Ripple Measurements
To learn how we measure ripple, please click here.
The following table includes the ripple levels we measured on the SX550's rails. The limits, according to the ATX specification, are 120 mV (+12V) and 50 mV (5V, 3.3V and 5VSB).
Test | 12V | 5V | 3.3V | 5VSB | Pass/Fail |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
10% Load | 12.1 mV | 9.7 mV | 9.1 mV | 7.6 mV | Pass |
20% Load | 32.5 mV | 14.0 mV | 10.3 mV | 8.9 mV | Pass |
30% Load | 29.0 mV | 13.8 mV | 10.0 mV | 10.1 mV | Pass |
40% Load | 29.3 mV | 15.7 mV | 10.7 mV | 10.9 mV | Pass |
50% Load | 31.8 mV | 18.0 mV | 12.0 mV | 11.8 mV | Pass |
60% Load | 35.0 mV | 18.2 mV | 11.6 mV | 12.6 mV | Pass |
70% Load | 36.4 mV | 20.4 mV | 11.7 mV | 13.5 mV | Pass |
80% Load | 37.7 mV | 22.0 mV | 13.0 mV | 14.2 mV | Pass |
90% Load | 44.0 mV | 24.3 mV | 13.7 mV | 15.5 mV | Pass |
100% Load | 58.9 mV | 25.8 mV | 15.1 mV | 16.7 mV | Pass |
110% Load | 95.8 mV | 29.3 mV | 17.1 mV | 18.8 mV | Pass |
Cross-Load 1 | 36.4 mV | 17.6 mV | 13.5 mV | 13.5 mV | Pass |
Cross-Load 2 | 57.8 mV | 25.7 mV | 15.7 mV | 20.5 mV | Pass |
Ripple suppression is much better than SilverStone's SX600-G, made by Enhance Electronics. Compared to the Corsair SF units, which are manufactured by Great Wall, the SX550 trails when it comes to the +12V rail's ripple performance. On top of that, as you can see in the table above, with 110 percent load the ripple performance of the +12V rail deteriorates significantly. It looks like 550 W is close to this platform's limit.
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 0.01V/Div (each vertical division/box equals 0.01V) as the standard for all measurements.