Part 1: Four Cheap 80 PLUS Bronze Power Supplies, Reviewed

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Power supply manufacturers condition us to think that efficiency is the one variable you need to pay the most attention to. But we have a suite of tests that more thoroughly taxes PSUs. Can these four inexpensive units under $70 make it through unscathed?

Chieftec Nitro 2 85+ BPS-550C2: Measurements

Efficiency According to the 80 PLUS Spec

Efficiency by Load

Chieftec's 550 W PSU comes out swinging, proving that spending a little more on a power supply can make a difference in the efficiency measurements. While it's only 80 PLUS Bronze-certified, it satisfies the efficiency requirements without breaking a sweat. In fact, it exceeds the Bronze standard's requirements by about two percentage points in all three categories, coming close to the Silver standard. On top of that, its standby power is the lowest of all test candidates; so is its inrush current. We repeated the inrush current metric several times to be sure, and the outcome did not change.

The hold-up time of the Chieftec PSU is also quite long at well over 20 ms (at 230 V, you're looking at a hold-up time of 24.6 ms without electricity). The ripple and noise values are within spec. They're not excellent, but within the ATX standard, which we consider to be OK. The PSU's sound level is average among the test candidates.

A Close Look at the PCB

After cutting open the riveted enclosure, we figured out that the OEM manufacturer is Channel Well Technology in Taiwan. The input filter is partially located on a separate PCB, adjacent to the mains socket. Here we find two Y capacitors and one X capacitor. Four additional Y capacitors sit on the main PCB, along with another X capacitor, a MOV, and three choke coils. The capacitors are manufactured by Nippon Chemi-Con. The soldering quality is OK.

Patrick Afschar
56 Comments Comment from the forums
  • wolley74
    no love for the EVGA 500B?
    Reply
  • computer_nugget2
    ALWAYS judge a power supply by its weight. especially if its Chinese.
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    11435905 said:
    always judge a power supply by its weight.
    Some Chinese OEMs put rocks, small concrete blocks, lumps of steel or other stuff like that disguised as a transformer with bits of wire that aren't connected to anything to trick people into believing their heavier PSUs are better.

    So weight alone is not a reliable indicator.

    Also, at high frequencies and high efficiencies, the size of inductors, capacitors, transformers and heatsinks along with the associated weight shrink. While light weight and high quality may rarely be seen together, they certainly are not mutually exclusive.
    Reply
  • dudewitbow
    11435841 said:
    no love for the EVGA 500B?

    a good chunk of Tom's physical hardware reviews generally are conducted in europe. This goes for a good handful of the gpu tests as well. EVGA rarely ever shows up on review sites because of it(and possibly due to lack of EVGA response to a hardware review pitch)

    Reply
  • computer_nugget2
    11435944 said:
    11435905 said:
    always judge a power supply by its weight.
    Some Chinese OEMs put rocks, small concrete blocks, lumps of steel or other stuff like that disguised as a transformer with bits of wire that aren't connected to anything to trick people into believing their heavier PSUs are better.

    So weight alone is not a reliable indicator.

    Also, at high frequencies and high efficiencies, the size of inductors, capacitors, transformers and heatsinks along with the associated weight shrink. While light weight and high quality may rarely be seen together, they certainly are not mutually exclusive.

    do you have pics to prove this?
    Reply
  • envy14tpe
    This is PART 1. Which means more PSUs to come, so let's hope for no dumb comments asking why not this PSU or this one...
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    11436142 said:
    This is PART 1. Which means more PSUs to come, so let's hope for no dumb comments asking why not this PSU or this one...

    They have already listed the PSUs for part 2 and I didn't see a part 3 listed. I wonder where the Corsair CX430 is. Its a 85+ Bronze PSU and is $39.99 on Egg right now. Its one of the best entry level PSUs I have actually used as well and compared to other PSUs at the same price point or higher (within 550W and may or may not be 80+ at all) I have seen less of them come back bad.
    Reply
  • razor512
    11435905 said:
    always judge a power supply by its weight.

    While weight is an important factor, overall weight is 100% useless

    for example check out the SIGMA SHARK SP-635

    http://www.ocia.net/reviews/sigma635/page2.shtml

    it is probably one of the heaviest power supplies you will find (with the exception of some of the 1200 watt ones)

    I purchased it a while back and was disappointed at the internals. they used an insanely thick case that made the power supply weigh a lot but the insides were were the result of the owner of the company asking while walking around china, what are the cheapest items we can find on the shenzhen market today.

    (at least the power supply can double as a flail or a boat anchor)
    Reply
  • pyro226
    Hoping to see the CX430 and other corsairs reviewed. I like the little thing since it powers my PC. :D It originally rang a bit when the computer was suspended or at random after a few hours of use, but that went away with age.
    Reply
  • sanilmahambre
    Nice basic testing method
    Reply