Transient 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 that shares a lot of the behind the scenes of the program. 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 will continue with our Transient Testing.
Transient Test 1
Loaded/Unloaded
12v/5v
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 before the addition of the transient load. The results of Test #1 show a ~600mV drop on the 12v rail (and then a ~280mV rise when the load turned off) and ~140mV drop on the 5v rail (and then a ~200mV rise when the load turned off) when each is directly loaded. At the same time that the load was being triggered on the 12v rail, the 5v rail measured a ~70mV drop.
Transient Test 2
Loaded/Unloaded
12v/5v
Test #2 is equal to approximately 50% of the rated capacity of the 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 before the addition of the transient load. The results of Test #2 show a ~740mV drop on the 12v rail (followed by an almost 600mV rise when the load turned off) and ~140mV drop on the 5v rail (and then a ~180mV rise when the load turned off) when each is directly loaded. At the same time that the load was being triggered on the 12v rail, the 5v rail measured a ~90mV drop.
Transient Load Testing Summary
The Transient Load Test results for the Solid Gear Neutron 550W are, by now, predictably terrible. In today’s testing, the Neutron 550W saw the loaded 12v rail post a peak change of ~740mV, and the loaded 5v rail post a peak change of ~200mV! Worse yet, when the loads switched off the rebound changes were drastic as well! The only “good part” was that the unloaded 5v peak change during the 12v load was ~90mV.
These numbers are so bad it is not even worth comparing this to the other 550W power supplies we have seen. It would just be embarrassing, and I don’t want Google accidentally letting people find these numbers and those other units’ names in the same paragraph! Let’s get out of here as quickly as possible and see how this unit does in the DC Output Quality aspect of our testing. Or, not. I am going to watch through my fingers!