One of the most overlooked components in many performance computer systems is the power supply. In the last year or so Overclockers and high end system builders are learning to choose the power supply more closely. It is commonly accepted now that to build a stable AMD Thunderbird or XP system a 400 watt power supply should be the minimum, especially if you want to have several components in this system. Even more recently hardware enthusiasts have discovered a large part of your overclocking success revolves around the consistent power along the 3.3v, 5v, and 12v power lines. So does the Future Power have what it takes to make it into your system? let's take a look.
Company: Future Power
Product: Switching Power Supply 400 W
Availability: Now
Price: ~$35
Written By: Memphist0
Reviewed: February, 2002
| | Specifications: These are supplied by Future Power's website I N P U T | AC Input Voltage | 100-130V AC Nominal 115V AC. 200-260V AC Nominal 230V AC Selectable By Case SW. | AC Input Frequency | 50-60 Hz | AC Input Current | 6A (RMS) For 115V AC Input. 4A (RMS) For 230V AC Input. | Max In-rush Current | 45A @115V AC/60A @230V AC. | Burn Out Voltage | 100V AC or 200V AC Min. | |
O U T P U T | ITEM | O/P1 | O/P2 | O/P3 | O/P4 | O/P5 | O/P6 | O/P Voltage | +5 VDC | +3.3V | +12 VDC | -12 VDC | -5 VDC | +5 VSB | O/P Current | 30A | 15A | 15A | 0.5A | 0.5A | 2.0A | O/P (Min Current) | 5A | 2A | 1A | 0.1A | 0.1A | 0A | Ripple & Noise | 150 m Vp-p | 150 m Vp-p | 200 m Vp-p | 200 m Vp-p | 200 m Vp-p | 150 m Vp-p | Main Ripple MAX | 150 m Vp-p | 150 m Vp-p | 200 m Vp-p | 200 m Vp-p | 200 m Vp-p | 150 m Vp-p | Line Regulation | ¡¾3% | ¡¾3% | ¡¾3% | ¡¾3% | ¡¾3% | ¡¾3% | Load Regulation | ¡¾3% | ¡¾3% | ¡¾3% | ¡¾3% | ¡¾3% | ¡¾3% | Cross Regulation | ¡¾5% | ¡¾5% | ¡¾5% | ¡¾10% | ¡¾10% | ¡¾10% | | | | | | | | | | | |
Characteristics:Power good signal | 100 ~ 500 msec |
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| Operating temperature | 0 to 50¡É | Over power protection | Total outputs 105% min to 140% max. | Efficiency | >65% minimum at full load. | Over current protection | All outputs are protected by short circuit protection. | Insulation resistance | 50M¥¥ minimum from input to ground, input to output. | Over voltage protection | 5.5V min to 6.5V max. 3.7V min to 4.3V max. 13.8V min to 15V max. | Puncture test | 2.1KV DC for one minute input to ground. 3.1KV DC for one minute input to output. |
Mainboard approval: DFI(DFI. Inc.) | Acer(Acer Incorporated) | SOYO(Soyo Comupter Inc.) | IWILL(Genuine C&C Inc.) | ASUS(Asustek Computer Inc.) | WinFast(Leadtek Research Inc.) | MITAC(Mitac International Corp.) | AIR(United Hitech Corporation) | GIGA-BYTE(Giga-Byte Technology) | TMC(Taiwan Mycomp Co., Ltd.) | Leo(First International Computer, Inc.) | JET BOARD(Jet Way Information Co.,Ltd.) | PROCOMP(Procomp Informatics Ltd.) | UNIVERSAL(Universal Scientific Industrial) | AZZA(Pro Team Computer Corporation) | ELITEGROUP(Elitegroup Computer Systems) | DTK(Advance Creative Computer Corp.) | MICRO-STAR(Micro-Star Internation Co.,Ltd) | A-TREND(A-Trend Technology Co.,Ltd) | LUCKY STAR(Lucky Star Technology Co.,Ltd) |
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First off it's definitely a plus to see they have most of the major manufacturers on their Motherboard Approval list. However, I noticed a glaring omission. ABIT is not to be found on the list. Maybe its not a major concern, but still something to think about. One other thing to point out about this is the Future Power is not listed on AMD's approved list of power supplies. Again this may not be a problem, it did take a little while before even Enermax showed up on the list.
Speaking of Enermax lets compare the specs of the power rails to see how much of a difference there is between a $80 dollar 431w and the Future Power's 400w.
Right off the bat the +3.3v rail jumps out at ya. The Future Power is showing 15A while the Enermax is at 38A. That is a huge difference. Also the +5v rail is at 30A on Future Power and 44A on the Enermax. What can I say? I really wanted to plug in the two units and see what's going on in the overclocking department. But I have to say I was skeptical to say the least.
Next I was looking to see if the Future Power had the adjustable pots for the 3.3v or 5v rails. The pots are used to make adjustments to the rails if they are not as close to spec as the should be, meaning if your 5v is showing 4.5 you could open the power supply and with the adjustable pot raise the voltage back up to 5v to help stabilize your overclock. Unfortunately the Future Power did not offer this feature, but in its defense neither does the Enermax. While we are talking about the guts of this thing lets take a look at it.
Now this is pretty nice IMHO. Look at the size of the heatsink running between the two fans. This is a very good to help keep the PCB and internal components nice and comfortable. For comparison look at the puny ones Enermax puts in theirs.
I also like the two fan design used by the Future Power. By put them in parallel instead of the 90 degree offset seen on other power supplies it seems to reduce some of the back pressure that may be created by the 90 degree fan that blows directly at the PCB. The only downside to this is the power supply isn't help to cool the CPU by sucking from directly above it. This fan problem did create one problem in one of the two cases I tried it in. it makes the power supply longer and would not fit into the knockout that case had for a power supply. For most cases this would not be a problem but is something that should be checked into before picking up one of these power supplies. Here's a pic to describe this problem better.
See how the fan is not able to slide up into the knockout of the case preventing it from being securely screwed in place. Again since most cases I've seen don't use this type of knockout it is a small problem.
Testing: I used the Future Power and Enermax in a system with a SOYO Dragon+, AMD XP1800+, 256MB Corsair XMS2400, Visiontek GeForce3, Pioneer 16x DVD, HP CDRW 9510i, Maxtor 20GB ATA100 7200rpm, 2x 120mm fans, 1x 92mm fan, 1x 80mm fan, 1x delta 60mm fan and 4 additional USB ports provided by the Dragon. To record the voltages I used Motherboard Monitor 5 in Windows XP averaging the results under load(SETI and 3DMark2001). I list the components since obviously the number of fans and components make a big difference in the amount of power used.
Future Power | | | | | | | | |
FSB | core | 2.5 | 3.3 | 5 | 12 | -12 | -5 | rpm |
140 | 1.88 | 2.5 | 3.38 | 4.99 | 12.14 | -11.54 | -5.06 | 6617 |
148 | 1.88 | 2.51 | 3.37 | 4.96 | 12.21 | -11.62 | -5.11 | 6887 |
149 | fail | fail | fail | fail | fail | fail | fail | fail |
| | | | | | | | | |
Enermax | | | | | | | | |
FSB | core | 2.5 | 3.3 | 5 | 12 | -12 | -5 | rpm |
140 | 1.88 | 2.52 | 3.38 | 5.07 | 12.4 | -11.95 | -5.03 | 6617 |
148 | 1.88 | 2.52 | 3.38 | <Pal |
| DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this article is not warranted or guaranteed by Developer Shed, Inc. The content provided is intended for entertainment and/or educational purposes in order to introduce to the reader key ideas, concepts, and/or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon the reader to employ real-world tactics for security and implementation of best practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from implementing any information covered in our articles or tutorials. If this is a hardware review, it is not recommended to open and/or modify your hardware. |
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