Load Testing
For those of you that are curious as to some of the reasoning and equipment behind our PSU testing program here at TheFPSReview, we have put together an introduction for you. This program is based on what the author developed at [H]ardOCP and utilizes the equipment bequeathed to the author by Kyle Bennett. The testing we are conducting today is exactly as described in that document and start with our 120v, 100v, Torture, and 80 Plus Tests.
120v and 100v Load Testing Results
Test #1 is equal to approximately 25% of the rated capacity of the Solid Gear Neutron 550W at 45c. This makes Test #1 equal to 145W by loading the 12v rail to 10a, the 5v rail to 2a, the 3.3v rail to 1a, the +5vsb to 2a, and the -12v to 0.3a. The results of Test #1 show the main positive DC output rails starting off below nominal except for the 5v rail. The efficiency for this unit is starting off in bad good shape at a value of 79.18% at 120v AC input and 78.13% at 100v AC input. We see the exhaust temperature is 47C at 120v AC input and 49C at 100V AC input.
Test #2 is equal to approximately 50% of the rated capacity of Solid Gear Neutron 550W at 45c. This makes Test #2 equal to 265W by loading the 12v rail to 20a, the 5v rail to 3a, the 3.3v rail to 2a, the +5vsb to 2a, and the -12v to 0.3a. Test #2 sees the DC output voltages drop relative to what we saw with Test #1 except for the 5v rail which is hitting the same value. The largest changes are up to a 0.47v decrease on the 12v rail and 0.04v on the 3.3v rail. The efficiency has moved down to 77.62% at 120v AC input and 75.83% at 100v AC input. We see an exhaust temperature of 54C at 120v AC input and 58C at 100V AC input.
Load Testing Summary
Today, the Solid Gear Neutron 550W did a terrible job in our initial load testing. Truly, totally, and unashamedly terrible. When we look at the voltage regulation, we see that the Neutron 550W had peak changes of 0.47v on the 12v rail, 0.00v on the 5v rail, and 0.04v on the 3.3v rail. The reason why the minor rails did so well was simply that this unit died after the 50% load test. That was probably a good thing as the 12v rail was out of specification in Test #2 already. So, all in all, a terrible showing today and we have not seen such a poor performance from a power supply to date here at TheFPSReview. Given that, we hope that this is the worst you will see from a 550W poor supply currently on the market.
Things do not look much better when we look at the efficiency as that ranged from 77.62% to 79.18% efficient at 120v AC input and 75.83% to 78.13% efficient at 100v AC input. Lastly, the exhaust temperature peaked at 54C at 120v AC input and 58C at 100v AC input in Test #2. There were no more tests after that so that is all the data we get. That is probably a good thing though because those values are terrible and were trending to even worse when the unit cut out. Let’s move on to the Transient Load Tests and see what fresh hell awaits us there.