![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Wednesday, May 23, 2007
- Author:
- Paul Johnson
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
450w-500w PSU Battle Royal
You guys asked, "What about regular mid-range PSUs?" So we bought five power supplies and then tested them to see if they would do what they were advertised to do. A melting fiery mess proves you get what you pay for. 5 PSU enter, 1 PSU leave.
FSP BlueStorm II
The FSP BlueStormII box is far more informative than the Apevia that was up first in the round up. Included on the box are a number of pieces of information pertaining to power output, and electrical characteristics that are broken down in table form below. In addition to that information the BlueStormII box advertises that the unit is 85% efficient.
While the unit does feature 2 PCI-Express connectors it is not SLI certified like some other Epsilon based FSP offerings as a check of the SLIZone website indicates at the time of writing. However, from the paper specs listed below it would seem low end SLI systems would run comfortably on this unit.
As we indicated above the BlueStormII features 2 PCI-Express connectors which could be used to power a low end SLI system in addition to 4 SATA connectors, 6 Molex, and 1 floppy connector. For a “low” end 500w power supply this connector assortment is certainly adequate and should power the vast majority of systems.
The power label of the FSP BlueStormII is not as complete as it could be. There is no 12v combined rating but each 12v rail is rated at 18A. Only rarely, however is the cumulative 12v output equal to the sum of its parts as the output is capped by the rectifier that feeds the rails. I would expect the unit to have around 75% of its capacity available on the 12v rail giving the unit around 32A. This would give the BlueStormII a very healthy 12v capacity capable of electrically supporting most any system in addition to physically supporting them via connectors.
Once we open the FSP BlueStormII we find the usual assortment of items. There is the power supply, the power cord, manual, and mounting screws. The manual weighs in at 20 pages but gains most of that girth from the inclusion of 5 languages. Like the Apevia manual though the FSP manual is not nearly as complete as it could be. The there is no mention of the warranty on the unit or combined 12v loading. It does however; include the connector pinouts, and the basic certifications of the unit.
External Build Quality
As soon as the FSP BlueStormII is removed from the packaging it is immediately apparent where the name BlueStorm comes from. Not to say the unit is bad looking but it is indeed blue and the finish is flat but not textured. The cables are all sleeved in blue mesh except for the two PCI-Express connectors which are trimmed out in an orange-ish mesh.
The cables are all fixed and measured to the first connector providing a serviceable length of ~16 inches.
Interior Build Quality
The interior build quality of the FSP BlueStormII is very clean and sparse as has been seen on all the Epsilon based power supplies. This design when first released was a shock to many people as the old adage for power supplies was that weight equaled quality. However, since introduction the Epsilon platform has been a capable platform, albeit with noisy DC output. The interior of the FSP BlueStormII is cooled by a combination of two very utilitarian looking heatsinks and a 120mm fan. The 120mm fan is provided by Yate Loon and is rated at 0.30A at 12v. Of final note is the PCB. It appears a number of FSP power supplies use this exact same PCB as indicated by the listing here with 500w being the highest powered unit. This is not an uncommon occurrence among power supplies and generally the various builds use different components to achieve the varying power outputs but share a common PCB.
On the primary side we see a single 390uF 400v OST capacitor. OST is not by any means the best nor the worst capacitor selection possible and the single capacitor used here is due to the APFC that this unit sports. The secondary side is filled out with CapXcon capacitors which we have seen on a number of power supply reviews to date. Of final note on the secondary side is the cable guard, a cheap piece of protection for the cables exiting the housing that many power supplies lack (even extremely high end units), so its inclusion is a welcome sight. Wrapping around the cable guard are the wires for the 120mm fan in the FSP BlueStormII.
Next, we will see how these build decisions work for the BlueStormII in the load testing.