Rock-solid performance
Our Chroma load-testing procedures can be found at this link.
Efficiency
| Load | 10% | 25% | 50% | 75% | 100% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Efficiency | 85.3% | 91.4% | 93% | 92.4% | 91% |
There tends to be myopic focus on PSU efficiency these days, driven by the 80 PLUS organisation that doles out the various Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum awards. We see that the supply manages to exceed 90 per cent across a wide range of loads. The numbers are broadly in-line with other Platinum-rated supplies that have passed through the labs in recent months, perhaps a little better than average.
Regulation
In terms of regulation, we're looking at just how well the supply is able to hold to the various lines. The ATX spec. has a +/- 5 per cent leeway on all but the -12V line.
| Line/Load | 3.3V | 5V | 12V |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 per cent | +0.3% | +0.4% | +0.9% |
| 50 per cent | 0% | -0.4% | 0.4% |
| 100 per cent | -0.4% | -0.8% | -0.8% |
There are good numbers, and then there are absolutely great numbers - Antec has the latter. Companies like to see a maximum sway of ±2 per cent on high-quality supplies; the HCPP 850W is way better than that.
Regulation - cross-load
How about providing uneven loads that stress particular voltage rails? In the first attempt, we've put 60A on the 12V rails, and 1A on the 3.3V and 5V rails. This can actually be somewhat typical for a system heavy on graphics and CPU power. In the second, we've turned the tables and gone for 12A on both the 3.3V and 5V rails - highly unlikely in a real-world environment - and just 2A on the 12V - even more unlikely!
| Line/Load | 3.3V | 5V | 12V |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cross-load 12V focus | +0.4% | +0.8% | -0.5% |
| Cross-load 3.3V/5V focus | -1.0% | -0.9% | +0.8% |
Hammering one part of the PSU power delivery while using just a small portion of the other can throw cheaper supplies of out kilter. Numbers stack up nicely against the non-cross-load tests, which is a hallmark of a premium, top-quality supply. We can usually throw a PSU off-balance during these cross-load tests; Delta and Antec's engineering puts this unit at the very top of the list.
Ripple
| Line/Load (mv - p-p max) | 3.3V | 5V | 12V |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 per cent | 10mV | 10mV | 15mV |
| 50 per cent | 15mV | 15mV | 20mV |
| 100 per cent | 15mV | 20mV | 25mV |
The ATX v2.2 spec states that the maximum permissible ripple is 120mV for the 12V line and 50mV for others.
PSUs convert AC power into DC, but doing so requires the AC waveform to be suppressed. What we're really testing here is the quality of the supply's rectifier and any smoothing capacitors in getting rid of this unwanted up-and-down ripple.
Again, the performance is amongst the very best we've seen.
Temps
| Temperatures | Intake | Exhaust |
|---|---|---|
| 10 per cent | 25°C | 32°C |
| 50 per cent | 34°C | 39°C |
| 100 per cent | 35°C | 44°C |
80 PLUS Platinum has the ancillary benefit of producing very little heat. This supply could, one would think, be re-engineered as a lower-wattage, passively cooled model.
Fan performance
Temps are good but they mean little in isolation. Obtaining accurate noise readings is near-on impossible when the supply is connected to the Chroma test harness and dual-unit load-tester. We can test the manufacturer's quietness claims in a different way, by using an AMPROBE TMA10A anemometer placed directly over the centre of the PSU. The anemometer records the airflow being pushed/pulled from the PSU's fan. We can use a Voltcraft DT-10L RPM meter to measure the rotational speed of the fan, too.
| Load | Fan RPM | Airflow | Noise |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 per cent | 500rpm | circa-15cfm | Silent |
| 50 per cent | 650rpm | circa-25cfm | Very quiet |
| 100 per cent | 1,250rpm | circa-50cfm | Noticeable but acceptable |
The supply's 135mm fan cannot be readily heard at anything below 500W loads. This is good news for most builds, as even running a Core i7-4770K and Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan GPU only consumes 250W at the wall. Stressed to the limit, noise is noticeable but never irritating.
