Silver Power Blue Lightning 600W
by Christoph Katzer on August 27, 2007 6:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Test Setup
As usual we are testing with our Chroma programmable loads to fully load each rail to a specific amount. This is important to get truly accurate results and not merely approximate values. The tests are conducted in two different temperature environments. One is normal room temperature of 25-26°C, while the second environment goes from room temperature and increases steadily up to 50°C. Especially during the higher temperatures we will see how good the power supplies are and what they're really made of. Components inside will perform much worse at higher temperatures, but we expect any good quality PSU to deal with such test conditions without failing.
Note: If you would like to know more about our testing methodology, equipment, and environment, please read our PSU testing overview.
3.3V DC Output
The 3.3V rails were stable during testing, as usual showing a constant drop under increasing load. At maximum loads, the 3.3V rail does go out of spec, regardless of temperature. However, the consistency of the rail outputs regardless of temperature and input voltage is surprising, with all four test results paralleling each other.
5.0V DC Output
Results with the 5V rail are similar to the 3.3V rail. All four test cases parallel each other, dropping steadily under increasing load. At about 90% load, the 5V rail falls out of spec. It is unlikely that most users will put anywhere near a 90% load on a 600W power supply, and provided you stay below 80% load on the 3.3V and 5V rails there shouldn't be any problems.
5Vsb Output
12V DC Output
By far the most important rails on any power supply are the 12V rails. Unlike the 3.3 and 5V rails, the Silver Power Blue Lightning delivers a good, stable output on the 12V rails regardless of load. Again, the 12V outputs are very similar regardless of input voltage or temperature, and both rails are also nearly identical.
As usual we are testing with our Chroma programmable loads to fully load each rail to a specific amount. This is important to get truly accurate results and not merely approximate values. The tests are conducted in two different temperature environments. One is normal room temperature of 25-26°C, while the second environment goes from room temperature and increases steadily up to 50°C. Especially during the higher temperatures we will see how good the power supplies are and what they're really made of. Components inside will perform much worse at higher temperatures, but we expect any good quality PSU to deal with such test conditions without failing.
Note: If you would like to know more about our testing methodology, equipment, and environment, please read our PSU testing overview.
| DC Outputs | |||||
| PSU Load | 3.3V | 5V | 12V1 | 12V2 | Wattage (All Rails) |
| 10% | 1.42A | 1.78A | 1.89A | 1.89A | 61.5W |
| 20% | 2.85A | 3.56A | 3.78A | 3.78A | 122.5W |
| 50% | 7.12A | 8.90A | 9.44A | 9.44A | 301.0W |
| 80% | 11.39A | 14.24A | 15.11A | 15.11A | 472.5W |
| 100% | 14.24A | 17.79A | 18.88A | 18.88A | 578.0W |
3.3V DC Output
The 3.3V rails were stable during testing, as usual showing a constant drop under increasing load. At maximum loads, the 3.3V rail does go out of spec, regardless of temperature. However, the consistency of the rail outputs regardless of temperature and input voltage is surprising, with all four test results paralleling each other.
5.0V DC Output
Results with the 5V rail are similar to the 3.3V rail. All four test cases parallel each other, dropping steadily under increasing load. At about 90% load, the 5V rail falls out of spec. It is unlikely that most users will put anywhere near a 90% load on a 600W power supply, and provided you stay below 80% load on the 3.3V and 5V rails there shouldn't be any problems.
5Vsb Output
12V DC Output
By far the most important rails on any power supply are the 12V rails. Unlike the 3.3 and 5V rails, the Silver Power Blue Lightning delivers a good, stable output on the 12V rails regardless of load. Again, the 12V outputs are very similar regardless of input voltage or temperature, and both rails are also nearly identical.
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33 Comments
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MrOblivious - Tuesday, August 28, 2007 - link
Yes and no. The additional interface and the extreme load a load tester puts accross a single connector magnifies the problem beyond what a system would see happen which is what people were asking about.I am sure Chris is looking into it ;)
yyrkoon - Monday, August 27, 2007 - link
to see some Seasonic PSU tests. Not sure *why* but I cannot remember seeing any Seasonic PSU test from you, or any other sites I frequent, and they are supposedly the manufactuers of several of the PSUs for other companies that have good PSUs.Also, it would be very nice to have an article once in a while that explained where the different PSUs were manuafactuered, who actually makes them, and what parts each company typically uses for various models. Anyone can write a review, but no one seems todo this. Be the first ! I *could* probably scour the web to find this information, but if it comes from your guys, I could probably trust the information ;)
Axbattler - Thursday, August 30, 2007 - link
Silent PC Review has made some reviews of Seasonic (and the Corsair too if I remember right).LoneWolf15 - Monday, August 27, 2007 - link
A Seasonic 500w PSU review was done very recently by another ]H[ard-core review site. You might want to check it out. They and JonnyGURU as well are very clear about who makes PSU's, capacitor brands in them, etc.Seasonic makes PSU's for a number of companies --the Antec Neo HE line is one example, but they do some others as well.
As for the Silver Power, if Anandtech's weblink is correct to MWave (it is partially broken) and that PSU is available for $69, it's a great price.
JarredWalton - Monday, August 27, 2007 - link
The web links are just pulled from the engine automatically (automagically even) based on some search text. I put in "Tagan" and that's what came up. Still, the 530W Tagan is probably pretty decent for $69. This PSU is apparently $88 shipped from http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...">Newegg (see above comments).yyrkoon - Monday, August 27, 2007 - link
heh Jarred, read the first user review on newegg ... not exactly a good example of a PSU 'review'. I probably would take it with a grain of salt *if* the overall user review % was not what it is.JarredWalton - Monday, August 27, 2007 - link
Yeah, Newegg reviews are basically random people spouting off. I've had numerous good quality PSUs fail over the years, and I've had "crappy" PSUs that are still kicking after four years. Without some clear details about the load the PSU was under and the operating environment - let's be honest, overclocking can kill a lot of PSUs if you push it too far - there's any number of reasons a PSU can fail. $90 for a >80% 600W PSU is really pretty good.Christoph Katzer - Monday, August 27, 2007 - link
Seasonic comes up this week.Don't worry about the rest, that'll come as well...
Samus - Monday, August 27, 2007 - link
Looks identical. Newegg has it for $80.Chris, can you confirm whether this is the same power supply as the silverpower?
Christoph Katzer - Monday, August 27, 2007 - link
Thanks for the info. It is indeed the same PSU.