Raidmax Monster RX-700AT Power Supply Review

Reviews
By Aris Mpitziopoulos
published

Raidmax is the first company to utilize Andyson's new Titanium platform with its Monster RX-700AT PSU. This is a semi-modular unit with a double ball-bearing fan and Japanese capacitors, promising high performance and exceptional efficiency.

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Load Regulation, Hold-Up Time And Inrush Current

To learn more about our PSU tests and methodology, please check out How We Test Power Supply Units. 
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EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2
Seasonic SS-750KM3

Primary Rails And 5VSB Load Regulation

Load Regulation testing is detailed here.

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Hold-Up Time

Our hold-up time tests are described in detail here.

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Not only is the RX-700AT's hold-up time lower than 17ms, but its power-good signal drops after the rails go out of spec. This is a troubling issue to have.

Inrush Current

For details on our inrush current testing, please click here.

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Inrush current is very high with both voltage inputs. Raidmax should add an NTC thermistor and a bypass relay to bring our result down during the PSU's cold start-up.

Load Regulation And Efficiency Measurements

The first set of tests reveals the stability of the voltage rails and the PSU's efficiency. The applied load equals (approximately) 10 to 110 percent of the maximum load the supply can handle, in increments of 10 percentage points.

We conducted two additional tests. During the first, we stressed the two minor rails (5V and 3.3V) with a high load, while the load at +12V was only 0.10A. This test reveals whether a PSU is Haswell-ready or not. In the second test, we determined the maximum load the +12V rail could handle with minimal load on the minor rails.

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Test #12V5V3.3V5VSBDC/AC (Watts)EfficiencyFan Speed (RPM)Noise (dB[A])Temps (In/Out)PF/AC Volts
13.947A1.973A1.975A0.986A69.7689.62%58022.038.26 °C0.921
12.204V5.071V3.339V5.062V77.8440.23 °C115.1V
28.929A2.951A2.966A1.185A139.7292.81%60523.538.90 °C0.961
12.194V5.069V3.334V5.059V150.5441.29 °C115.1V
314.264A3.455A3.482A1.381A209.8793.30%86032.339.43 °C0.975
12.184V5.066V3.328V5.057V224.9442.16 °C115.1V
419.598A3.947A3.972A1.580A279.7493.26%109535.339.88 °C0.981
12.174V5.063V3.321V5.052V299.9542.97 °C115.1V
524.607A4.941A4.978A1.779A349.7592.86%136540.340.52 °C0.982
12.162V5.061V3.313V5.049V376.6344.36 °C115.1V
629.611A5.929A5.990A1.980A419.6592.08%165045.041.82 °C0.985
12.153V5.058V3.306V5.046V455.7446.15 °C115.1V
734.641A6.926A7.009A2.179A489.6791.65%165045.042.49 °C0.988
12.141V5.055V3.295V5.043V534.3147.25 °C115.1V
839.678A7.912A8.039A2.379A559.6291.11%165045.043.29 °C0.990
12.129V5.053V3.283V5.042V614.2048.62 °C115.1V
945.150A8.420A8.586A2.380A629.6990.59%165045.044.23 °C0.991
12.117V5.050V3.272V5.040V695.0950.02 °C115.1V
1050.589A8.917A9.103A2.481A699.5390.01%165045.045.62 °C0.992
12.104V5.047V3.262V5.038V777.2051.83 °C115.1V
1156.436A8.919A9.128A2.480A769.4489.45%165045.046.94 °C0.992
12.089V5.046V3.253V5.036V860.2453.63 °C115.1V
CL10.099A12.010A12.005A0.003A101.6887.50%165045.044.94 °C0.947
12.203V5.063V3.303V5.100V116.2149.08 °C115.1V
CL258.290A1.003A1.003A1.001A718.8390.26%165045.046.47 °C0.992
12.102V5.053V3.280V5.044V796.3752.99 °C115.1V

Load regulation is tight at +12V and 5V, satisfactory at 3.3V and super tight at 5VSB. As far as efficiency goes, the RX-700AT meets the Titanium requirements at 20 percent and full load, comes close to the 90 percent mark under 10 percent load and is further off with 50 percent load. Obviously, a high ambient temperature is the main culprit preventing higher efficiency scores. Nonetheless, the PSU has absolutely no problem delivering more than its full power at 47 °C.

The fan profile is aggressive, and in most of the load tests the fan spins at top speed. It's only during the first two tests, with 10 percent and 20 percent load, that the fan is inaudible. Given this unit's high efficiency, we believe that the fan profile should be much more relaxed.

Aris Mpitziopoulos
Contributing Editor

Aris Mpitziopoulos is a Contributing Editor at Tom's Hardware US, covering PSUs.

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43 Comments Comment from the forums
  • vladm007
    You can see the level of faith Raidmax has on the quality by having a 2 years warranty.
    Reply
  • g-unit1111
    17870964 said:
    You can see the level of faith Raidmax has on the quality by having a 2 years warranty.

    Yeah that's kind of a deal breaker. :lol:
    Reply
  • turkey3_scratch
    Another unit cheating on the PWR_OK tests. I'm sick of this crap. Also, those caps on the modular board don't look like Chemi-Con polymers, they look like electrolytics (not that it matters, I'm just questioning if you made a wording error). I also don't like the lack of a thermistor at all. That's some really high inrush current. They could have dished out some cash for one and a relay. I also think the warranty needs increased, but realistically it should last a lot longer than 2 years.
    Reply
  • powernod
    17871369 said:
    Another unit cheating on the PWR_OK tests. I'm sick of this crap. Also, those caps on the modular board don't look like Chemi-Con polymers, they look like electrolytics (not that it matters, I'm just questioning if you made a wording error). I also don't like the lack of a thermistor at all. That's some really high inrush current. They could have dished out some cash for one and a relay. I also think the warranty needs increased, but realistically it should last a lot longer than 2 years.

    Exactly my thoughts! ;)
    Failure at Power_OK signal & huge amount of inrush current = Deal-breaker for me :pfff:
    Reply
  • Aris_Mp
    if they provide a 5-year warranty and work on the price it has potential. The inrush current is an easy fix with a relay-bypass relay, however the lower than the required hold-up time isn't so easy addressable. A larger bulk cap will need more Amps to charge and more Amps lead to increase power losses, so efficiency will take a hit.
    Reply
  • basroil
    Very close to be very good, and then it fails at the holdup time... looks like there's still only two real PSU manufacturers (seasonic and superflower)
    Reply
  • Sakkura
    Why would anyone wonder why Raidmax only has a 2-year warranty? With the junk they've released in the past, it's a miracle they provide any warranty at all.
    Reply
  • g-unit1111
    17872208 said:
    if they provide a 5-year warranty and work on the price it has potential. The inrush current is an easy fix with a relay-bypass relay, however the lower than the required hold-up time isn't so easy addressable. A larger bulk cap will need more Amps to charge and more Amps lead to increase power losses, so efficiency will take a hit.

    I think any warranty above 5 years is kind of redundant. In 7 or 10 years you won't have that PSU anyways since you'll be replacing it with something new to keep up with new tech. 5 years I would say is about the length of time a warranty should be.
    Reply
  • turkey3_scratch
    17872463 said:
    Very close to be very good, and then it fails at the holdup time... looks like there's still only two real PSU manufacturers (seasonic and superflower)

    Superflower cheats on holdup time on various units. Look at the Leadex Gold 550. The 650 G2 also is a problem most likely, and the 750 G2.
    Reply
  • firefoxx04
    I've used their cheaper units 3 times. One failed, however, it's environment was a worst case scenario. Very hot Michigan summer with no ac, dusty room, and almost always running the system with 100% cpu and gpu load.
    Reply