Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/8607/fsp-aurum-pt-1200w-power-supply-review



Introduction

As most technology enthusiasts already know, the number of the actual power supply unit (PSU) manufacturers is far smaller than the number of the companies that ship PSUs. Most companies use their own engineering teams to improve/modify an existing platform originally developed by the Original Design Manufacturer (ODM). A few examples from our recent reviews are Antec's EDGE 550W and Corsair's RM1000, which are based on Seasonic and CWT designs, respectively. The modifications that such companies perform on the original platform can be significant but the changes are frequently limited to aesthetic adjustments, essentially copying the original unit in everything but form (or even just color).

Most ODMs have their own retail divisions as well. Perhaps the best examples of such companies would be Seasonic and FSP Group. We reviewed two of Seasonic's newest designs recently, the sensible S12G 650W and the potent Platinum SS-1200XP3, but we have not had a look at a PSU from FSP since the Xilenser, well over two years ago.

Today we are going to look at their most recent and advanced unit, the Aurum PT 1200W power supply. It is an 80 Plus Platinum certified PSU designed with enthusiasts in mind, and it appears to be a direct competitor to products such as Seasonic's Platinum SS-1200XP3, Cooler Master's V1200, and Corsair's AX1200i. Can it hold its own against the very best units that the industry has to offer? We'll find out in this review.

Power specifications ( Rated @ 50 °C )
AC INPUT 100 - 240 VAC, 50 - 60 Hz
RAIL +3.3V +5V +12V +5Vsb -12V
MAX OUTPUT 25A 25A 100A 3A 0.8A
160W 1200W 15W 9.6W
TOTAL 1200W

Packaging and Bundle

FSP supplies the Aurum PT 1200W in a relatively small cardboard box with a simple, elegant artwork theme. The key features are noted on the front of the box, with full specifications and additional details on the sides and rear.

Inside the box, we find a very minimalist bundle for what is supposed to be a top tier product. FSP includes only the necessary AC power cord, four black thumbscrews (note: normal screws are not included), a few zip-ties, a very basic manual, and a bag with the cables.

There are four bundles of modular cables inside the nylon bag, each held together with a reusable velcro cable strap. FSP made an odd selection regarding the cables of the Aurum PT 1200W unit, supplying flat black cables for the SATA/Molex connectors and typical cables with color-coded wires and black sleeving for everything else.



External Appearance

FSP put a lot of effort into making the Aurum PT 1200W aesthetically unique. The 190mm chassis is sprayed with a textured grey paint, creating a sandpaper-like feeling to the touch. The paint is so thick that the embossed company logo on the sides of the unit is hardly noticeable. A sticker with the electrical specifications and certifications of the PSU can be found at the top of the chassis. Meanwhile, the fan opening and the finger guard are hexagonal, not round, with a silver frame surrounding them.

As with any fully modular PSU that has this kind of power output, the front side of the FSP Aurum PT 1200W is littered with the connectors for the modular cables. The connectors for the PCI-E and CPU cables look identical at first, but the two bottom connectors are for the CPU power cables only and the other four are for the PCI-E power cables only. They are keyed so it is not possible to insert the cable into the wrong connector.

The rear of the Aurum PT 1200W holds some special interest. Usually, the rear of a PSU is boring, with only the AC receptacle and on/off switch to be seen, with the rest of the surface being perforated so the hot air can exit the case. Instead of going with a round or honeycomb perforation pattern, FSP is using an arrow-like design that supposedly shifts the airflow upwards. By using our Extech HD350 pitot, we found this to be true, as the primary direction of the flow has indeed been shifted upwards.

FSP claims that this somehow enhances the cooling performance of the unit. Unfortunately, while we can confirm their design "works" as intended, we fail to see how shifting the airflow upwards can affect the performance in any given way. In fact, the shift of the flow indicates that there is substantial aerodynamic resistance, so the perforations may actually impede airflow. We'll see how this plays out when we get to the cooling performance.

Internal Design

A simple, black fan from Power Logic is responsible for the cooling of the FSP Aurum PT 1200W. The fan has a hydro-dynamic bearing and a maximum speed of 2000RPM. The manufacturer claims that this fan has a maximum airflow of 111.1CFM, but our instrumentation registered the actual maximum airflow as 84.1CFM.

The Aurum PT 1200W obviously comes from FSP in this case. FSP designs, tests, manufactures, and markets these units. The heatsinks perhaps are the first thing that makes an impression, as they are very small for a 1200W PSU. Very small and thin plate heatsinks cool the secondary side components, while a larger black heatsink holds the APFC and primary inversion transistors. In addition, a small black heatsink has the two parallel bridge rectifiers attached to it.

The filtering stage begins at the back of the AC receptacle, where two Y capacitors and one X capacitor have been soldered. There are a total of four Y capacitors, three X capacitors, and two filtering inductors; this is a reasonable amount of components for a good filtering stage.

The primary side 470μF capacitors are supplied by Nippon Chemi-Con. Nippon-Chemicon also supplies most of the secondary side electrolytic capacitors and all of the polymer capacitors. A few small electrolytic capacitors from Rubycon can be found, making this PSU an all-Japanese affair.

What is really interesting about the FSP Aurum PT 1200W is that it does not use any technologies that can be considered exotic by today's standards. It technically is "just" a full bridge inversion configuration with DC-to-DC conversion on the secondary side, yet it manages to reach an 80 Plus Platinum certification. FSP achieved that by simply using some of the best active components available today, with very low resistance and gate charge values. Such components have maximum efficiency and very low thermal losses, but they are also much more expensive than more common components, which explains the retail price tag of the Aurum PT.



Cold Test Results

For the testing of PSUs, we are using high precision electronic loads with a maximum power draw of 2700 Watts, a Rigol DS5042M 40 MHz oscilloscope, an Extech 380803 power analyzer, two high precision UNI-T UT-325 digital thermometers, an Extech HD600 SPL meter, a self-designed hotbox, and various other bits and parts. For a thorough explanation of our testing methodology and more details on our equipment, please refer to our How We Test PSUs - 2014 Pipeline post.

The performance of the FSP Aurum PT 1200W at room temperature is very good. The efficiency peaks at 94.3%, with an average of 93.4% within the nominal load range (20% to 100% of the unit's capacity). Even though the efficiency degrades swiftly at low loads, the drop is not as great as with other similar units, most likely due to the full bridge configuration of the primary inversion circuit.

Due to the high efficiency, the Aurum PT maintains low temperatures and can operate rather quietly. The unit is actually almost entirely silent up to 60% load, at which point the fan starts to speed up and becomes audible. Even at maximum load, the Aurum PT is audible but the sound pressure level should be comfortable for most users. Assuming that you can keep a 1200W unit fully loaded for prolonged periods of time, of course.



Hot Test Results

As we'll see in the following tables, the FSP Aurum PT 1200W has good electrical performance. FSP claims that this unit's "E-Sync" technology improves the output power quality significantly; it does work, but it does not work wonders. Our instrumentation recorded a maximum ripple of 44mV on the 12V line, which is indeed a very good figure, though it's not extraordinary by today's standards. Similarly, the voltage ripple on the 3.3V and 5V lines is 20mV and 24mV, respectively. The voltage regulation is good as well, at 2.4% for the 12V line and under 2% for the 3.3V/5V lines.

Main Output
Load (Watts) 244.05 W 605.26 W 896.8 W 1192.53 W
Load (Percent) 20.34% 50.44% 74.73% 99.38%
Line Amperes Volts Amperes Volts Amperes Volts Amperes Volts
3.3 V 4.26 3.36 10.66 3.34 15.99 3.31 21.31 3.3
5 V 4.26 5.06 10.66 5.05 15.99 4.99 21.31 4.97
12 V 17.05 12.21 42.63 12.1 63.94 11.95 85.26 11.92

 

Line Regulation
(20% to 100% load)
Voltage Ripple (mV)
20% Load 50% Load 75% Load 100% Load CL1
12V
CL2
3.3V + 5V
3.3V 1.8% 14 14 18 20 16 28
5V 1.9% 14 16 20 24 16 30
12V 2.4% 22 28 36 44 44 26

 

High ambient temperatures have a substantial negative impact on the electrical performance of the Aurum PT 1200W unit. The average nominal load (20-100%) efficiency drops by 1.2%, while the maximum efficiency now is 93.0% at 50% load. Apparently, the Aurum PT 1200W unit does not like high ambient temperatures much.

Even at high temperatures, the FSP Aurum PT 1200W unit refuses to spin the cooling fan very fast. The results of this are obvious: very good acoustic performance at the cost of higher internal temperatures. The secondary side of the unit gets particularly hot, reaching up to 90°C at maximum load. This explains the significant efficiency drop, as the efficiency of these components is linked to their temperature. On the other hand, the Aurum PT maintains very low noise levels for a 1200W unit in a hot environment.



Conclusion

FSP developed the Aurum PT 1200W unit to engage in direct competition with the other companies that are already marketing 80 Plus Platinum certified 1200W units. It is a very limited market, but manufacturers do feel the need to have an advanced top-tier product, as it reflects on the company's prestige and competence. This is especially true for ODMs such as FSP, as they sell their designs and manufacturing capabilities to other companies, so they need to convince them that they can develop high performance designs as well. The Aurum PT 1200W unit can be found retailing for $240, the same price as Seasonic's Platinum 1200XP3 and significantly less than similar products from other manufacturers.

The quality of the Aurum PT 1200W is very good overall. From the Japanese capacitors to the inversion/conversion transistors, FSP is using some of the best quality components available today, which also explains the 7-year warranty. The assembly quality is good but it could have been better, as we spotted several odd-looking soldering joints.

The Aurum PT is also very well made externally, with the uniformly applied textured paint and octagonal openings creating a visually unique appearance. The only aesthetic dissonance is the use of two kinds of modular cables: flat, all black SATA/Molex cables and typical sleeved cables with color-coded wires for the CPU/GPU/motherboard cables.

When it comes to performance, the Aurum PT 1200W unit actually disappointed us a little. Even though the overall performance of this PSU is excellent, we had higher hopes regarding the "E-Sync" technology that allegedly improves the power output quality. The power output quality of the FSP Aurum PT 1200W unit is comparable to that of its primary competition, which is good but not exceptional by today's standards and considering the target market.

The Aurum PT 1200W is also a very quiet 1200W unit, but the side effect is that it has very high operating temperatures. Using it in environments with high ambient temperatures or running it with a heavy load for prolonged periods of time is not a wise idea. We would not recommend this PSU for use with cryptocurrency ASICs. Gamers should enjoy it very much though, as it is one of the quietest 1200W units available and the temperatures inside a well-designed gaming system should not be overly high.

In conclusion, the Aurum PT 1200W is a well made, reasonably priced product that offers good overall performance. The only actual problem of this product is the very limited market that it is trying to appeal to, as a very small percentage of users actually need this kind of power. It may not generate great sales, but we feel that FSP mostly wanted to prove that they could create a high quality and reasonably priced top-tier product. If you are a gamer or a professional with three or more high end GPUs, the FSP Aurum PT 1200W will not disappoint. We'll also likely see other brands of PSU use FSP's design in the coming months, and those may improve on what few blemishes exist.

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