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 9W as measured by our wall meter unit -- indicating that the basic load-free power consumption of the power supply is excellent. This is roughly the same as other power supplies of the same range; do keep in mind the SilverStone Nightjar NJ520 520W has no internal fans to power up. Either way, independent reviews from websites with professional load testing equipment showed the SilverStone Nightjar NJ520 520W delivered simply outstanding efficiency, voltage regulation, and ripple across the board -- right up to its rated wattage. This includes its 80 PLUS Platinum certification.
Voltages with minimal load are generally very 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 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 100W (19%) on the SilverStone Nightjar NJ520 520W had the power factor at 0.96. As the load increases, the PF should approach 0.99.
The SilverStone Nightjar NJ520 520W is a completely silent supply, because it does not have a fan. Therefore, on a scale from 0-10 where 0 is silent and 10 is the loudest, I would rate the SilverStone Nightjar NJ520 520W to be at 0.0/10 acoustically under all loads. If you are a silent PC enthusiast who does not need a whole lot of power, this PSU is definitely an excellent choice, especially if you are looking for a passively cooled, top performing fully modular unit.
SilverStone provided this product to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
The SilverStone Nightjar NJ520 520W is yet another example of a high quality PSU built by Seasonic that delivered practically flawless performance according to our affiliates with professional load testing equipment. Retailing for about $130 after rebate at press time, the Nightjar NJ520 will not provide a lot of wattage for your money, but it is one of the best performing power supplies in every meaningful metric within its design limits. Did I mention it is completely fanless? If silence is your thing, then this is your PSU. No fan, no noise. Just Nightjar.
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Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Minor Tests and Conclusion
