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 have to 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're not going to try to BS you 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 is very good. It was a little more than the SilverStone ST45SF V3.0 450W, SX700-LPT 700W, and SX800-LTI 800W, although it should not make a difference in the long run. Independent reviews from websites with professional load testing equipment showed the FSP Dagger 600W delivered efficiency that did not meet specifications at operating temperatures, despite the fact this an 80 Plus Gold certified power supply unit. Ripple control on the +3.3V rail also fell out of ATX specifications, although performance in other areas was actually pretty good.
Voltages with minimal load are generally accurate, which is a basic requirement of power supplies out of the box. In this situation, all are within 1%. The PG (Power Good) delay seems to be well within its rated range and general power supply standard of 300ms.
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 only 80W (13%) on the FSP Dagger 600W had the power factor at 0.98. This is very good, considering many PSUs do not hit 0.99 until at least 25% to 30% load.
The FSP Dagger 600W is a reasonably quiet power supply, even though it only features an 80mm fan. Under regular loads (Less than 300W), the 600W Dagger generates a minimal amount of noise. The Power Logic PLA08010B12HH is runs on a very conservative profile for low speed operation to reduce disturbance in this area. 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 FSP Dagger 600W to be at 2.5/10 acoustically under nominal loads, because the fan spins really slowly. The fan is out of the way to approximately 65% of the PSU's maximum load, but it will become exponentially more audible when it spins up. Overall, the FSP Dagger 600W is a great choice for SFX PC users who want a power supply that does not generate a lot of noise.
FSP provided this product to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
The FSP Dagger 600W seems to be a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to performance according to our affiliates with professional load testing equipment. It failed to meet 80 Plus Gold efficiency rating at operating temperature, and regulation on the +3.3V rail fell out of specifications, despite having great performance on the +5V and +12V rails. Quiet PC enthusiasts will be happy to hear the Dagger 600W does not generate a lot of noise though. However, there is a limited number of included cables, and you have to be very careful with the scratch-happy paint. For about $110 at press time, considering the competition and the performance they offer, there are just better products out there for your money.
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Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Minor Tests and Conclusion
