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. Certain criteria consist 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 is very good. Independent reviews from websites with professional load testing equipment showed the FSP Hydro G Pro 750W delivered good efficiency for its class and good regulation and ripple across all rails. This is an 80 Plus Gold certified power supply unit.
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 2%. The PG (Power Good) delay seems to be well within its rated range and general power supply standard of 320ms.
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 divided by S. The ideal value is 1.00, and this is where active PFC comes in. The FSP Hydro G Pro 750W has active PFC, and the power factor will approach 0.99 with a nominal load.
The FSP Hydro G Pro 750W is a silent to quiet power supply, depending on the amount of power being drawn. Under idle level loads, or less than approximately 30%, the Hydro G Pro 750W is inaudible because the fan can be shut off completely in Eco Mode. Under moderate to high loads, which is above 30%, the Hydro G Pro 750W is reasonably low noise. Personally, I found the Protechnic Electric MGA12012XF-O25 to be reasonably smooth, but will become audible at high speed. 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 Hydro G Pro 750W to be at 0.0/10 when the fan is off, because, well, the fan is off. Above that, I would peg it at 3.0/10 acoustically under moderate loads. If you are a silent PC enthusiast, the FSP Hydro G Pro 750W is a respectable choice.
FSP provided this product to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
The FSP Hydro G Pro 750W is a good looking and well-built fully modular power supply certified for reliable operation in up to 95% relative humidity environments. There is a great selection of excellent components inside the cleanly laid out interior, and all this comes nicely packaged at a depth of only 15cm. As always, the Hydro G Pro, like all the other PSUs in the Hydro series, features an excellent fluid dynamic bearing fan and supports fanless operation for loads up to 30%. I could not find any test results for this particular wattage variant, but according to our affiliates with professional load testing equipment on the 850W model, the overall performance was decent. At an MSRP of $150, the Hydro G Pro 750W does not come cheap, but you are sure to find it at a more competitive price from your favorite local retailer as availability improves.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Minor Tests and Conclusion
