Super Flower PSU - Casual Use Test
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The next set of tests were completed with a few applications running. On average there was anywhere from 10-20 percent CPU utilization. I ran iTunes, Word, Firefox, and Microsoft Money. The results are illustrated in the chart below.
The 3.3v and 5v rails stayed the same, while the 12v rail dipped a little bit. When things get tough the 12v seems to be the first to show the effect. While neither dropped below the magical line, each dropped 1/100 of a volt. Yeah, I know I’m being picky; 1/100 of a volt is not a big deal. On the other hand, if it drops that much from just casual use, when the units are pushed as far as I can, we could see some major drops.
Fully Loaded Use Test
For the final test, I threw everything I had at the units. I began by overclocking the CPU up to 3.4 GHz. I gave the RAM’s volts a bump up to 3.2, the highest the Ai7 will go without volt modding. I loaded up quite a few different applications. To stress the power coming to the 6800, I ran rthdribl, a program which renders a 3D picture which requires heavy GPU calculations. I ran AVG anti-virus; this kept the power up in the hard drive, and also ate some more CPU cycles. I threw in iTunes and watching a DVD to eat a few more and use the optical drives. In case there were some extra cycles left I ran Folding@Home. After all this, the CPU was maximized and all my drivers were being used. This is about all I could throw at it, and the results follow.
Well this is everything I could do. I feel kind of insulted, especially by Super Flower. Their 3.3v and 5v both went up. Once again, both 12v rails dropped. Super Flower dropped .6volts and the Antec dropped below the magical line, at 11.99v. Will your computer have random problems? No, computers can handle lower power, but there is a limit. Each computer will have its own limit based on the hardware. Any computer will run on 11.99. Both of these PSUs pass with flying colors.
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