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The BeQuiet! Pure Power L8 430W CM is a good power supply that will suit an audience building a low cost media system. As we expect from BeQuiet! the supply is beautifully finished and the choice of SilentWings fan ensures that noise levels are kept to a minimum, even under heavy load.
We managed to push this supply to deliver 512W before it would shut down safely. Load regulation is not the strong point of this unit, although it was stable enough, even under intensive cross loading demands.
Ripple suppression is surprisingly good, and we would class this unit as outstanding in this regard. Efficiency is also very impressive, peaking at over 88 percent in our tests.
In the real world, we tested this unit with a Core i7 3770K system, overclocked to 4.5ghz, with a HD7870 and 16GB of DDR3 memory. It was rock solid throughout a couple of days stress testing. It is unlikely that a media center would be using overclocked components at this level, so again we reiterate the usefulness of the product under these circumstances.
While there are many quality power supplies in the sub 500W category, the Pure Power L8 430W CM is priced at £54.30 inc vat in the United Kingdom, meaning it is a high value for money option for people on a tight budget. Sure, you can pick up a power supply for under £30, but there are certain risks involved in doing so.
Even with the rather loose voltage regulation concerns we mentioned, the unit didn't exhibit any real world problems. At such a reasonable price this supply is difficult to ignore, especially as it is basically silent even under heavy load.
Pros:
- Excellent build quality.
- fantastic ripple suppression.
- almost silent.
- competitively priced.
Cons:
- loose voltage regulation.
- not a pure modular design.
Kitguru says: A good power supply for the price.
