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Protection Features
Check out our PSUs 101 article to learn more about PSU protection features.
|
Protection Features | |
|
OCP |
12V: 65A (104.84%), 12.210V |
|
OPP |
909.17W (121.22%) |
|
OTP |
✓ (140°C @ 12V Heat Sink) |
|
SCP |
12V: ✓ |
|
PWR_OK | Proper Operation |
|
NLO |
✓ |
|
SIP |
Surge: ✗ |
The over-current protection at +12V is appropriately set, and the same goes for over-power protection. On the contrary, the OPP on the minor rails is set too high, although this doesn't create any problems.
The major problem here is that there is no surge and inrush current protection in the forms of an MOV and an NTC thermistor, along with its bypass relay.
DC Power Sequencing
According to Intel’s most recent Power Supply Design Guide (revision 1.4), the +12V and 5V outputs must be equal to or greater than the 3.3V rail at all times. Unfortunately, Intel doesn't mention why it is so important to always keep the 3.3V rail's voltage lower than the levels of the other two outputs.
The 3.3V rail's voltage level is always lower than the other two rails.
Cross Load Tests
To generate the following charts, we set our loaders to auto mode through custom-made software before trying more than 25,000 possible load combinations with the +12V, 5V, and 3.3V rails. The deviations in each of the charts below are calculated by taking the nominal values of the rails (12V, 5V, and 3.3V) as point zero. The ambient temperature during testing was between 30 to 32 degrees Celsius (86 to 89.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
Load Regulation Charts
Efficiency Chart
Ripple Charts
The lower the power supply's ripple, the more stable the system will be and less stress will also be applied to its components.
Infrared Images
We apply a half-load for 10 minutes with the PSU's top cover and cooling fan removed before taking photos with a modified FLIR E4 camera able to deliver an IR resolution of 320x240 (76,800 pixels).
The temperatures on the voltage regulation modules go quite high, and this is why the passive operation doesn't last long, once the load on the minor rails exceeds a threshold, even with a minimum load at +12V.
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