Performance, Performance Per Dollar And Noise Ratings
Performance Rating
The following chart shows the total performance rating of the PSU, comparing it with other units we have tested in the past. To be more specific, the tested unit is shown as 100 percent, and every other unit's performance is shown relative to it.
Compared to more advanced and more expensive platforms, the Photon-1200 PSU doesn't stand a chance. It registers a much lower overall performance score. The truth is that if you spend $30 to $40 more, you can get a much better-performing unit, which might also be significantly quieter than Rosewill's noisy offering.
Performance Per Dollar
The following chart may be the most interesting to many of you because it depicts the unit's performance-per-dollar score. We looked up the current price of each PSU on popular online shops and used those prices and all relative performance numbers to calculate the index. Note that all of the numbers in the following graph are normalized by the rated power of each PSU.
Despite its good price, a low performance score doesn't allow the Photon-1200 to achieve a higher performance-per-dollar ratio.
Noise Rating
The graph below depicts the cooling fan's average noise over the PSU's entire operating range, with an ambient temperature between 28 and 30 °C (82 to 86 °F).
The Photon-1200 manages to surpass even Seasonic's noisy units, which use even smaller-diameter fans. This is quite an achievement, and we mean this in the most negative way possible.