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- Date:
- Monday , March 09, 2009
- Author:
- Paul Johnson
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
BFG LS-450 Power Supply
Looking for BFGTech's new quality power supplies in a power rating for a system that is a bit more reserved. We look at the smallest BFG PSU that comes in at 450 watts. And of course we put it to the same testing we put the kilowatt units to.
Build Quality
As we already know the BFG LS-450 features a 120mm fans in that they can provide for quiet cooling environments due to the ability to move a larger volume of air at slower speeds than a smaller diameter fan. While great for quiet computing environments the key criteria in our evaluation is whether or not the cooling solution is sufficient, not necessarily it’s sound output level or form factor, although we certainly listen for offending units.
External Build Quality
Externally the LS-450 is almost identical to the other members of the LS series with the one different feature being the APFC sticker that is missing from the rear of this unit (however the unit does have APFC). The LS-450 comes in a flat black finish that is smooth and embossed with the BFG logo on both sides as before. The top of the unit is dominated by the 120mm fan and BFG fan logo while the rear features just the AC receptacle, and power switch.
The LS-450 is ~5 1/2 inches long and the cables reach out to ~18 inches at the first, or only connector, with the sleeving being complete (and well done) on all of the cables. This kind of detail is certainly good to see as many lower powered and lower cost units skip things like this for any number of reasons (cost being one of the leading reasons though).
Internal Build Quality
Once we open the BFG LS-450 we see that the newest member of the LS series is clearly not a Forepoint unit but an Enhance unit. Even though this unit is from a different OEM it does share the same basic group regulated topology as the Forepoint models along with a single layer PCB. From the top view we see that this unit, like those other members of the LS family, is fairly sparsely populated. The heatsinks are all fingered and positioned such that they match the overhead fan well. The fan used to cool this unit is a 120mm ADDA fan rated at 0.44A at 12v. Lastly, we see on the PCB that this design is available in 300w-500w units which puts this unit close to the top end of this design.
As we move over to the primary side we see the LS-450 design is somewhat different from the other LS series units. The primary here is situated such that the bridge rectifier gets its own heatsink, while a portion of the input filtering is positioned in front of this setup with just one large heatsink for the primary (as opposed to the other LS units two heatsinks). The main filtering capacitor is right behind the APFC coil and is a Nippon Chemi-con rated at 400v 330uF 105c.
Over on the secondary we again see a group regulated design like the other LS series units. However, this unit replaces the JunFu capacitors of old with a mix of Nippon Chemi-con and Teapo. The wiring is all bundled and sheathed into the housing with zip ties securing it to the casing. Finally, we see that the fan controller is mounted on the main PCB along with the protection circuitry as opposed to on an add-in card.
Build Quality Summary
Over all the build quality of the BFG LS-450 looks very good for a lower end unit. Indeed, the external build quality and presentation is identical to the other LS series members with the exception of the APFC sticker, so there is nothing new in that department today. Under the hood however, we find some changes. While this unit shares the same group regulated single layer PCB design that the other LS members have, this unit is from Enhance and has had some different design choices made on the primary side. Additionally, gone are the JunFu capacitors of the other LS/MX units and in are Nippon Chemi-con/Teapo on the secondary for what is, by the name anyway, a nice upgrade. However, it is important to note that while not known for being quality capacitors those JunFu’s in the other units, along with the secondary design, provided the best DC output quality we have seen to date. Moving on, let's see if these changes actually net us a performance bump or if these changes actually hurt the newest LS member.