mVFail
100% Load27.5mV35.1mV68.2mV20.7mVFail
110% Load27.9mV36.6mV72.6mV21.6mVFail
Cross-Load 118.6mV21.0mV33.0mV6.1mVPass
Cross-Load 226.2mV24.5mV72.6mV17.5mVFail

It looks like FSP paid great attention to ripple suppression at +12V (the most important rail), but totally ignored the 3.3V rail. From the 70% load test and beyond, it goes out of control.

We're disappointed to see a high-end SFX unit unable to keep its ripple within the ATX spec's limits, which are already set very high. We had a couple of SDA600s in our possession, so we tested both of them to check for a possible bad sample. Unfortunately, the second unit's performance was identical. That means the 3.3V module has a problem FSP needs to fix.

Ripple Oscilloscope Screenshots

The following oscilloscope screenshots illustrate the AC 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


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.

  • chumly
    ...and I'll stick with Seasonic or Corsair.
    Reply
  • DarkSable
    I won't. FSP is a known OEM; arguably the second greatest on the market. The original Silverstone power supplies were made by FSP, while the new ones and Corsair's offerings are made by Great Well, which although doing a good job on Corsair's SFX psus, is not known for their reliability.
    Reply