FSP Hydro G 750W Power Supply Review

1. Introduction2. FSP Hydro G 750W (Bundle/Cables)3. FSP Hydro G 750W (External)4. FSP Hydro G 750W (Internal)5. High Res Gallery6. Testing Methodology & Results7. Closing Thoughts8. View All Pages

FSP have been manufacturing power supplies now since 1993 and are one of the world's leading OEM suppliers. Companies such as Zalman, OCZ, Antec, Silverstone, Super Talent and AOpen have adopted their power supplies in various ranges throughout the years.

It would be fair to say that over the years FSP haven't made a conscious effort to manufacture the most expensive, highest grade power supplies, unlike say Seasonic or SuperFlower. If you buy an FSP supply you know you will be getting a decent performer at a competitive price point. That said, the company stance has changed a little recently, as they have been trying to raise their profile to firmly target the enthusiast user.

We finally get the chance to take a look at their new Hydro G range, after announcing it way back in May this year. It has been some time coming, but in their literature supporting the product they claim ‘FSP Hydro G series stands for the needs of PC DIY enthusiasts and gamers who want a high end PSU with stylish ID design but do not want to compromise electronic performance at all. By server grade circuit and advanced thermal layout design, Hydro G series deliver full load (wattage) at 50°C ambient temperature. Silent operation is considered by intelligent fan speed control circuit design with 0dBA function to fulfill gamers need in playing games.'

No, the ‘Hydro' naming doesn't mean it has some kind of proprietary water or liquid cooling system incorporated inside. Perhaps that is a risk no power supply company is willing to take … yet. These Hydro units are 80 Plus Gold Certified, single +12V rail, fully modular and incorporate a 135mm Fluid Dynamic Bearing fan. FSP are using all Japanese grade capacitors inside to ensure improved long term stability and reliability.

There are three models in this specific range, a 650W, 750W and 850W unit. Our analysis today is focused on the 750 watt unit. All of the units are supplied by a full 5 year warranty.

FSP Hydro G Overview:

• Unique product ID with changeable side stickers for DIY enthusiasts and gamers.
• Intelligent fan speed control circuit design with 0dBA function.
• Server grade circuit and advanced thermal layout design.
• Complies with newest ATX12V & EPS12V standards.
• High efficiency 90%.
• Active PFC 99%.
• High wattage's with 80PLUS gold certification.
• Powerful single +12V rail design.
• Advanced full modular design with ribbon cables.
• Full Japan-made electrolytic capacitors.
• SLI and Crossfire ready.
• Quiet and long-lasting 135mm FDB fan.
• Full protections: OCP, OVP, SCP, OPP, UVP, OTP.
• Global safety approved.

We like the FSP box artwork – it is dark with a high resolution photograph of the unit in the center. Some of the key selling points are listed along the bottom – 80 Plus Gold Certification, the Fully Modular Design and 100% Japanese Capacitors.

The rear of the box highlights an exploded diagram of the power supply – detailing some of the technical specifications. We get into this in more detail later in the review.

Inside the accessories box are all the modular cables, mounting screws and a regional specific power cable. They also supply a small fold out style ‘user manual which is not that useful at all. It is quite honestly one of the worst user manuals we have seen in recent years.

FSP bundle two sets of additional case stickers with the power supply. You can remove the blue stickers already adhered to the casework and replace them with either green or red stickers.

You can only do this once per set as they can't be reused. Colour coordination is popular with the enthusiast audience in 2015 but we aren't so sure this is a selling point for FSP and could perhaps even be viewed as a gimmick? Still, it is difficult to fault FSP for trying something different, and you can just ignore these stickers if you wish.

The cabling is high quality, all ribbon style for ease of routing. The 750 watt and 850 watt units have 12 SATA connectors, and 6 molex connectors on hand for the most demanding builds. Both 650 watt and 750 watt units have four 6+2 PCI e power connectors, while the 850 watt unit has a total of six.

The FSP Hydro G 750W is a rather attractive supply, that could almost pass as a Corsair branded product on quick glance due to the simple two tone lettering and design ethic. The power supply measures 150 mm x 170 mm x 86 mm (LxWxH) and weighs 1.8kg.

Finish quality is high and it passed our screwdriver test. This involves running the head of a Philips head driver down the side of the chassis with light to medium force. After all, how many times have you accidentally connected with a power supply during a system build?

The fan grill is a bit of work – we like this a lot! Underneath is a large 135mm Fluid Dynamic Bearing fan (FDB). Larger fans are generally better, as they can push more air at slower speeds, generating less noise. But only if the quality is high of course. We will get a closer look at the fan when we crack the unit open shortly.

One side of the power supply is modular with several rows of labelled connectors arranged vertically. One side of the modular bay area features the logo along with the slogan ‘Power Never Ends'.

The other side of the power supply is vented with a power connector and switch positioned at the side.

FSP Hydro G 750 Watt Power Supply
DC Output	+3.3V	+5V	+12V	-12V	+5Vsb
Max Output	25A	25A	62.5A	0.5A	3.5A
Total Power	150W		750W	6W	17.5W
	750W

The FSP Hydro G 750 Watt power supply can produce 62.5A from the single +12V rail along with 25A from both the +3.3V and +5V rails. This is exactly the same as the Corsair RM750i that we reviewed back in June this year.

FSP are using a Power Logic 135mm fan (Model number PLA13525S12M) rated at 0.4A at 12V. We have seen this fan used before in other FSP units such as the Aurum PT 1000W which we reviewed back in January this year (review HERE). This is rated 111.1CFM at a maximum noise rating of 41.6dBa.

The FSP Hydro G 750W is a nicely built unit, very clean – and the soldering quality is reasonably high with just a few wires looking a little worse than we would expect on the modular PCB. It is based on a LLC primary design with synchronous rectification on secondary with DC-DC VRM's.

Most of the heatsinks are quite small inside with proprietary heatsinks on the secondary stage which FSP are keen to point out in their literature. They say their new heat dissipation design conducts heat through a thermal pad on the bottom of the power supply which transforms the whole PSU chassis into a giant heat sink, cooled by system airflow.

The filtering starts on the housing with a Y and X Capacitor and continues to the main PCB. On the primary side there is an add on PCB which is home to the APFC controller, next to a coil which is part of the PFC stage.

FSP are using a pair of high grade 105c rated Japanese capacitors on the primary stage – both rated 420 V 330uF. These are from the KMR range. On the main PCB we found standard electrolytics from Rubycon and Nippon Chemi Con. I was a little disappointed to see a few solid capacitors on the main PCB from Chinese company TEAPO.

On this page we present some high resolution images of the product taken in our professional studio with a Canon 1DX camera. These will take much longer to open due to the dimensions, especially on slower connections. If you use these pictures on another site or publication, please credit Kitguru.net as the owner/source.

Correctly testing power supplies is a complex procedure and KitGuru have configured a test bench which can deliver up to a 2,000 watt DC load. Due to public requests we have changed our temperature settings recently – previously we rated with ambient temperatures at 25C, we have increased ambient temperatures by 10c (to 35c) in our environment to greater reflect warmer internal chassis conditions.

We use combinations of the following hardware:
• SunMoon SM-268
• CSI3710A Programmable DC load (+3.3V and +5V outputs)
• CSI3711A Programmable DC load (+12V1, +12V2, +12V3, and +12V4)
• Extech Power Analyzer
• Extech MultiMaster MM570 digital multimeter
• Extech digital sound level meter
• Digital oscilloscope (20M S/s with 12 Bit ADC)
• Variable Autotransformer, 1.4 KVA

We test with the +12V in single rail mode.

DC Output Load Regulation
Combined DC Load	+3.3V		+5V		+12V		+5VSB		-12V
	A	V	A	V	A	V	A	V	A	V
75W	1.24	3.34	1.19	5.03	4.95	12.04	0.50	5.02	0.20	-12.03
150W	2.16	3.34	2.83	5.03	10.07	12.03	1.00	5.02	0.30	-12.02
375W	6.17	3.33	6.06	5.02	26.17	12.03	1.50	5.01	0.50	-12.03
565W	10.31	3.33	10.85	5.02	38.34	12.02	2.00	5.00	0.60	-12.03
750W	10.71	3.33	13.85	5.01	53.60	12.00	3.00	5.00	0.80	-12.04

Load regulation rates as excellent.

FSP Hydro G 750W	Maximum Load
	822W

We managed to reach around 822W before the unit would shut down gracefully. Or another 72 watts over the rated maximum.

Next we want to try Cross Loading. This basically means loads which are not balanced. If a PC for instance needs 500W on the +12V outputs but something like 30W via the combined 3.3V and +5V outputs then the voltage regulation can fluctuate badly.

Cross Load Testing	+3.3V		+5V		+12V		-12V		+5VSB
	A	V	A	V	A	V	A	V	A	V
734W	1.0	3.33	1.0	5.02	60.0	11.96	0.2	-12.02	0.50	5.01
154W	15.0	3.32	15.0	5.00	2.0	12.05	0.2	-12.02	0.50	5.01

The unit passes our Cross Load testing with both +5V and +3.3V rails holding steady. The +12V rail drops to 11.96 when hit with 60 AMPS – but this is a very good result.

We then used an oscilloscope to measure AC ripple and noise present on the DC outputs. We set the oscilloscope time base to check for AC ripple at both high and low ends of the spectrum.

ATX12V V2.2 specification for DC output ripple and noise is defined in the ATX 12V power supply design guide.

ATX12V Ver 2.2 Noise/Ripple Tolerance
Output	Ripple (mV p-p)
+3.3V	50
+5V	50
+12V1	120
+12V2	120
-12V	120
+5VSB	50

Obviously when measuring AC noise and ripple on the DC outputs the cleaner (less recorded) means we have a better end result. We measured this AC signal amplitude to see how closely the unit complied with the ATX standard.

AC Ripple (mV p-p)
DC Load	+3.3V	+5V	+12V	5VSB
75W	5	5	15	5
150W	5	5	15	5
375W	10	10	20	10
565W	10	15	25	15
750W	15	15	30	15

Ripple suppression is very good, and well within the industry tolerance levels. The +3.3V and +5V hit maximum levels of 15mV. The +12V rail peaks at 30mV when delivering the full 750 watts.

Efficiency (%)
75W	87.88
150W	91.28
375W	92.42
565W	91.52
750W	90.89

The power supply delivers great efficiency results, peaking at close to 92.5% at 50% load. This drops to around 91% at full load.

We take the issue of noise very seriously at KitGuru and this is why we have built a special home brew system as a reference point when we test noise levels of various components. Why do this? Well this means we can eliminate secondary noise pollution in the test room and concentrate on components we are testing. It also brings us slightly closer to industry standards, such as DIN 45635.

Today to test the power supply we have taken it into our acoustics room environment and have set our Digital Sound Level Noise Decibel Meter Style 2 one meter away from the unit. We have no other fans running so we can effectively measure just the noise from the unit itself.

As this can be a little confusing for people, here are various dBa ratings in with real world situations to help describe the various levels.

KitGuru noise guide
10dBA – Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves
20-25dBA – Whisper
30dBA – High Quality Computer fan
40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refrigerator
50dBA – Normal Conversation
60dBA – Laughter
70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer
80dBA – City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal
90dBA – Motorcycle or Lawnmower
100dBA – MP3 Player at maximum output
110dBA – Orchestra
120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine
130dBA – Threshold of Pain
140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range)
160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum

Noise (dBA)
75W	<28.0
150W	<28.0
375W	30.4
565W	32.7
750W	35.9

At 350 watts demand the large fan starts to spin up a little, hitting a noise rating at just over 30 dBa. As the last 250 watts are demanded the fan spins up with a maximum measurement of just under 36dBa in our tests. Interestingly FSP rate the maximum noise from the fan in this unit at 40dBa under full load but our own test ratings fall some way short of their claims.

This is not a silent power supply by any stretch of the imagination, but it is relatively quiet unless you are running at a full 750watt load all the time. To be perfectly honest if you need a constant 750 watt when gaming you should really be looking at a 1000/1250 watt unit – you don't want to be running a power supply at full capacity for sustained periods of time.

Temperature (c)
	Intake	Exhaust
75W	36	39
150W	38	46
375W	39	48
565W	45	54
750W	47	58

The large 135mm fan cools very well, holding temperatures well inside the ‘safe' zone.

Maximum load	Efficiency
822W	89.78

For those interested, we measured efficiency when stressing the unit to breaking point. 89.78 percent efficiency at 833W … hardly practical, but interesting regardless.The FSP Hydro G 750W is a capable, competently designed power supply which passed all tests without any sign of a problem. First impressions are positive thanks to the reassuring build quality which FSP are backing up with a 5 year warranty. I do think this unit bears a rather significant resemblance to the Corsair units we have reviewed in recent months but this is certainly not a bad thing. The two tone colour scheme is simple yet effective and the case finishing is stellar.

While we admire FSP for making the effort, we aren't so sure that the concept of a simple replaceable sticker system is going to prove that popular with the enthusiast audience. We appreciate they are keen to target the audience who spend not only a lot of time buying the right components but who place a focus on the system colour scheme as well.

I would much rather FSP had used a cleaner, more effective ‘reusable' magnetic badge system because the stickers can only be used once before they need binned. Its a small point but perhaps they can look into this for the future – I am surprised no power supply manufacturer has yet to try this.

Technically, the FSP Hydro G 750W exhibits no discernible weaknesses. Both load regulation and efficiency are first class and ripple suppression is excellent, falling well within industry rated tolerance specifications. The large fan is generally quiet although it can get a little noisy if you run at a constant 750 watts – although if this is the case you really should have opted for a 1000 watt or 1250 watt unit to leave a little headroom to improve efficiency and long term stability. It is not ideal to be running a power supply at full load 24/7.

FSP UK distribution and availability has improved in recent months with stock now available at Scan, Amazon and Novatech. We have been told that the Hydro Series will be available in the UK in the third week of December, just before Christmas.

I have not yet received confirmed UK pricing although the 750 watt unit is marked down as $139.99. Overclockers UK told us they have no plans as yet to stock these units although with the Corsair RMi 750 '80 Plus Gold' available for £105.95 inc vat (HERE) FSP will need to get the pricing right in order to undercut the market leaders and generate sales.

Discuss on our Facebook page, over HERE.

Pros:

• Excellent build quality.
• technically a good design.
• extra stickers in the box is an interesting idea.
• ribbon cables.
• 5 year warranty.

Cons:

• terrible manual.
• poor availability.
• stiff competition.
• stickers need destroyed after they are used once.

Kitguru says: The FSP Hydro G 750W is a technically capable design with a 5 year warranty and a solid internal design. The chassis is well finished and the multicoloured replaceable sticker system is certainly interesting.

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