Test Bed
- Abit NF7-S Rev 2.0
- 1800+ Athlon XP
- 60GB Seagate Barracuda IV HDD
- 80GB Western Digital HDD
- 1024MB PC3200 Corsair TwinX (review to come)
- Abit Geforce 4 Ti4200 OTES 8x AGP 128MB
- PcToys VGA MAXX Heatpipe Cooler
- Koolcase’s Panther
- Zalman 400w APF PSU
- Plextor 40x12x40 CDRW
- Plextor PX-504A DVD+RW (review to come)
I installed the unit to my normal test bed which is the above hardware to test it. When I first turned the unit on fans started up and put out a good amount of noise, at least more than I like to hear. The power supply isn’t loud however I think that for me personally it is more than I want to hear. After Windows finished booting I went ahead and started up Motherboard Monitor 5 which I used to get the voltage readings. I let the computer idle for about 15 minutes and watched the readings. The results from the system idling are impressive with the 5v line staying at 5v and the 12v line at 11.98v.
After getting the idle voltages I loaded up Prime95 which I used to get the CPU to 100% load. After about 15 minutes of stressing the system the load voltages were also pretty impressive with the 5v line only dropping to 4.97v and the 12v line dropping to 11.92v. This power supply of the three tested had the best 5v line and the second best 12v line.
Conclusion
When I first received this power supply I was a little unimpressed because of the fact that it did not come in a box of its own and looked just like the stock power supply from a Chieftec case. After further inspection of the unit both inside and out I found more things about the unit that I really did not like.
I did not like the fact that the warrantee had already been voided and that the stock fans were cut and new ones were soldered on. The cables in my opinion were a little long, however if you have a huge case you will like this feature. the power supply does look really cool and does operate really well
I do admit that, however I do not feel though that this unit is worth the $72 that it’s selling for. Overall this is a good power supply because of the power output and look but I wouldnt recomend it unless you are wating a “tricked out” power supply.
Because of the pros and cons of this power supply I am going to give it a 6/10. I would like to thank Extreme Alterations for sending over this unit, head on over and check out what their store because they have a lot of cool stuff.
Pros
- Good 5v and 12v line
- Looks cool
- Comes in blue, red, and green
- Solder points for fans shielded
- Lots of Molex
- AMD approved and Pentium 4 ready
Cons
- Warrantee came voided
- Stock fans just replaced with LED fans
- Cables too long
- A little loud
