Gigabyte's New Odin GT 800W Power Supply
by Christoph Katzer on July 24, 2007 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Temperatures (Ambient 25-50°C)
With our hot ambient temperatures we want to see what the power supplies can really take. We increase the temperature as the graph indicates. At 50°C we have a hotter environment than that used to rate any of the power supplies we test. Most of them will show their first weakness with falling voltages. It will be also more difficult to dissipate all the produced heat from inside. Therefore we monitor the heatsink temperatures, fan speed, and noise to compare all of the results.
All three heatsinks show a good ability to dissipate heat as the exhausted air temperatures are increasing throughout the test. This is very good for the components attached to the heatsinks. As we mentioned before we do feel that the components on the PCB will not get much of the desired airflow and therefore will be hotter; however, we didn't have any temperature diodes attached to other components to prove our theory.
With our hot ambient temperatures we want to see what the power supplies can really take. We increase the temperature as the graph indicates. At 50°C we have a hotter environment than that used to rate any of the power supplies we test. Most of them will show their first weakness with falling voltages. It will be also more difficult to dissipate all the produced heat from inside. Therefore we monitor the heatsink temperatures, fan speed, and noise to compare all of the results.
All three heatsinks show a good ability to dissipate heat as the exhausted air temperatures are increasing throughout the test. This is very good for the components attached to the heatsinks. As we mentioned before we do feel that the components on the PCB will not get much of the desired airflow and therefore will be hotter; however, we didn't have any temperature diodes attached to other components to prove our theory.
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strikeback03 - Tuesday, July 24, 2007 - link
Does the software need to be running for the voltage regulation to work? Or can you make changes then close the software and have the changes still work on the PSU?Also I'd guess if UV lighting is that useful for a case you could swap the blue LEDs for some UV ones - looks like enough wire is exposed to cut the blue ones and solder in UV ones.
Oberst - Tuesday, July 24, 2007 - link
Hello,nice review (i wouldn't expect anything else of you). But I've got a question about the measuring-software: Was it reliable, when measuring voltages? You already mentioned, that the wattage was not reliable. So I'd like to know, if that was because of wrong measured amps or volts.
greets Oberst.
Christoph Katzer - Tuesday, July 24, 2007 - link
Voltages have been quite accurate; amps have been wrong in almost every case.qpwoei - Tuesday, July 24, 2007 - link
Once you've got the ripple measurements sorted out, it'd be nice to get some scope traces as the load changes. Poor transient response of the rails can cause all sorts of hard-to-diagnose problems in the real world.Christoph Katzer - Tuesday, July 24, 2007 - link
We use a scope to follow response on the rails but until now we feel the data is not good enough to present. If there would be something to extraordinary to tell we surely would.bob4432 - Tuesday, July 24, 2007 - link
what about that? a good quality unit, the Corsair 520HX seems to be a lot of people's favorite lately, how does it really stack up? or some of the FSP "Green" units - are they really that efficient? what about seasonic - really as good as everyone says?these reports are all fine and dandy, but you are catering to possibly 5% of your user base, yes even here 800W is extreme overkill.
and it is not a $$$ issue but rather a reality issue. i am surprised you guys testing these are continuing the thought process by only reviewing the upper wattage units and thus making everyone think they need one when they don't - people on review 750W psus, so i must need one...come on guys
Christoph Katzer - Tuesday, July 24, 2007 - link
Will come. No worries about that. At the moment we are just starting as you can see and of course every company wants to have the best PSU tested first. We'll have lower ones very soon but need to work on that mountain of PSUs here first. With 380w you will see a Seasonic pretty soon for example.bob4432 - Tuesday, July 24, 2007 - link
will definitely be looking forward to them :)ATWindsor - Tuesday, July 24, 2007 - link
I disagree that an OCP per rail i s a good thing, it onyl makes using the PSU more of a hassle, since you can draw a lot less from the PSU on 12V than the specs would make possible, if you are unlucky and draw most of it from one rail. Several manufacturers have one big rail without any know safety-problems, having an OCP for the combined drav from the 12V-lines however is a good thing.AtW
dare2savefreedom - Tuesday, July 24, 2007 - link
I would be interested in knowing how a psu runs with dual 8800gtxs in virginia in summertime in an old house with a window air conditioner.Not these theoretical white glove clean room lab environment tests.
triple sli 8800gtx?
come one stop playing with your iphone.