Thirty Four Supplies. Erk.
We try not to do things by halves here at HEXUS, so instead of testing a handful of supplies we tested nearly three dozen instead. The range of units tested encompasses everything from the very low-end budget supplies with modest output and a modicum of connectors, right up to 600W+ server-class supplies with every connector conceivable, multiple independent 12V rails and a price tag to match. We were very careful to use retail power supplies for our testing, mindful of not falling into the trap of asking manufacturers for supplies only to have special units sent which stand up more than a retail unit would. That said, that couldn't be avoided for a few units, the majority of which were engineering samples of new products about to hit market and therefore not for general sale by matter of course. Yet.I've been very careful to mark supplies that aren't full retail units we've bought as such, so you can tell them apart. The best way to convey the information from 34 PSU SKUs is in a huge table.
| Model | Stated Output Power | |
| Allied AL-250ATX | 250W | Quick Link |
| FSP Group FSP250-50NWV(PF) | 250W | Quick Link |
| Etasis EFN-300 | 285W | Quick Link |
| Aopen A0300-12AHNF | 300W | Quick Link |
| Zalman ZM300B-APS | 300W | Quick Link |
| FSP Group FSP300-60GNF | 300W | Quick Link |
| Silverstone ST30NF | 300W | Quick Link |
| Qtechnology QT-03350G | 350W | Quick Link |
| Hiper Power HPU-3S350-UK | 350W | Quick Link |
| FSP Group FSP400-60GLN | 400W | Quick Link |
| Zalman ZM400B-APS | 400W | Quick Link |
| Akasa AK-P400FG BKEUV3 | 400W | Quick Link |
| Qtechnology QT-03460G | 460W | Quick Link |
| Thermaltake Pure Power-460 | 460W | Quick Link |
| Akasa AK-P460FG BK | 460W | Quick Link |
| Thermaltake Pure Power-480APD | 480W | Quick Link |
| Tagan TG480-U01 | 480W | Quick Link |
| Tagan TG480-U01 | 480W | Quick Link |
| Hiper Type-R Series 480W | 480W | Quick Link |
| SSM Technology EVP-5007-00 | 500W | Quick Link |
| FSP Group BlueStorm 500 | 500W | Quick Link |
| Thermaltake Pure Power TWV500 | 500W | Quick Link |
| OCZ OCZ-520 U12 | 520W | Quick Link |
| Enermax EG565AX-VE(G) | 535W | Quick Link |
| FSP Group FSP550-60 PLN | 550W | Quick Link |
| Akasa AK-P550FF BK | 550W | Quick Link |
| Silentmaxx IC Tech 580W | 580W | Quick Link |
| OCZ Powerstream 600 | 600W | Quick Link |
| Enermax EG701AX-VE | 600W | Quick Link |
| Qtec 650W Triple Fan | 650W | Quick Link |
| FSP Group FSP650-80GLN | 650W | Quick Link |
| Akasa AK-P650FF BK | 650W | Quick Link |
| Silverstone ST65ZF | 650W | Quick Link |
| Aopen AO700-12ALN | 700W | Quick Link |
The list spans everything from small 250W units designed for older PCs, right up to physically large server-class supplies with EPS connectors rated to massive output power. There are some exceptions to our "we bought all the units and shipped them" rule, too. PSUs with names this colour are engineering samples of new PSU SKUs that AOpen, FSP and Akasa wanted us to look at while we were there, which we decided to throw into the mix. All the engineering samples are in the final throws of pre-production and will be on sale very soon, if they aren't already.
PSUs with names this colour were supplied by the vendor themselves. Tagan sent over a TG480-U01 to pair with the one we'd bought and brought ourselves and Silverstone hand-delivered three units on the last day of testing, driven over from their offices in Taipei, after hearing we didn't have any of their stuff on test. Lastly, an output power in this colour of which there's only a couple, is one where the manufacturer had admitted that it's a peak power and it's outwardly stated as such somewhere on the box, literature supplied or on the unit itself.
Given that the list of PSUs cover such a wide spectrum of units, in terms of output power, connectors, PSU spec and more, our test procedures and considerations were a little more involved than a plug-em-in-and-see-what-happens affair.
