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Protection Features
Check out our PSUs 101 article to learn more about PSU protection features.
Protection Features | |
OCP | 12V: 87.8A (141.61%), 12.027V |
OPP | 1069.34W (141.63%) |
OTP PSU / Connect Module | ✓ (132°C @ 12V Heat Sink) |
SCP | 12V: ✓ |
PWR_OK | Proper Operation |
NLO | ✓ |
SIP | Surge: MOV |
The OCP and OPP triggering points are set quite high. This might be a capable platform, but we would prefer to see within 130% thresholds. On the other hand, the over-temperature protection is configured correctly in both the power supply and the Connect module.
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 is always lower than the other two, so there is no problem here.
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 are kept at normal levels.
We wanted to see how the Connect module copes with the heat that the DC-DC converters generate, under very high loads, so we applied 100W combined on the minor rails for 30 minutes, and we took several IR images.
We pushed the VRMs of the Connect module hard. Still, the temperatures at its internals were kept at low levels, proving that you won't have any overheating issues in any real-life usage scenarios.
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