Soon At Tom's Hardware: Full-Scale Power Supply Testing

[onethreehill]

Often overlooked, the power supply unit (PSU) plays a crucial role in supplying the PC with stable and sufficient power. Whether you only need a 300W PSU for a modest small form factor box or a 1,200W model for a gaming juggernaut, the quality of your power supply will not only affect the system's performance, but also its longevity.

Bad power can mean early failures...and there are plenty of bad PSUs out there waiting for the unwary. This is why we felt it necessary to start testing PSUs in order for our readers to make better component decisions.

Test equipment plays an important role when evaluating power supplies though, which is why it's such a difficult job to do properly. Only with the help of highly precise measurement instruments can we document the differences between comparable models in an objective and reproducible way. Tom's Hardware performs all of these tests in professional labs, just like the ones found in PSU manufacturing facilities, where we get access to equipment from Chroma. For those new to this space, Chroma is the de facto vendor of PSU testing equipment.

When testing, we measure the following details:

* Standby power consumption at 230V
* Inrush current at 115V and 230V
* Energy efficiency at 20, 50, and 100% of the stated maximum sustained load at 115V and 230V (according to the 80 PLUS consortium's certification)
* Energy efficiency at 25W, 50W, 85W, 300W, and 500W of power draw at 115V and 230V
* Hold Up Time after losing power input at 115V and 230V
* 12V rail overload test at 110% of the specified maximum sustained load
* Short circuit test at 115V and 230V
* Measurement of the temperature difference between intake and exhaust air (maximum delta) at 115V and 230V


In addition to the above mentioned values, Tom's Hardware also takes into account the ergonomics of the PSU and its accessories. This includes features like the the length and design of the cables, cable modularity, and any useful accessories. All important technical data will be presented in a table......

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ment,2657.html

[Jaivan]

IMO Johnnyguru for PSU tests, the guy wrote 3 pages of a review in rhyme.

[MpG]

Looks promising in description, but THG has a rather poor history. Hopefully the execution is good.

[Ket]

Toms offends my scences.

[[XC] gomeler]

Will be interesting to see if they can be as entertaining as Johnny Guru.

Toms offends my scences.

What's a scences? Anglicized plural of sensei?

[RVWinkle]

Does Dr. Tom Pabst still go on insane rants about internet celebrities? That was one of the few things that gave the site any redeeming value.

[Computurd]

gah! toms hardware is for the uninformed masses. the only thing they have that is any good is the gpu charts.

[Klarko]

gah! toms hardware is for the uninformed masses. the only thing they have that is any good is the gpu charts.

Whats a better site then?

[Ket]

Will be interesting to see if they can be as entertaining as Johnny Guru.



What's a scences? Anglicized plural of sensei?

Typo, Senses See? Toms offended them so much I had a brainfart

[Computurd]

well imo:
TweakTown, Bit-Tech, Daily Tech, Anandtech, Hexus.net, (Johnnyguru of course)
but...the best of all is this here news section! others filter out the crap for us

[slaveondope]

well imo:
...the best of all is this here news section! others filter out the crap for us

[p2501]

Whats a better site then?

For PSUs? JonnyGuru and pcper, in that order.

[Ket]

hardware secrets is equally as good as jhonnyguru too

[gojirasan]

Nice, but the results are predictable. Seasonic and Enermax will dominate utterly.

[ExodusC]

I'm still thinking JohnnyGuru. That man blows up bad power supplies for a living. It's gotta be a good PSU to survive a JohnnyGuru review.

[BulldogPO]

Tm´s Hardware reviews are always bribed, so no point in even checking that out.

[570091D]

tom's hardware is still around? wow...

and why a max power draw of 500 watts? too scared to see if that 1kwatt psu can really deliver?

[Deluded]

IMO Johnnyguru for PSU tests, the guy wrote 3 pages of a review in rhyme.

Linky?

[MpG]

There's been a few, if I'm not mistaken. Here's the most recent one.

[mstp2009]

Tom's? PSU testing?

[road-runner]

Toms

[Russian]

Funny because Johnny doesn't even do the PSU reviews on his own site anymore because he's contractually not allowed to since he works for BFG(if i'm correct). But I must admit, some of his PSU reviews were the bomb.

[Serra]

I had high hopes but that article did not deliver.

Where is the voltage stability testing on dynamic loads? Maximum energy efficiency test is 500w?? Input spike measurements but no input voltage sag measurements???

Better luck next year Tom.

[HKPolice]

No ripple measurement = FAIL.

[*O/C*Kid]

No ripple measurement = FAIL.

Im pretty sure the O-scope does that....

Whats with all the THG hating? I've heard rumors they give favorable review for certain manufactures but I've been going to toms since I got into this hobby like 10 years ago. They have gone downhill imo, but they have some nice articles like the system builders marathon, as well as the all the charts they put up. Does anyone have proof that THG takes bribes? either way I take all reviews with a grain of salt, but I've always liked THG's tests.

This PSU test system they have here seems to be top notch. They have all the bases covered it would seem, Stable AC source that can be adjusted from 100-250VAC as well as adjustable frequency? I don't know of anyone else that does that. The DC loads, meters, temp probes, and the scope are all top notch lab stuff. I don't think any other review site has a setup like this other than maybe johnnyguru. Only thing they didn't have was sound measurement.

The test procedure seems pretty thorough too, I like the 110% load and short circuit tests.

I expect this to be another good series of articles to come from THG.