So, as usual we start with the box. The box is black and yellow and it has specs and information on it as you might expect.

When you open the box you’ll see the fan on top and a bag off to the side. The PSU is packed well with material around it.

Once you get everything unpacked you’ll get a better view of the bag and then you’ll see the user manual, power cord and a small bag of screws for installation.

The Hale82 has a nice big 120mm fan for keeping things cool. The white color is certainly and interesting choice and it really sticks out.

The PSU has three wires coming from it, one for the motherboard, one for the CPU and one for PCIE.

On what I would call the front you’ll find the modular connections. There are four for SATA/IDE and then one for PCIE and one for CPU.

In the white is where you’ll find all of the power cables. The cables are thin and flat, I was expecting sleeved like the cables coming from the PSU but these are fine though.

Here’s a handy little chart from NZXT to let you know what all the connections are, how many of each and how long they are:

I did a bit of research and the Hale82 is actually made by Seasonic which is of course a very good thing as they make quality products.

Specifications:

HALE82 750W

Features
-80+ Bronze Certification – The HALE82 series from NZXT operates with high efficiency: at 20%, 50%, and 100% loads, efficiencies are 82%, 85%, and 82% respectively.
-100% Japanese Capacitors – High quality components promote longer lifespan and better reliability.
-120mm Two-Ball Bearing Fan – For smooth, silent rotation and optimal air intake.
-Strong Single +12V Rail – A single +12V rail provides stability and ease of use with the ability to deliver clean currents under a heavy load.
-Modular Design – Includes a selection of flat cables that allow the user to pick and choose which cables they want to use, maximizing cable management and airflow inside chassis.
-Large Tower Support – Extended 8pin connector for bottom mounted cases or large cases.
-Dual 8pin connector – For high end motherboards dedicated to overclocking.
-Keeping it Safe – The HALE80 series offers over voltage, current, power, temperature, under voltage, and short circuit protection.

80+ Bronze Certified
Is your PC hungry for more power? If it is an energy fiend, you can count on the HALE82. The HALE82 is 80+ bronze certified and operates at high efficiency. This unit is stable yet powerful to meet all your gaming and enthusiast needs.

Price: $119.09 (from Amazon at time of review)

So I installed it in my system with this in it: Intel Corei5 750, EVGA P55 motherboard, 4x hard drives (7 TB total), SATA6/USB 3.0 PCIE card, ATI 4890, ATI 6670, SATA Blu-ray/DVDRW drive and the case has 10 120mm fans in it.

I found the cables to be more than long enough for my uses and they should be find for even the largest cases.

For load and testing I used OCCT 4.0 which is a great way to test your PSU and get some nice graphs out of it. I’ve got three graphs for you that show the voltages and the CPU load at the same time.

The graph might not mean much without a small explanation so here’s the tolerances for the voltages:

+12 VDC    ±5% (±0.60 V)    +11.40 V to +12.60 V
+3.3 VDC    ±5% (±0.165 V)    +3.135 V to +3.465 V
+5 VDC    ±5% (±0.25 V)    +4.75 V to +5.25 V

Basically you want your rails to be within certain tolerances and that’s about 5% plus or minus or 10% total. Off to the side above you see what those actual tolerances would be like to the 12v rail it should be between +11.40 V to +12.60 V. If it’s not between those voltages then there’s surely a problem with the power supply.

I’ve been using the PSU in my system for a couple weeks now and I’ve been running tests on and off every other day or so and they all came out the same, so here’s three charts for you from one of the tests.

The first chart is the 3.3v one.

If you go back up and looks at the chart and then compare, you’ll see that the 3.3v rails falls well within tolerances but it does bounce around a lot.

The next chart is the 5v one:

As you can see this one is much more stable and again it’s well within tolerances.

The last chart is for the 12v rail:

This one is very bouncy as well, but it’s within tolerances, well within really.

So the 12 volt and the 3.3 volt isn’t exactly stable, but they are within tolerances and that’s really what you want to see.

As far as noise level, I really couldn’t hear the PSU over fans I have in the case. I did have it out of the case, when I was testing the Thermaltake Dr Power II and the fan was silent then but it wasn’t really under load either. For the most part even under load I couldn’t hear any additional noise from the NZXT Hale82 power supply.

One think I forgot to note and I should is that NZXT now has what they’re calling  Less Than Three which is a warranty program that allows you to get a working PSU back in three days if something should go wrong with it. These PSUs also have a 5yr warranty on them. You can learn more about the less Than Three program here: http://www.nzxt.com/new/hale82.php

Conclusion:
The NZXT Hale82 750 Watt Power Supply is one that I would be happy to have in my computer for the long term. The power supply is quiet and it offers a good amount of power for even the most demanding systems and the people that build them. The Hale82 is a modular power supply which means you won’t have wires everywhere as you’ll only use what you really need. This means a cleaner case and less wires usually means better airflow as well.

The voltages are very much within tolerances but they do bounce around a bit, but still I feel safe with it in my system and it’s going to stay there.

Pros:
+Nicely made and good looking
+Voltages within tolerances
+Seems quiet
+Made with quality parts
+Flat, easy to run wires

Cons:
-Rails are a bit bouncy

Grades:
Overall
Design
Performance

To learn more about our review policy please visit this page HERE.

Review of NZXT HALE82 750 Watt Modular Power Supply is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

We live in a mobile society obviously, everywhere you’ll see people with their mobile devices, be them phones, MP3 players or laptops, we’re connected no matter where we are. One problem with these portable devices is power, batteries are lasting longer and longer but they honestly don’t last as long as we need them to. Finding power for our devices can be tricky at times depending where we are, and if we’ve brought the right adapters with us. making sure we have power for all of the devices we have can be expensive and can lead to us carrying several adapters with us, or buying additional ones. I can’t count how many times I’ve forgotten to charge one of my devices, I do it all of the time and I’m sure you’ve done it yourself, luckily I’ve got an adapter that I leave in my car for my phone, so that’s not a big deal, but many times I’ve grabbed my Zune to take with me and found the battery dead because I forgot to charge it. A while back I took a look at the Ecosol Powerstick USB charger, while it wasn’t a bad device, it didn’t offer that much power and wasn’t quite compatible with all of the devices out there.

Today for review I’ve got the Callpod Fueltank, it’s a great portable charging solution that offers a lot of power for your devices while you’re on the go. Using an adapter system it’s compatible with most every device on the market, and it offers dual charging ports as well so you can charge two devices at the same time. In my time with it I’ve found that it works very well, and that it can provide power to many devices on just a single charge of its battery.

Callpod was nice enough to send me the Fueltank along with three additional adapters for my Zune, Jawbone2 and iPod. The adapters for the Fueltank cost $9.95 each, but with the Fueltank comes a coupon for one free adapter as well. Included with the Fueltank though is a standard mini-USB adapter that will be able to fit quite a few devices out there.

The Fueltank comes in a nice package, you can see it right through the front window, and on the back of the box we have specs and features listed as you might expect:

Unpacking everything we find the Fueltank itself along with user manual, voucher for free adapter, AC adapter, mini-USB cable and even a carrying case. The carrying case is nice, it’s made of a thick nylon with a zipper closure and inside you’ll find two sections, a large one for the Fueltank and a smaller one for your adapters.

The Fueltank is solidly made, and it’s lightweight. It’s silver in color, and across the middle is a dark colored band, beneath that band is a series of colored LEDs that let you know the charge status of the battery when the button is pushed.

On the right side you’ll find a single port and a button. The port is for the AC adapter to charge the Fueltank and the button is for checking the status of the battery, just push it in and the LEDs with light up. On the left side you’ll find two more ports, these are the actual charging ports where the adapters fit into.

Specifications:

Callpod Fueltank Portable Chaging Unit

Fueltank can simultaneously charge two small electronic devices without the use of an outlet. It contains a rechargeable lithium ion battery which has more than 7 times the capacity of a standard mobile phone. The Fueltank utilizes device-specific adapters – the same ones used for Chargepod- so you can customize your Fueltank to meet the exact needs of you and your family. Proprietary voltage regulator technology senses the amount of power required to charge your devices. LED fuel capacity indicators display when charging indicator button is pressed.

Performance
* Rechargeable power for two devices simultaneously
* Indicator lights display battery capacity level
* Charge your devices multiple times without refueling
* Weighs less than 8 ounces and is perfect for traveling

Compatibility:
* Works with thousands of mobile devices such as iPods, cell phones, Bluetooth headsets, PDAs, digital cameras, navigation units, mp3 players, digital readers and portable gaming systems
* Uses the same device adapters as Chargepod

What’s Included
* Fueltank base unit
* AC/DC Wall Plug
* Mini-USB adapter (MUSB-0001)
* Carrying pouch
* Voucher for 1 FREE adapter redeemable at Callpod.com

Not for use with notebook computers or other large electronic devices

Price: $69.95

Using the Fueltank is very easy, first of course you’ll need to charge it, this is done by using the AC adapter. It takes a couple hours for the Fueltank to become fully charged. On the charge port is a green LED that indicates it’s being charge and this will go out once the Fueltank is full.

As I mentioned, just tapping the battery button will allow you to see the status of the Fuetank batteries, there are a series of LEDs that will light up, red, yellow and green.

My phone is an AT&T Tilt so no special adapter was needed, just the included mini-USB adapter. I also used it to charge my Zune, iPod nano 4th and my Jawbone2. On the charge ports are also blue LEDs to let you know it’s hooked up and charging your devices.

I have to say that I am truly impressed by the Fueltank and the amount of power it can provide on just a single charge. I’ve charged it once and I’ve charged my phone twice, my Zune once, iPod once and my Jawbone2 once as well, in fact as I write this I’m charging my phone again. After all of that charging, the Fueltank still doesn’t need charged just yet, but it’s close. When fully charged you’ll see several LEDs, one red, one orange, one yellow and three green ones. After all of that charging, right now I’ve got a yellow LED, to be fair though my phone wasn’t fully drained each time I’ve charged it, just one time, and my Jawbone2 wasn’t dead either, but the Zune was and the iPod was. So basically so far I’ve charged three devices that were basically dead, and two other devices that weren’t dead but needed charged.

The time to charge your devices varies of course on the device, but it’s surprisingly fast, almost as fast as using the AC adapter. With the Zune and the Ipod they’re normally charged via my computer’s USB port, so the time to charge them via the Fueltank is essentially the same. I normally charge my phone and Jawbone2 with their AC Adapters, so using the Fueltank was a bit slower to charge them but not much really.

Overall the Fueltank is an excellent choice to provide power to your devices while you’re on the go, but I do have one small complaint, you must charge it with an AC adapter, it cannot be charged with your computer. The Ecosol Powerstick I reviewed earlier could be and that was something that I liked about it, but to be fair, the battery on the Fueltank lasts quite a long time and you won’t really need to be charging it on the go as often as you would the Powerstick.  You can buy a car adapter for the Fueltank if you wish, but honestly I don’t see a need for one because the battery last quite a while and you can get several charges from it.

I know some people might also complain about the fact that you’ve got to buy additional adapters for the Fueltank, but it comes with the very popular mini-USB adapter and they give you a voucher for a free adapter, so basically you’re getting two adapters for free for your devices. The mini-USB is compatible with a lot of devices out there today, and depending what you have it’s quite possible you won’t need more than the two free adapters for use with the Fueltank. Of course you may have more devices than that, and you’ll incur additional expense with more adapters, but I think it’s worth it really, and the adapters are compatible with other Callpod devices like their Chargepod.

The Callpod Fueltank won the 2009 CES Innovation Award and I can see why, this thing is great, I honestly really like it, it will be travelling with me wherever I go. You can just toss it and the adapters into the included carrying pouch, then toss that in your purse or laptop bag and you’re set with power enough to keep your devices charged, and charge them several times on a single charge. Again, I am totally surprised by just how much power the Fueltank can provide and how many things I’ve provided power to on a single charge.

Conclusion:
The Callpod Fueltank is what a portable charger should be, it’s nicely made and it can provide a lot of power for multiple devices on a single charge of its batteries.

The Fueltank is the best I’ve seen in terms of portable power, and I’ve taken a look at a few of them in my time, the Fueltank is the only one you’ll ever need to keep your devices charged. I am truly and honestly impressed with this little device, it really exceeded my expectations in what it could do.

Pros:
+Small and portable
+Compatible with most every mobile type device
+Lots of power available on a single charge
+Holds charge for long time
+Charge two devices at once
+Charge time takes close to normal
+Very easy to use

Cons:
-Limited to AC Adapter charging
-Adapters can add up in price

Grades:
Overall
Design
Performance

Callpod Fueltank Portable Charging Unit is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

 
Today for review I’ve got the NZXT PP-800, an 800watt power supply that offers stable power and a lot of connections  for most any system out there today. The PP-800 power supply features two fans for cooling, one 80mm and one 120mm to make sure things stay cool, and is certified by Nvidia for SLI gaming.

First up is the video unboxing, check that out then continue on for the still pictures below:

Specifications:

PP800 Power Supplies
"Performance without sacrifice"

Introducing the newest PP800 from NZXT, tuned to power the latest peripherals and video cards on the market. The Performance Power 800 will power any high end system on the market today. At 78% load efficiency and paired with four +12V rails, the PP800 is the perfect solution for enthusiast systems. PP800 is certified by NVIDIA for SLI gaming systems.

Features
* SLI-ready Certified Power Supply
* Complying with Intel ATX / BTX Standard
* Gold-Coated Connectors
* Output Over / Under / Short / Overload Protection
* 78% Efficiency at load
* Smooth black matte finish
* Industry Standard ATX V2.91
* Low Noise 80mm and 120mm Fan
* Four +12V Rails
* PCI-E 6/8pin, SATA, EPS12V Ready

Connectors:
-1 x Main connector (20+4 pin)
-1 x 12V(4+4-pin)
-8 x peripheral
-6 x SATA
-1 x Floppy
-2 x PCI-E

I installed the NZXT PP800 in my main system for testing, I found most of the cables were quite long with the exception of the main power cable that connects to the motherboard, it was shorter than most. The case is a Cooler Master Cosmos Black Label which has the PSU mounted on the bottom. This isn’t a bit deal, it reached, but I couldn’t strap it down using the existing wire management that I had in place. Depending on the size of your case and PSU location this might be a problem though so it’s something to keep in mind.

I tested the NZXT PP800 using my trusty Multimeter, and by keeping it in my system for about 2 weeks to insure it worked correctly and could handle my system.

In my system I’ve got two 4870 video cards, PhysX Card, four 120mm fans, C2Q9650 CPU along with two hard drives at the moment and two DVD/RW/BD drives.

To get load on the power supply with my system I ran two instances of Orthos Stress Prime for the CPU and FurMark to load the GPU, all running at the same time.

Hooking up the Multimeter I got the following for the 12v and 5v rails under load and idle.

Idle:
12v = 12.07v
5v= 5.13v

Load:
12v = 12.04v
5v = 5.13v

As expected the 12v line did drop, but not much, and according to my multimeter the line was very stable with little or no fluctuations.
Surprisingly the 5v line didn’t drop at all.<
The NZXT PP800 is also fairly quiet even under load, during my testing it was 24.9C or about 77F in my room, I didn’t hear the fans over the rest of the case fans.

Conclusion:
The NZXT PP-800 to me seems to be a fine power supply, it’s stable under load, and there’s barely any voltage drop on the main 12v rails.

The PP-800 has more than enough connection for most any computer, so there shouldn’t be a problem with finding a power lead for your system. As I mentioned the mains power connection, or ATX connector does seem a bit short compared to others I’ve had installed in my case. It reached my motherboard, but in larger cases, with bottom mounted PSUs it might not, or it will be a tight fit.

Pros:
+Stable power
+Quiet
+Lots of connections

Cons:
-Main power cable is shorter than most PSUs

Grades:
Overall
Design
Performance

NZXT PP-800 800Watt Power Supply is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

Ever wonder just how much it costs to run your computer, or any other electrical device in your home? You could estimate what it costs by calculating things out from the information on the product and your electrical cost, but that takes a lot of work. In this day and age everyone seems to be trying to find a way to conserve power usage, be it for the environment or for our wallets, it’s a good thing either way to conserve energy.

Today for review I’ve got a handy little gadget that will give you all kinds of information about your electrical devices including what it costs to run it. The product is the Kill A Watt EZ, and it not only give you a cost breakdown of your electrical usage but it gives you a bunch of other useful information as well like wattage, amps, voltage, frequency and even power factor. The Kill A Watt EZ is a very useful device for techies and non-techies alike to learn more about the devices you’ve got that are using electricity.

The Kill A Watt EZ comes in our favorite kind of packaging, the sealed plastic clamshell. It’s clear on  the front and back so you can get a full view of the product, and there’s specs and features listed as well.

The Kill A Watt EZ comes packaged with a brief instruction sheet, and that’s it. It features an LCD display with several buttons running underneath it for navigation.

It’s basically a large plastic box with LCD display and a pass-through electrical outlet. The Kill A Watt EZ  seems very well made, like it should last for quite some time.

Specifications:

P4460 Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor

Price: $49.95

The P3 Kill A Watt is possibly the most amazing innovation in terms of monitoring and reducing your electrical consumption. The Kill a Watt EZ will actually allow you to determine which machines are actually worth keeping in use. Simply plug the Kill A Watt EZ into an outlet and then your appliances into the Kill a Watt EZ and the results will display on the large easy to read screen.

Features:
*  Equipped with a large LCD display for easy viewing
* Monitors Voltage, Line Frequency, and Power Factor for complete readings
* Assesses how efficient your electrical appliances are so that you can decide which ones to disconnect
* The built-in battery backup means you won’t lose your readings if the power goes out
* Plugs in between outlet and device to be measured
* ETL listed 3039508
* UL 61010B-1
* CSA std C22.2 No. 1010-1
* 6 Month manufacturer warranty

Displays 10 critical units of measure:
* Voltage (Volt)
* Current (Amp)
* Watts (Watt)
* Kilowatt Hours (KWH)
* Frequency (Hz)
* Volt Amps (VA)
* Power Factor (PF)
* Elapsed Time
* Rate
* Cost

Using the Kill A Watt EZ is well, Easy, you just plug it into your outlet and then plug what you devices you want to learn about into it.  I recently got two Uninterruptible Power Supplies for a very good price, they are 450Watts each, so the Kill A Watt EZ came in mighty handy when I was trying to figure out how I could split everything up to use with them.

I wanted to hook  my computer up to the UPS systems, along with my router, monitors, network switch, NAS box and DSL modem. The main reason I wanted to do this is because of the power company I have, or at least the power lines here, aren’t very reliable, it could be a bright sunny day and the power will go out for a few minutes then come back on, very annoying.

I have two PowerSquid brand surge protectors that I use for my main equipment, one that I reviewed here previously and another that I already owned. My idea with the Kill A Watt EZ was to use it to figure out dividing the wattage equally between both of the UPS systems. I hooked the PowerSquids up to the Kill A Watt EZ and took measurements and had to swap things back and forth between the two Squids to get the load even and under the total Wattage and VA for the UPS Systems. It worked well, so I should be safe now from short lived power outages.

Here is the display of the Kill A Watt EZ with my PC and two LCD monitors hooked up to it showing Wattage, Volt Amps VA, Power Factor, Frequency HZ, Voltage and Amperage.

The Kill A Watt EZ will also show you the cost of running these things Hourly, Daily, Weekly,Yearly and Total Cost as well once you input the rate. It will also show you total time, and Kilowatt Hours.

The Kill A Watt EZ is a great little device that has many uses for tech and non-tech related people.

The only complaint I could have about the Kill A Watt EZ is the price. Prior to getting this for review I used a Seasonic Power Angel to do almost the same thing and it retails for $30 most places while the Kill A Watt EZ sells for $50, $20 more. The Power Angel does everything the Kill A Watt EZ does except calculate the cost, so you’re paying $20 more to figure out what it costs you to run your devices, is it worth it? Maybe, maybe not…

Conclusion:
For me the Kill A Watt EZ is a great little device, it can be used for testing and learning more about electrical devices that I use. It can be an invaluable tool in any tech toolbox for getting information about a device.

For the regular person the Kill A Watt EZ might be able to actually save you a few dollars. Ever wonder how much that TV or DVD player is using while in standby mode? Now you can figure out just how much money you’re wasting when you leave it in standby mode, you’ll learn how much money you can save just by unplugging something.

The Kill A Watt EZ is an excellent product overall and it can be very useful for most anyone.

Pros:
+Easy to use
+Portable to take with you
+Seems well made

Cons:
-A bit more expensive compared to others

Grades:
Overall
Design
Performance

Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

Corsair is very much known for it’s excellent performing memory,  but they’re recently moved into the power supply business and all over the place they’ve gotten rave reviews and praise about them, so apparently they’re very good.

Today I’ve got the Corsair TX750 750Watt Power supply for review and it features plenty of connections and power for most systems. the cables are sleeved nicely and I have to note that they are nice and long as well, it also features 80% efficiency and 99% Active PFC to round it out.

So read on to learn more

As usual we’ve got the unboxing up first:

Specifications:

Corsair TX750W 750Watt Power Supply

Advanced Technology, High Performance

Enthusiasts looking for the optimal in price performance PSU technology will find the Corsair TX650W/TX750W series of PSUs will meet even the most demanding of required specifications.

The Corsair TX650W/TX750W power supplies are engineered using advanced technology and components typically found with high performance power supplies. With design features such as a dedicated, single +12V rail offer the maximum compatibility with the latest system components. Energy efficient circuitry capable of delivering greater than 80% efficiency ratings across 20%, 50%, and 100% load conditions make the TX family of PSUs ideal for the value/quality conscious enthusiast. With a large 140mm (120mm on TX650W) diameter temperature-controlled fan that is ultra quiet, yet still more than sufficient to cool the internals of the system, reliability and stability are no longer worries for the gamer, overclocker or enthusiast and high-end system builder.

Corsair TX Series Features:

* Supports ATX12V v2.2 standard and older ATX12V 2.01 spec
* Ultra-quiet 120mm (140mm on TX750W) double ball-bearing fan delivers excellent airflow
* 80%+ energy efficiency at 20%, 50% and 100% load condition for less heat generation and lower energy bill
* 99% Active Power Factor Correction provides clean and reliable power to your system
* Universal AC input 90~264V automatically scans and detects the correct voltage
* Dedicated single +12V rail offers maximum compatibility with latest components
* Over Current/Voltage/Power Protection, Under Voltage Protection, and Short Circuit Protection provide maximum safety to your critical system components.

* High quality Japanese capacitors provide uncompromised performance and reliability.
* Extra long cables support full tower size chassis.
* TX750W Dimension: 5.9"(W) x 3.4"(H) X 6.3"(L);
* TX650W Dimension: 5.9"(W) x 3.4"(H) X 5.9"(L);
* MTBF: 100,000 Hours
* NVIDIA SLI-ready certified.

I had no problem installing the TX750W in my case as it’s about standard sized and the case I used had quite a bit of room for a power supply, the Ultra M998.

I did move everything over later on, and currently I’ve got everything in my Antec P182, the main reason I mention this is because the P182 is type of case that you mount the PSU on the bottom and my motherboard, an EVGA NF680i SLI, has the 12v connection on the top left corner, some power supplies have cables that are not long enough to reach through the back. The Corsair TX750W reached fine, I easily ran the 12v power connector and other on the back side of the motherboard with no problems at all.

My system consisted of:
EVGA Nf5680i SLI Motherboard
Intel C2Q6600 (Noctua NHC-12P with 120mm fan)
1x Diamond Radeon 4870 1gig Video Card
1x Connect3d X1800GTO Video Card
4x hard drives, 1x 500gig, 3x 200gig
2x DVD/RW/DL drives
2x 120mm case fans
1x 80mm case fan

One thing very nice about the Corsair TX750W is that it comes with four PCIE connections, my system needs three, two for the 4870 and one for the X1800GTO, most power supplies these days only come with two PCIE connections.

So for testing I got out my trusty multimeter to test the 12, 3.3 and 5 volt rails, while this isn’t the optimal way to do things it does give us an idea of how well it works. I also had the PSU installed in my main system for over three weeks, and it got a nice workout I’m sure. I ran Orthos Stress Prime and 3dMark06 to get load on the system and checked the rails, I did this several times over the course of the three weeks and averaged out the results.

The tolerance or acceptable variance is 5% for all three rails which would be:
12v = 11.4v – 12.6v
5v = 4.75v – 5.25v
3.3v = 3.14v – 3.47v
Testing results:
IDLE:
3.3v = 3.38v
5v = 5.14v
12v = 12.10v

LOAD:
3.3v = 3.37v
5v = 5.14v
12v = 12.09v
As expected the rails dropped a bit under load, but not much at all, and the 12v rails stayed there with no fluctuations under load. All three rails are well within tolerances as well.
I should also note that the TX750W seems virtually silent, at least I didn’t hear it at all over the rest of the system, it added no additional noise, no matter how long I used it or how much load was placed on the system.

Conclusion:
As expected the Corsair TX750W performs very well under load, and is very stable, it’s an all around great PSU really.

The extra long cables are great for large cases and to even help route them to keep them out of the way, the fan is silent as well which is something most anyone can appreciate.

Pros:
Quiet
Stable
Lots of connections
Long cabling

Cons:
None really

Grades:
Overall
Design
Performance

Corsair TX750W 750Watt Power Supply is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

When building a computer there is one component you need to consider the most, this component or part is probably the most important on in your system and it can literally make or break it. The power supply is the single most important part of your system, it doesn’t matter what other components you have in there, or anything else, you could have the most high end, super secret, top quality parts, but if your power supply isn’t any good all of those expensive parts are essentially worthless. A bad power supply can shorten the lives of components and even possibly kill them altogether, so it’s very important that you purchase a good quality, stable and reliable power supply for your system

Today I’ve got the bgears b-Tarantula 650Watt Power Supply for review, it’s a modular style PSU but it’s a unique style of modular connections. Most modular PSUs have cables that plug into a socket on the PSU, but the b-Tarantula has a short cable with the female connection on it coming from the PSU, this allows for making connections in tight cases easier. The b-Tarantula also features a very quiet 135mm fan to keep it cool and quiet as well. In my time with this PSU I’ve put it under quite a bit of load testing and found it to be very stable, quiet and an all around good power supply.

As usual first thing to see is the unboxing video, check that out and continue on to the specs and the rest of the review:

Specifications:


bgears b-Tarantula 650Watt Power Supply

Features
-13.5 CM fan for excellent airflow and quiet operation
-Oversized Heatsink for better heat absorption
-SmartFlex Modular Cable Management, great for SFF cases
-PCI Express, SLi and Dual Core CPU Ready
-EPS 12V and ATX12V Version 2.2 Compliant
-Active PFC for better power efficiency
-Sleeved cabling for a tidier look
-Green power for extreme low power usage in standby mode
-High Efficiency of up to 86%
-Universal AC input 115~230V automatically scans and detects the correct voltage

 

I had no problems installing the b-Tarantula in my case with my system, it’s an averaged sized PSU so it should fit in most any case except of course for specialized ones.

The bgears b-Tarantula is installed in my secondary test system where I’ve been in process of testing a few sticks of ddr3 ram over the past couple weeks so it’s got quite a work out with overclocking and playing with voltages and a lot of stress testing as well to test the stability of the ram, and of course quite a few benchmarks, so it’s gotten quite a nice workout since being installed.

The included 135mm fan seems to keep the PSU cool, and it’s very quiet, I couldn’t hear it at all over the rest of the system even while under load for hours at a time.

Power supplies are expected to run within certain tolerances, in fact they have to or they are considered out of spec and not good obviously. There are three main rails on your power supply, 3.3v, 5v and 12v, and these are the ones that we’re most concerned with. The 12v rail is essentially your main power rail, this feeds most all components their power and is the most important one in your system. The tolerance or acceptable variance is 5% for all three rails which would be:

12v = 11.4v – 12.6v

5v = 4.75v – 5.25v

3.3v = 3.14v – 3.47v

For testing power supplies I use a multimeter, while this isn’t exactly the best or perfect way to do this, it works to give us an idea of the general stability and tolerance comparison of the individual power rails. There are several ways to access the voltages on a power supply, and the easiest is to use a molex to get to the 12v and 5v rails, but when you’ve got a PSU like this one today with multiple rails you need to check every connection available to make sure you test both rails. The b-Tarantula has the modular connections that are essentially universal making testing easier, the open leads coming from the PSU have access to all three power rails in them.

I tested the rails both at idle and at load, to achieve load I ran both Orthos Stress Prime and 3dMark06.

IDLE:

3.3v = 3.39v

5v = 5.11v

12v = 12.20v

LOAD:

3.3v = 3.38v

5v = 5.10 v

12v = 12.19v

As expected the rails dropped under load, this is normal, considering they only dropped .1v, that’s exceptional, many PSUs out there will drop quite a lot when under load from their idle voltages. The 3.3v rail is a bit high but well within tolerances, during load the rails did not move at all, they were extremely stable and unwavering so overall this PSU is very stable and I trust it enough to leave in my system.

Conclusion:
The bgears b-Tarantula power supply is a very good choice if you’re in the market for a modular PSU, it’s not only stable but quiet as well.

The unique modular style of the b-Tarantula is very useful if you’ve got a cramped case or even a tight small form factor case, you can just bend the cables to connect them, and of course since it’s modular you only use what you need and won’t have extra cable floating around your case.

Pros:
Stable power
Quiet
Well made
Uniquely modular

Cons: 
None really

Grades:
Overall
Design
Performance

bgears b-Tarantula 650Watt Power Supply is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog