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, are 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 13W as measured by our wall meter unit, indicating that the basic load-free power consumption of the power supply is higher than normal. Independent sources with professional load testing equipment showed the FSP MEGA TI 1650W delivered outstanding efficiency for its class and tight voltage regulation and ripple across all rails. This power supply unit has 80 Plus Titanium and Cybenetics ETA Titanium ratings.
Voltages with minimal load are accurate, which is a basic requirement of power supplies out of the box. The Power Good or PG delay is tested at 180ms. This power supply is ATX 3.1 compliant and officially supports Alternative Sleep Mode with 100 to 150ms PG specifications, so it looks like the PSU tester I used was not fast enough to pick up the true PG signal. The ATX design specifications state a PSU's PG is required to be between 100ms and 500ms, with 250ms maximum for Non-Alternative Sleep Mode and 150ms for Alternative Sleep Mode.
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 MEGA TI 1650W has active PFC, and the power factor will approach 0.99 with a nominal load.
The FSP MEGA TI 1650W is a silent to very quiet power supply, depending on the amount of power being drawn. Under idle level loads, or less than approximately 40%, the MEGA TI 1650W is inaudible because the fan is shut off completely. Under moderate loads above 40%, the power supply remains barely audible. 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 MEGA TI 1650W to be at 0.0/10 when the fan is off, because, well, the fan is off. Above that, I would peg it at 1.0/10 acoustically under moderate loads, because the fan is not only acoustically optimized to begin with, but also spins really slowly. The fan is basically out of the way even when the load increases, but as with all fans, it will become more audible as it spins faster. This PSU is rated at Cybenetics LAMBDA A++ for noise, which is the highest tier. If you are a silent PC enthusiast, the FSP MEGA TI 1650W is a very respectable choice thanks to the PSU's silent to ultra-quiet fan curve profile.
FSP provided this product to APH Networks for the purposes of evaluation.
The FSP MEGA TI 1650W is a worthy flagship power supply, delivering top-tier Titanium-grade efficiency and elite electrical performance at zero to low noise. Unique to FSP is a conformal coating against dust, stains, and humidity for reliable operation harsh environments. Internally, it is built on their own platform with a solid selection of components, including 100% Japanese brand capacitors. Its massive 1650W output at Titanium-grade efficiency did not translate to obscene lengths either -- the MEGA TI is only 18.0cm long. According to others with professional load testing equipment, the FSP MEGA TI 1650W delivers outstanding overall performance, both electrically and in terms of noise emissions. The super quiet fan curve, in addition to its semi-fanless mode, will satisfy the pickiest of users. It comes with a 10-year warranty should anything go south. For about $450 at press time, the FSP MEGA TI 1650W has one more surprise under its belt: It is very well-priced compared to the competition.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Minor Tests and Conclusion
