Silver Power Blue Lightning 600W
by Christoph Katzer on August 27, 2007 6:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Standby Efficiency
The standby efficiency results are not particularly noteworthy, other than pointing out that power consumption is very low when there is no load placed on the power supply. We measured just 0.6W with 115VAC and 1.07W with 230VAC, which is a pretty good result.
Efficiency
When it comes to efficiency, the Blue Lightning 600W quite frankly blew our socks off. By all appearances, this is your everyday midrange power supply... we simply could not believe getting efficiency results as high as 85%! In fact, the efficiency is above 80% over almost the entire range which can not only save money on electrical costs but is also generally a good indicator of power supply quality. European users (and the other 230VAC countries) will get above 80% efficiency with loads ranging from 60W all the way up to 600W, while 115VAC users will get above 80% up until about 500W.
PFC
The Power Factor Correction was a bit unusual with this power supply. We're used to seeing nice curves at 100VAC and 115VAC, but the 115VAC doesn't rise as quickly as were used to seeing. It's only at 30% and above that the curve begins to rise, but then it stops again at around 60% load and stays at 0.986. 230VAC even starts to drop slightly at maximum load. This isn't an ideal result, but at the same time PFC isn't necessarily one of the most critical factors in determining power supply quality.
The standby efficiency results are not particularly noteworthy, other than pointing out that power consumption is very low when there is no load placed on the power supply. We measured just 0.6W with 115VAC and 1.07W with 230VAC, which is a pretty good result.
Efficiency
When it comes to efficiency, the Blue Lightning 600W quite frankly blew our socks off. By all appearances, this is your everyday midrange power supply... we simply could not believe getting efficiency results as high as 85%! In fact, the efficiency is above 80% over almost the entire range which can not only save money on electrical costs but is also generally a good indicator of power supply quality. European users (and the other 230VAC countries) will get above 80% efficiency with loads ranging from 60W all the way up to 600W, while 115VAC users will get above 80% up until about 500W.
PFC
The Power Factor Correction was a bit unusual with this power supply. We're used to seeing nice curves at 100VAC and 115VAC, but the 115VAC doesn't rise as quickly as were used to seeing. It's only at 30% and above that the curve begins to rise, but then it stops again at around 60% load and stays at 0.986. 230VAC even starts to drop slightly at maximum load. This isn't an ideal result, but at the same time PFC isn't necessarily one of the most critical factors in determining power supply quality.
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meyergru - Tuesday, August 28, 2007 - link
...how do those two statements add up?"In fact, the efficiency is above 80% over almost the entire range which can not only save money on electrical costs but is also generally a good indicator of power supply quality. "
"This isn't an ideal result, but at the same time PFC isn't necessarily one of the most critical factors in determining power supply quality."
As far as I know, a PFC of ~0.92 means 8% more will actually be billed to me by the provider. Thus, the good efficiency of over 80% does not help at all.
13Gigatons - Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - link
PFC intended purpose is to turn a complex load into a simple one.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_factor_correcti...">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_factor_correcti...
mindless1 - Thursday, August 30, 2007 - link
Meeting the 80% efficiency does still help, but you are pointing out one of the interesting developments these days, how PSU manufacturers are tweaking to arrive at higher efficiency and that within the context of expectations of how the industry (reviewers et al) will review, particularly when it's a retail product. Robbing Peter to pay Paul is ideally bad, but at any given moment and price, can be subjectively more or less important depending on your needs.The important part is that this information was revealed so you can decide for youself if this unit meets those needs or if you'd rather some other compromise. No PSU is perfect in every way including price.
Christoph Katzer - Tuesday, August 28, 2007 - link
What was the relation of the both again?Your provider charges reactive power?
swtethan - Tuesday, August 28, 2007 - link
I'd like to see where the x-pro stands to see if I should upgrade or not :) got an ETA on that? All over the forums for the past 5 months that PSU has been on banners :PMissPriss - Monday, August 27, 2007 - link
Great review, though perhaps Anandtech should consider gearing a small percentage of articles to those who aren't technomaniacs. BTW - how do you pronouce "Anandtech"?JarredWalton - Monday, August 27, 2007 - link
I'll take the second part - I think there might be some less-techy articles on occasion, but the PSU stuff definitely doesn't qualify.Anyway, for those interested, it's pronounced Ahn-Ahnd-Tech. Or "On Ond Tech". So if you pronounce it with a nice southern twang and an "A as in apple" sound, Anand might make weird faces at you. That, or I need to check my hearing and make sure Anand isn't saying, "Hi guys, it's '&n - &n(d)" as opposed to "Hi guys, it's 'än - änd." (When did http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phoneti...">phonetic symbols get so stinking complex?)
SemiCharmed - Monday, August 27, 2007 - link
I agree with MissPriss. It could be called "NotsoAnandtech"DividedweFall - Monday, August 27, 2007 - link
Hoorah for MissPriss! I don't send comments in fear of being rejected by the eleet technomanic crowd.Samus - Monday, August 27, 2007 - link
We readers at Anandtech are loyal to this place BECAUSE the reviews are for technomaniacs. They're among the most thorough reviews of hardware around.Go look at any other site's PSU reviews and you'll see what I mean.