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.
Using our power supply tester which exerts minimum load on the power supply, the initial power consumption was 7W, which is the excellent. It even beats out our Seasonic M12II 500W measured at 8W. As stated before, the Thermaltake Litepower 450W is a 80+ Bronze Certified power supply, and it is reported from various reputable sources with professional load testing equipment shows that it lives up to its 80+ Bronze Certification with up to 85% efficiency.
Voltages with minimal load is generally accurate, which is a basic requirement of power supplies out of the box. There's only 0.3V difference on the -12V rail. The +3.3V rail was only off by 0.1V; which is expected. The PG was better than expected at 280ms. All in all, it's pretty close to the actual rating, which is always a good thing.
The active power line correction was pretty close at the 0.96-0.97 range, where it was at 0.97 at most of the time. Optimally it should be at 0.99, but 0.97 is good enough from this budget-oriented power supply.
In terms of noise, the Thermaltake Litepower 450W is relatively quiet in standard usage conditions. The fan seems to push out quite a bit of air efficiently. In terms of normal usage, the power supply will be quiet enough to be almost unnoticeable, which is very good since this is 'only' a budget oriented power supply. On a scale of 0 to 10 where 0 is silent and 10 is the loudest, I would rate it at 4.5/1 0-- which is only slightly louder than some of the marketed quieter power supplies around. Overall, the noise level is definitely acceptable should not let down even budget users in terms of quietness.
Special thanks to Ramsom over at Thermaltake for making this report possible.
Overall, the Thermaltake Litepower 450W isn't extraordinary; nor is it designed to be. It is budget oriented and has an MSRP of $89.99, it might be wise to consider this power supply if you are all about being "green", but if you are looking for something on budget and still high performance, you should look elsewhere.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Minor Tests and Conclusion
