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, initial consumption was rated at 5W as measured by our wall meter, which is one of the lowest seen at the APH Networks labs. For your reference, the OCZ ZT Series 650W and the PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III 600W both had initial consumptions of 5W.
Voltages with minimal load are generally accurate, which is a basic requirement out of the box. In this situation all are within 5.9%. The PG (power good) delay is decent, and is within its rated range and general power supply standard of 329ms.
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 these components all measure power, they are not the same as each other. 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. Under nominal loads, the power factor value of the FSP Raider 550W is 0.97, and consistently stays at that point, indicating that the active PFC function is working very well.
The FSP Raider 550W is a relatively quiet power supply during normal operation. Where 0 is silent and 10 is the loudest, I would rate the Raider 550W at 2.5/10 acoustically under nominal loads. While the power supply does get louder when the fan speeds up, for a general user like me, the power supply is fairly quiet. If you do want something that generates more power and produces less noise, you are probably going to move up the cost ladder.
FSP provided this product to APH Networks to facilitate this report.
FSP’s Raider lineup of power supplies is aimed at everyday users and enthusiasts on a budget. From our affiliates with professional load testing equipment, everything is generally pretty good. With efficiency ratings that are close to the AURUM Gold (Except on lighter loads), and a current price for approximately $80 USD after a mail-in-rebate at press time, the price is a bit higher than average, but you can be sure this one packs quality under the hood.
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Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Minor Tests and Conclusion
