Powercolor Gaming 600W Power Supply Review

1. Introduction2. The Powercolor Gaming 600W Power Supply (External)3. The Powercolor Gaming 600W Power Supply (Internal)4. Testing Methodology and Results5. Closing Thoughts6. View All Pages

Powercolor are one of a handful of graphics card manufacturers who are trying to create additional revenue streams by entering into the power supply marketplace. We took a look at their Extreme Series 1000W unit a few weeks ago and we found that Solytech based (SL-X1000EPS) unit actually delivered very impressive results.

Powercolor recently released two ranges, the modular Extreme Series and the non modular Gaming series.

The Extreme models are more expensive 80 Plus Bronze certified with 1000w and 850W units available. The Gaming Series is targeted more for the mainstream audience with standard 80 Plus certification with 600W and a 500W units available.

Today we are reviewing the 600w model.

• 80 Plus certified to deliver more than 80% efficiency
• ATX 12V V2.2/ EPS 12V 2.91 ready and backwards compatible with ATX 12V 2.01
• Active Power Factor Correction (PFC) with PF value of 0.99
• Multiple Protection: Over-voltage and over-current protection, short circuit protection, under-voltage protection, over power protection
• Long lasting, Ultra-quiet 120mm fan double ball bearing fan with thermal control
• 105c High quality Japanese-made capacitors
• Sleeved Cable and Extra Length
• Crossfire and SLI support
• MTBF >100,000 hours at 80% load, ambient temperature at 25c

The Powercolor 600W Gaming Series power supply ships in an attractively designed heavy duty box. There is various information listed on all sides of the packaging.

Inside, a manual rests on top of the Powercolor PSU, which is encased in a soft protective material.

Powercolor supply several felt cable tidies, a manual, installation screws and a power cable for your specific region.

The power supply has a similar design ethic to the 1000W Extreme model we recently reviewed with modern tech based fonts and a sharp accented colour scheme, which is with this particular model, bright yellow.

The large 120mm fan takes centerstage at the top behind a black grill. When we open the chassis later we will have a closer look at this fan.

As we mentioned earlier, the Gaming range is not a modular design, so all the cables are supplied preinstalled. They are all sleeved and extra length (details below).

Cable lengths

1 x 20+4-Pin Main connector (600mm) 1 x 4+4-Pin ATX12V/EPS12V Connector (600mm) 1 x 6+2-Pin PCI-E connector （600mm) 1 x 6+2-Pin PCI-E connector （600mm) 3 x S-ATA connector (600mm+150mm+150mm) 3 x S-ATA connector (600mm+150mm+150mm) 3 x Molex Peripheral (600mm+150mm+150mm) 2 x Molex Peripheral + 1 x FDD connector (600mm+150mm+150mm)

The reverse side of the chassis is fully vented to aid with internal cooling, there is a power connector and power switch to the left.

The power supply is capable of delivering 22A to each of the 12v rails.

The 120mm x 120mm x 25mm Globe fan is a bright yellow B1202512M model, rated at 0.30A. This is a thermally controlled double ball bearing fan. The ‘M' moniker at the end of the naming actually stands for ‘medium speed'. They do make low speed fans, but they aren't often used in power supply designs.

Internally, the design is clean with several large heatsinks positioned to ensure adequate cooling.

This design uses capacitors rated to 105c across the board, ensuring high reliability and long term stable performance levels. The Nichicon aluminum electrolytic capacitors are high quality.

The design sandwiches the 80 plus transformer between a dual heatsink configuration to help ensure high levels of heat are easily dispersed.

The supply supports full OVP, UVP, SCP and OCP protection. Wiring is well routed and protected with thick rubber housing ensuring that the cabling will not fray against the metal chassis.

Additional technical assistance: Peter McFarland and Jeremy Price.

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 & SkyTronic DSL 2 Digital Sound Level Meter (6-130dBa)
• Digital oscilloscope (20M S/s with 12 Bit ADC)
• Variable Autotransformer, 1.4 KVA

We are running the 12V rails into one final test result (12v)

DC Output Load Regulation
Combined DC Load	+3.3V		+5V		+12V		+5VSB		-12V
	A	V	A	V	A	V	A	V	A	V
75W	1.09	3.34	1.46	5.03	4.92	12.12	0.50	5.05	0.20	-12.08
150W	2.07	3.34	2.97	5.02	10.06	12.11	0.50	5.02	0.30	-12.08
300W	4.30	3.32	6.02	5.01	20.63	12.08	1.00	5.01	0.30	-12.08
450W	6.59	3.32	8.50	4.98	31.84	12.06	1.50	4.98	0.30	-12.08
600W	9.94	3.31	12.22	4.97	41.82	12.03	2.50	4.94	0.30	-12.05

The Powercolor supply has strong regulation across the output range and handled our load testing very well. All of the primary rails remained within 3% of the nominal voltage.

Powercolor Extreme Series 1000W	Maximum Load
	664.2W

We managed to achieve 664.2W before the power supply would shut down, gracefully. The overprotection circuitry is working well.

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
580W	1.0	3.32	1.0	5.05	44.0	11.92	0.2	-11.96	0.50	5.03
145W	12.0	3.27	15.0	4.94	2.0	12.05	0.2	-12.04	0.50	4.91

The Powercolor unit performed admirably with only minor 5V fluctuation, but within tolerances.

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 Powercolor unit complied with the ATX standard.

AC Ripple (mV p-p)
DC Load	+3.3V	+5V	+12V	5VSB
75W	5	10	10	10
150W	10	10	15	10
300W	10	15	30	10
450W	15	20	50	10
600W	20	25	60	20

Ripple results were within tolerances, although we recorded around 25mv on the +5v line and 60 mv on the +12v line, a little more than we normally see with the units we are sent for review. It is worth pointing out that although these are higher than most of the units we test, they still fall well within the tolerance levels set out by the ATX12V Ver 2.2 standard.

Efficiency (%)
75W	82.21
150W	82.98
300W	83.78
450W	82.47
600W	81.53

Efficiency results are well within the 80%+ parameters set out for standard 80 Plus certification. While they aren't as high as the 80 Plus certified Cooler Master Silent Pro M 600W we recently reviewed they are still quite good. Minimum efficiency was 81.53% 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 record 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 Refridgerator
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	24.3
150W	25.9
300W	26.7
450W	32.3
600W	34.8

The PowerColor Gaming 600W PSU is reasonably quiet until just after 50% load. Around 75% load the fan starts to speed up considerably peaking around 35 dBa at full load. A reasonable set of results.

Temperature (c)
	Intake	Exhaust
75W	35	37
150W	36	39
300W	38	43
450W	40	47
600W	43	51

Under 50% load the exhaust air is maintained close to intake and when the fan kicks in above 50% the temperatures remain around 8c above ambient, which is great. Powercolor have clearly set the fan balance more for performance, rather than low noise levels.

Maximum load	Efficiency
664.2W	78.2

Pushing the PSU above its rated limits generates an efficiency level of around 78%. This is not a viable ‘real world’ situation, but its interesting nonetheless.

We were very impressed with the PowerColor Extreme Series 1000W PSU, but the Gaming 600W unit hasn't excited us quite as much.

The appearance of the product is stunning, we like the fact that Powercolor are opting for bold, red and yellow fans – obviously to catch the eye of the enthusiast gaming audience. The Gaming 600W product is very appealing as the yellow fan gives it an almost ‘sportscar' like appearance.

For a standard 80 Plus certified power supply the overall performance is actually very solid with decent levels of efficiency. That said, we noticed a fair amount of ripple on the 5V+ and 12V+ lines … nothing to cause concern, but a little higher than we would normally measure with our equipment. Good result for a low priced mainstream unit however.

Internally, it is good to see that the unit is implementing 105c rated capacitors which are sure to last a long time, particularly as these units could receive high levels of continual load from the gaming audience. We also like the fact that Powercolor have opted for fully sleeved extra length cables which will make routing a much easier process.

Unfortunately PowerColor are up against some serious competition in this specific sector and we cannot really recommend this product as a ‘must have'. If you can find it at a good price then it is certainly worth a look, but we have not received confirmed UK pricing yet and have only found it for sale on a Canadian store (NCIX) for $84.99. A quick currency calculation shows that this should be selling in the UK at a later date for around £50-55 inc vat, which is a reasonable asking price.

KitGuru says: A solid enough product, but excluding the appearance it does little to stand out in the crowded marketplace. Worth Considering if you find it at a good price locally however.

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