Ultra High-End PSU Roundup
by Christoph Katzer on October 22, 2007 6:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
CM 1250W Efficiency, Temperatures, Fan Speed and Acoustics
The efficiency is very good, and even with lower inputs of just 90VAC it generally stays above 80% (except at maximum load). With 86% it reached its highest point with 230VAC and 620W of load. Overall this is a very good performance by the Real Power Pro.
Even though the heat sinks are quite massive the temperature still reaches up to 81°C, which is very high. The difference here is that all components of the secondary stage are connected to the one heat sink; the PCP&C Turbo Cool has several components with their own small heat sink and therefore these weren't counted into the main heat sink temperatures. Both graphs reach slightly above 30°C over the ambient temperature which means if you have a cooler environment you will have a cooler power supply. This is different from what we have seen with other power supplies where ambient temperature plays less of a role.
The graphs of the fan speed and the acoustics speak a clear language which may not be as visible on the other graphs. With a hot environment and a half load of 600W, the fan is already at its highest speed. Under room temperature the fan slowly increases speed until it just reaches the fastest RPM with full load applied. The produced noise is of course clearly auditable since more than 1000W need to be cooled down in some way. It's simply impossible to have a quiet (let alone silent) 1000W+ power supply fit into a reasonably small chassis.
The efficiency is very good, and even with lower inputs of just 90VAC it generally stays above 80% (except at maximum load). With 86% it reached its highest point with 230VAC and 620W of load. Overall this is a very good performance by the Real Power Pro.
Even though the heat sinks are quite massive the temperature still reaches up to 81°C, which is very high. The difference here is that all components of the secondary stage are connected to the one heat sink; the PCP&C Turbo Cool has several components with their own small heat sink and therefore these weren't counted into the main heat sink temperatures. Both graphs reach slightly above 30°C over the ambient temperature which means if you have a cooler environment you will have a cooler power supply. This is different from what we have seen with other power supplies where ambient temperature plays less of a role.
The graphs of the fan speed and the acoustics speak a clear language which may not be as visible on the other graphs. With a hot environment and a half load of 600W, the fan is already at its highest speed. Under room temperature the fan slowly increases speed until it just reaches the fastest RPM with full load applied. The produced noise is of course clearly auditable since more than 1000W need to be cooled down in some way. It's simply impossible to have a quiet (let alone silent) 1000W+ power supply fit into a reasonably small chassis.
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alilxmas - Sunday, May 10, 2009 - link
At the end the reviewer had no personal preference, kinda left it off in mid sentence there... at least to me.Anyway some people do have to get the latest and do need a i7 CPU, multiple GPU's, slight OC, 6 hard drives, 3 monitors, etc.
Heres some things I do besides gaming,
Encoding videos from about 6-8 hours a day recorded footage sent from people who drop off anything from their safari trip to a wedding converted to dvd, formatted for their DSi or i-touch.
Processing RAW files (about 20mb per pic)
3-D Animation and models
Also for the air problem a slight mod can fix almost anything.
alilxmas - Sunday, May 10, 2009 - link
At the end the reviewer had no personal preference, kinda left it off in mid sentence there... at least to me.Anyway some people do have to get the latest and do need a i7 CPU, multiple GPU's, slight OC, 6 hard drives, 3 monitors, etc.
Heres some things I do besides gaming,
Encoding videos from about 6-8 hours a day recorded footage sent from people who drop off anything from their safari trip to converted to dvd, formatted for their DSi or i-touch.
Processing RAW files
3-D Animation and models
Also for the air problem a slight mod can fix almost anything.
Christoph Katzer - Tuesday, November 6, 2007 - link
Housten: We have Ripple, please confirm we have Ripple... the world makes sense again!TheOtherRizzo - Tuesday, October 30, 2007 - link
The efficiency graphs don't start before 20%. 20% is 250W. That's a lot more than an average computer uses on idle. So the tests don't tell me what these "Hi end" PSU's will do to my power bill and heat/noise output.strikeback03 - Tuesday, October 30, 2007 - link
The "average computer" also does not need a 1200W+ PSU. Look at Jarred's power usage numbers from the Blackbird test (linked above) - used 370W at idle and 740 at load.Fallen Kell - Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - link
The power cord connection on the Cooler Master Real Power Pro is NOT proprietary! That is a standard IEC-320-C19/C20 power connector. It is typically used for high power draw situations, (i.e. like 208V 20amp circuits, not your standard home 110V 15amp). This is actually a good thing for use in this situation. At full load, and the 80% efficiency associated with it, this power supply will need 14amps on your standard 110V outlet. That is not something your standard home wiring and sockets are designed to do. Many will only be rated for 10-12 amps per socket, 15amps for the entire circuit! By using a different connector like this, it will force people to use the appropriate rated wire and sockets, because this beast will draw more power then that basic home wiring can dish out without melting down and becoming a fire hazard.strikeback03 - Tuesday, October 30, 2007 - link
Didn't mention if the wall connector is different. However using the different connector at the PSU will make it harder to use an inadequate power cable from wall to PSU. The Infiniti 650W PSUs we used in a few recent builds had larger-than-normal power cords, I would imagine a 1200W PSU needs a cable that is larger yet.JarredWalton - Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - link
Ummm... the socket on the back of the PSU is different. The main connector on the other end is still standard, AFAIK.Bozo Galora - Monday, October 22, 2007 - link
heres another review of the same PCP&C PSUhttp://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=458&type=...">http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=458&type=...
here he gives volatges given at both at PSU and at ATX connector with a discussion about it.
No other in depth PSU reviews show the lowering degree of V with load that yours consistently do for some reason.
Christoph Katzer - Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - link
Just have a look at the loading diagram, I am testing strictly according to Intel specs and have ~20A on 3.3 and ~24A on 5V. There I see only ~16-17 amps on both. That the voltage regulation works better with less load should be quite clear. Compare the loads and not only voltage.