X-bit labs

ATX Power Supply Units Roundup. Part V (page 16)

Category: Other

by Oleg Artamonov

[ 11/21/2006 | 03:51 PM ]

High Power HPC-560-A12S (560W)

Sirtec, the producer of the High Power series of power supplies, is well known to our readers because its products can be met under the brands of Thermaltake, Chieftec and many others. The HPC-560-A12S differs from the other PSUs in this review with its power consumption indicator called Power Watcher.

It’s all quite ordinary inside, with group voltage regulation and active PFC. As opposed to the Corsair model, the heatsinks are large, with numerous small ribs and cross cuts. Let’s see if this helps cool the PSU better.

The component layout is similar to that of the Thermaltake W0083 (PurePower 600AP) that I described in one of my previous reviews. Some of the PSU electronics are installed on a card that is placed vertically along the rear panel.

The power consumption indicator is located on the rear panel of the case. It is a 3-position 7-section red-colored indicator. I found out that at loads over 100W the indicator’s reading was about 10% lower than the real value. Well, I guess its accuracy varies from sample to sample because the manufacturer can hardly regard it as a serious measuring instrument.

The PSU complies with the ATX12V 2.2 standard. The maximum combined load current on the +12V rail is a little lower than 37A. The lines are separated virtually, as usual. That is, there is only one +12V rail inside it with an allowable current of 37A. That’s why the purpose of specifying (in the footnote) the max combined output power for two of the three output lines is unclear. Besides that, the PSU doesn’t formally comply with the EN-60950 standard because the max output power on the 12V2 line is 276VA. This is more than 240VA which is the maximum permitted by that standard. But as I have repeatedly written in my reviews, this does not affect the stability of a computer’s operation in any way.

The PSU is equipped with the following cables and connectors:

• Mainboard cable with a 20+4 connector (57cm long)
• CPU cable with a 4+4 connector (57cm)
• Two graphics card cables with 6-pin connectors (57cm)
• Two cables with three Molex connectors and one floppy mini-plug on each (56cm from the PSU to the first plug and 20cm more to each next plug)
• One cable with two Molex connectors (56cm+20cm)
• Two cables with two SATA power connectors on each (56cm+20cm)
• Two cables with one fan power connector on each (the voltage is supplied by the PSU’s fan speed control card, the cables are 56cm long)
• One cable with the PSU fan’s tachometer output (64cm)

So, this power supply allows powering two additional system fans from the PSU’s own speed controller. That is, the speed of the fans will depend on the temperature inside the PSU. This is a nice feature, but all modern mainboards, including microATX ones, can control the speed of system fans anyway.