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- Date:
- Monday , June 09, 2008
- Author:
- Paul Johnson
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
BFG LS Series Power Supplies
BFG has recently proven its worthiness in the high end computer power supply market by providing extremely stable and innovative products. Can BFG pull off another win as it wades again into the middle of the wattage war with many competitors?
Overview
The first thing we are going to look at with the BFG LS series is its packaging, accessories, and documentation. While none of these items is a real make or break item for a power supply the packaging quite often contains a lot of information about the product we are purchasing. The inclusion of an owner’s manual that provides actual information about our product is also of great help. Accessories are almost unnecessary with a power supply as the unit is self contained, unless it is modular, but there cases where a manufacturer can include useful accessories to make installation, routing and use more efficient.
The packaging for both current members of the LS series of power supplies is almost identical with the only real difference being found on the side of the box that has the power table and connector counts for the included unit as pictured below. Otherwise the front and sides of the packaging contain mostly marketing points and advertisements for the now “common” features like Quad 12v rails, multiple PCI-Express connectors, safety features, MTBF, etc. The rear of the box has a fan noise graph, efficiency curve, and some basic installation instructions printed on it.
The packaging does not indicate that either of these units have SLI or 80Plus certification, but the units you see here today are some of the first retail units available and the product has been submitted for 80Plus review. We would also expect at some time for at least the 680w unit to be submitted for SLI certification given BFG’s close ties with NVIDIA. However, at the time of writing neither of these two things have been publicly announced so we will just have to wait and see.
Lastly, those users expecting to find the BFG LS series covered by the BFG Lifetime warranty as previous BFG branded power supplies have been should check their hopes at the door as BFG has seen fit to nix that added value on this line. Instead, the LS series is covered by a 5 year warranty and must be registered within 30 days of purchase otherwise the unit is only covered by a 1 year warranty as stated here:
In connection with such five (5) year Warranty, all BFG Power Supply purchased on or after February 21, 2008 must be registered on www.bfgtech.com within 30 days of the original purchase date to activate the five (5) year warranty. Products not properly registered will be covered from the date of purchase by a two (2) year limited warranty in Europe and a one (1) year limited warranty in the US and other countries. Proper registration includes submitting proof of purchase to BFG.
While 5 years is not nearly as long or as nice as the Lifetime warranty that is featured on the ES-800 and previous BFG power supplies it should be more than adequate if users remember to register their product. As such, we urge users to register their LS Series power supply with BFG in order to be able to take advantage of that 5 year warranty HERE.
LS 550w
LS 680w
As we see from the power label, connector count, and rail distribution the LS 550w and 680w are very similar. The only real difference on the labeling comes from the higher 12v total capacity cap on the 680w and the more plentiful connectors on the 680w unit. The 550w has a total 12v capacity of 41.67A (or ~90% of total possible DC output) while the 680w unit has a total 12v capacity of 51.67A (or ~91% of total possible DC output). Coupled with these outputs we find that the 550w unit has a pair of PCI-Express connectors (one is a modified 8-pin connector), six Molex, and four SATA connectors while the 680w has four PCI-Express connectors (two are modified 8-pin connectors), six Molex, and eight SATA connectors. Lastly, the rail distribution on these units appears very good as the PCI-Express connectors on the 550w model each get their own rail while on the 680w model they are paired with one 6-pin and one 8-pin PCI-Express connector on each rail.
The contents of the LS series of power supplies are identical with each model having the power supply, power cord, mounting screws, and user manual in the box. The manual for both units is identical and contains no identifying information about the particular unit it came with. Included in the manual are the physical dimensions, installation instructions, electrical specifications, safety features, pinouts, and the warranty information. Overall the manual is good but far from complete and does not specifically address the unit that it ships with which is unfortunate, but the unit labeling is sufficient to keep the user fully informed.