Transient Testing
For those of you who 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 STEAMPUNK 850W at 45c. This makes Test #1 equal to 221W by loading the 12v rail to 16a, 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 ~1500mV drop on the 12v rail and ~55mV drop on the 5v rail when each is directly loaded. At the same time that the load was being triggered on the 12v rail, the 5v rail measured a ~40mV drop.
Transient Test 2
Loaded/Unloaded
12v/5v
Test #2 is equal to approximately 50% of the rated capacity of the STEAMPUNK 850W at 45c. This makes Test #2 equal to 431W by loading the 12v rail to 32a, the 5v rail to 4a, the 3.3v rail to 3a, the +5vsb to 2a, and the -12v to 0.3a before the addition of the transient load. The results of Test #2 show a ~1500mV drop on the 12v rail and ~45mV drop on the 5v rail when each is directly loaded. At the same time that the load was being triggered on the 12v rail, the 5v rail measured a ~40mV drop.
Transient Load Testing Summary
This is an easy summary. The Transient Load Test results for the STEAMPUNK 850W are the worst I have ever recorded. Full stop. Why? Well, in today’s testing, the STEAMPUNK 850W saw the loaded 12v rail post a peak change of ~1500mV! That isn’t a typo. Look at the V/Div on the screen capture. That is set to 0.5v! I really could say a lot more about this, but since this unit failed this so spectacularly I am just going to call it enough said at this point because my list of roasts is long and I am sure the editors don’t want to keep cutting things from this review. Let’s move on now to see how this unit does in the DC Output Quality aspect of our testing (like that matters at this point)!