Page 4 - Minor Tests and Conclusion
Power supplies are interesting products -- because often, reviews of products in this category are conducted and tested in methods that make it difficult to distinguish one power supply from another. Many aspects must be taken into consideration -- of which certain criteria consists of efficiency, noise, power ripples, and of course the ability to pull out the rated specifications. Because many cannot afford such equipment to obtain results regarding those aspects, articles covering power supplies often come out with less than adequate and acceptable information. As this is a product report -- not a review -- what we are doing is a close examination of the power supply and the internal hardware and build. But what we can do for you is do some minor testing with the results we can present to you with and let other review sites with professional equipment show you the actual test results. We are not going to try to create useless test results by installing the power supply into the latest gaming rig and try to take readings from that, as this is not even remotely the correct way to test power supply units. We understand that many websites do that as a means of load testing, but the results, even if you use an oscilloscope and multimeter at each output location, it is not sufficient, nor does it accurately reflect the performance of the power supply.
Using our power supply tester which exerts minimal load on the power supply, the initial consumption was 8W as measured by our wall meter unit -- indicating that the basic load-free power consumption of the power supply was very good. Independent reviews from websites with professional load testing equipment showed the Fractal Design Ion+ 760W delivered very good efficiency and excellent voltage regulation and ripple across all rails. This is an 80 Plus Platinum certified power supply.
Voltages with minimal load are generally accurate, which is a basic requirement of power supplies out of the box. In this situation all are all bang on. The PG (Power Good) delay seems to be well within its rated range and general power supply standard of 360ms.
Active power correction is important to correct AC load line loss. In AC power, there are three components to it; as there is a phase difference between current and voltage. This makes up the power triangle, which consists of the following: Average usable power (P, measured in watts), reactive power (Q, denoted as VA-R), and total power (S, written as VA). While they all have the same physical units, it is not the same thing as aforementioned. What we want is the average usable power -- with as little wasted reactive power as possible. The total power provided over the AC line is the magnitude of the two combined (sqrt(P^2+Q^2)). Power factor can then be easily calculated by P/S. The ideal value is 1.00, and this is where active PFC comes in. A nominal load of 300W (40%) on the Fractal Design Ion+ 760W had the power factor at 0.99. This is excellent as expected.
The Fractal Design Ion+ 760W is silent to very quiet power supply, depending on the amount of power being drawn. Under idle level loads, the Ion+ 760W is inaudible, because the fan is shut off completely. Under moderate to high loads, the Ion+ 760W is still quieter than the competition. Personally, I found the Dynamic X2 GP-14 to be exceptional. The hydraulic bearing fans have a smooth-running motor with no annoying noise during operation. While this is very subjective, I am quite a picky person on noise. On a scale from 0 to 10 where 0 is silent and 10 is the loudest, I would rate the Fractal Design Ion+ 760W Platinum to be at 0.0/10 when the fan is off, because, well, the fan is off. Above that, under typical settings, I would peg it at 1.5/10 acoustically under moderate loads, because the fan does not spin that fast. If you are a silent PC enthusiast, the Fractal Design Ion+ 760W Platinum is still an excellent choice with its semi-fanless operation and ultra quiet fan.
Fractal Design provided this product to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
Built by Sirfa/High Power, the Fractal Design Ion+ 760W Platinum delivers very good efficiency and excellent voltage regulation and ripple across all rails according to our affiliates with professional load testing equipment. It is obvious quietness is at the core of its design with its semi-fanless operation and a whisper quiet Dynamic X2 GP-14 fan. Some cables are a bit short though. That aside, it is backed by Fractal Design's excellent ten-year warranty should anything goes wrong. For about $120 at press time, the price is very competitive for its wattage and performance grade.
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Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Minor Tests and Conclusion
