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HotHardware Test Systems |
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AthlonXP
All The Way |
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Soyo Raptor 400W PSU
DFI LAN PARTY KT400A
Motherboard
ATi All-In-Wonder
Radeon 9600 Pro 128MB
AthlonXP "Barton" 2500+
512MB Kingston HyperX
PC3500 DDR-RAM
Maxtor 250GB SATA-150
7200RPM Hard Drive
2-IBM 80GB 7200RPM Hard
Drives
Western Digital 20GB
5400RPM Hard Drive
Plexor PlexCombo CD-RW
Teac WD-50D DVD±R
Windows XP Pro SP-1
DirectX 9.0b
Detonator 52.16
VIA 4-in-1 v4.5
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Basic Functionality and Testing |
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Voltage Variations Under Load |
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Typically, a
power supply does its job and there is little reason to
"benchmark" it. However, we thought it would be a good
idea to load the test system and see if we could cause the
unit to fluctuate its output. To do this, we
simultaneously defragmented each hard drive of the test
system while burning a CD and DVD. We also performed a
full system scan with Norton AntiVirus as well as playing an
MP3. We felt that loading the CPU as well as having
each of the physical drives performing intensive tasks would
expose any possible voltage fluctuations. Before we
ran any tests we took a screen shot of WinBond Hardware
Doctor and displayed the voltage gauge, then we loaded the
system with the above sequence of tasks and took another
screenshot.
No
Load
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Load
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You'll notice
that under load there were minor drops in voltage with +12V
and DIMM voltages, all other areas remained unchanged.
Even with the slight drop in DIMM voltage, the system still
ran excess if the 2.6V we had set in the BIOS. The
+12V dropped ever-so-slightly too, hovering around 11.5V,
however, even at idle this ran under 12V and is a result of
the main board's BIOS setting rather than a fault of the
Raptor.
The Soyo Raptor
SY-PS400 brings a whole new approach to the power supply
unit, adding unique features not found with typical PSUs.
The idea of making an adjustable unit that can raise the
voltage as needed is simply is not a pioneering effort, as
there are other solutions in the market as well, but it is a
solid effort in its approach to the enthusiast market that
wants more control. This added flexibility lets the
user have greater control over system voltages which can
have a positive effect on system stability, in certain
cases. We also liked the larger fan, thermal speed
control and the external control unit, which acts as a
control center and voltage indicator. Soyo even took
the time to offer two types of face plates to help match up
the control unit to your case. Our only real complaint
with the entire package was the short USB cabling provided
and an inadequate User's Manual. Aside from that, the
unit performed flawlessly under load and offers extra
horsepower if and when it is needed. One of the best
things about the Soyo Raptor SY-PS400 is that it is priced
competitively ($75 or so at
NewEgg) against standard 400W PSUs, making it an
attractive package combination. If you are looking to
build a new dream rig, don't forget to add a high-quality
PSU to your list of parts and the SY-PS400 from Soyo would
be a great choice.
We give the Soyo Raptor SY-PS400 a Hothardware Heat Meter
Rating of a 9
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