Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus 460W Review
Hi people,
I am back with another review which will be of interest to masses as this is the product for the masses.
Cooler Master recently launched a new series of computer power supplies. Today we will be reviewing Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus 460 Watt PSU.
Do not confuse this power supply with older Cooler Master Extreme Power series. This is totally new product.
Cooler Master product range is little confusing at the moment. There are 4 power supplies carrying same name but different model numbers. The one which we received is RS-460-PCAR-A3 and does not come with Passive PFC. Only EU models come with Passive PFC. This model carries EPS12V connector and an extra SATA connector over the other two models.
Lets have a quick look at the power supply specification and features
[BREAK=Features & Specifications]
Features.
1. Compliance with the newest Intel standard ATX 12V V2.3
2. More than 70% efficiency at typical load operation
3. High reliability (MTBF > 100,000 hrs)
4. Green power design to meet Energy Star and Blue Angel requirements
5. Multiple protection design(OVP/OCP/OPP/SCP)
6. Support dual +12V1 and +12V2 outputs for higher power usage
7. Two-year warranty
Specifications
Type: ATX Form Factor 12V V2.3
Dimension (W / H / D): Standard ATX 150 x 140 x 86 (mm)
Input Voltage: 180~264 V
Input Current: 6 A @ 230V
Input Frequency Range: 47 ~ 63 Hz
Power Good Signal: 100 ~ 500 ms
Hold Up Time: > 17 ms
Efficiency: >70% Typically
MTBF: >100,000 hrs
Protection: OVP / OCP / OPP / SCP
Output Capacity: 460 Watts
Operation Temperature: 0~40℃
Safety: Nemko / TUV / cUL / CE / BSMI /FCC / C-tick / CCC (Passive Model Only)
Fan: Sleeve bearing 120mm fan
Connectors:
M/B 20+4 Pin x 1
CPU 4+4 Pin x 1
PCI-E 6 Pin x 1
4 Pin Peripheral x 5
SATA x 4
[BREAK=External appearance and comments.]
External appearance and comments.
Aesthetically the PSU is good looking. Functionally there are few things that I would like to point out.
The PSU is meant to be entry level / mid level third party PSU and not high end model. And there are obvious cost cutting with this model.
Coming from likes of OCZ, Tagan and Corsair PSUs, the first thing I notices was the thickness and length of the wires. The wires are not very long. People with big cabinets with bottom mounting PSU might face problems with certain motherboards. Definitely with the cable management as they are not long enough to be routed from back of the motherboard or around the motherboard to reach ATX and EPS power connectors.
The second thing I noticed was the thickness of cables. They were thinner than what we see on high end PSUs. 20 AWG wires are typically seen on Powersafe / VIP entry level PSUs and same is the case with this one. Now I really don’t know if I should be criticizing Cooler Master for this or not. Its not high end PSU but it would have been great to see some quality maintained by reputed brand.
A large 120 mm Fan is used for cooling.
Here is quick look at the ratings of the PSU. Its dual rail PSU which is rated at 18Amps on both 12v lines.
A look at the connectors and cables.
Now lets open up this baby and have a look what is inside.
Opening up the PSU requires the removal of 4 screws. Do not do this on your PSU as this voids the warranty.
A first look inside lead to little disappointment. The heatsinks are really small and tiny. I expected something better than this. Though 120mm fan will be blowing air directly over this entire region, it would have been nice to have little bigger heatsink on power transistors.
This version of the PSU does not come with Passive PFC.
Now let’s move onto the test setup and the way we tested.
[BREAK=Test Setup]
How we tested.
Now this wont be a technical mambo jumbo review. What we were after, is real world stability and performance. We did not have access to precision load testing equipments so those tests were not possible anyway. But what we had was a good combination of mid – high end computer configurations good enough to give this PSU a run for its money.
Hardware Used
*Intel C2D E8400
*Intel C2Q Q6600 G0 stepping
*Gigabyte X48 DQ6 motherboard
*Seagate 500 , 320, 750 GB HDDs
*Hitachi 160GB HDD
*Gecube HD3650
*Sony 16X DVD RW
*Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme HSF with thermaltake high speed 120mm 94cfm fan
*3 x 120mm sflex fans
Testing equipment
*Unit-T multimeter
*Anshuman Analog oscilloscope
[BREAK=Testing with Intel C2D E8400]
Testing with Intel C2D E8400
To start off we put in a new 45nm dual core processor. As many of you must be aware that these are overclocker’s dream dual core processors.
We started off with stock settings with all available HDDs and fans connected along with Gecube HD3650. We ran a loop of rthdribl, started Prime95 blend test and then started copying a large 4.3gb file and measured the voltages.
Here are the voltage readings.
+12v1: 11.97v
+12v2: 11.97v
+5v: 5.03v
+3.3v: 3.26v
As you can see the voltages are well within the allowed 5% tolerance of ATX specifications.
Now lets have a look at ripple voltages
+12v: 64mv p-p
+5v: 26mv p-p
+3.3v: 28mv p-p
These two as well are within the allowed 120mv ( for 12v) and 50mv ( for 5v and 3.3v) tolerance band of ATX specification.
Then we cranked up the system straight to 4.05Ghz with cpu being supplied 1.4v vcore. Graphic card was overclocked to its max known clocks and again same procedure was repeated.
Here are the voltage readings.
+12v1: 11.88v
+12v2: 11.88v
+5v: 4.91v
+3.3v: 3.24v
As you can see the voltages are well still within the allowed 5% tolerance of ATX specifications.
Now lets have a look at ripple voltages
+12v: 88mv p-p
+5v: 28mv p-p
+3.3v: 34mv p-p
These are again within the ATX specifications but 12v and 3.3v line ripple started worry me slightly at this point.
The PSU passed with flying colours with a dual core processor even with moderate overclock.
[BREAK=Testing with Intel C2Q Q6600]
Testing with Intel C2Q Q6600
This review was delayed by a few days just to test this PSU with the quad core CPU. I got hold of a Q6600 G0 65nm Quad core cpu. This should really put this PSU to the test.
First lets have a look at the stock speed results. Test procedure remains the same.
Here are the voltage readings.
+12v1: 11.97v
+12v2: 11.97v
+5v: 4.97v
+3.3v: 3.22v
And a look at ripple voltages
+12v: 66mv p-p
+5v: 26mv p-p
+3.3v: 30mv p-p
Still within the allowed range.
The next step was to try and overclock the CPU to 3.6Ghz. This chip needs 1.48v to reach those speeds. We tried setting all known things in bios and tried to boot.
This resulted in BSOD at windows boot. It simply will not boot with the settings which were known to work on this exact same platform.
So I bumped in little more voltage into CPU as just trial and it booted at 1.52v vcore.
So we proceeded with the tests.
Here are the voltage readings.
+12v1: 11.84v
+12v2: 11.84v
+5v: 4.93v
+3.3v: 3.20v
And a look at ripple voltages
+12v: 104mv p-p
+5v: 28mv p-p
+3.3v: 42mv p-p
The readings were little all over the place. 3.3v line was literally jumping up and down and 12v ripple exceed the 100mv. And we got couple of random reboots at this speed.
So we reduced the overclock to 3.5Ghz and again tested.
Here are the voltage readings.
+12v1: 11.84v
+12v2: 11.84v
+5v: 5.03v
+3.3v: 3.26v
A look at ripple voltages
+12v: 98mv p-p
+5v: 28mv p-p
+3.3v: 40mv p-p
Even though the ripple voltages are still on a slightly higher side, the system was 100% stable at 3.5ghz and we did not get any reboots.
[BREAK=Performance Analysis and Conclusion.]
Performance Analysis and Conclusion.
This is a touch one. This PSU did very well with Core 2 Duo processor. Handled it at 4Ghz without a hiccup. Ripple voltages though on a slightly higher side compared to other high end PSUs, were still well within ATX specifications.
On the other hand. It could not handle the Quad core CPU at 3.6Ghz well. And mind you this was with single HD3650 which is one of the least power hungry mainstream cards. We did have plenty of HDDs and fans connected to the PSU. This system is by no means low end. Quad core CPU does demand a lot from the PSU and if you plan to overclock your quad core CPUs high, this is not the PSU for you.
Overall we were satisfied with what this power supply had to offer at attractive price. It ran nice cool and quiet. Didn’t make lot of noise or did not generate too much heat.
If you are out there making yourself a new machine, do yourself a favour and buy this PSU than generic or low end power supply. At least you will be guaranteed a good quality supply capable enough to cope up with moderate overclocking.
Overall we gave it score of 7 out of 10 simply because of amazing value for money this PSU offers.
There are two more versions from Cooler Master with the same model name. Both of them are grey coloured with 80mm fan at the back instead of 120mm fan that this product ships with. Ratings and specifications look the same. But even if you have to spend few hundred bucks more, buy this one for its 120mm fan alone which greatly reduces the noise.
Pros
Low Cost
Good Performance
Nice Looks
Runs Cool and silent
Cons
Short and thin cables
Will not handle highly overclocked quad core cpu.
Thanks to Cooler Master India for providing this test sample for this review.
Funky aka Shripad signing out.
Hi people,
I am back with another review which will be of interest to masses as this is the product for the masses.
Cooler Master recently launched a new series of computer power supplies. Today we will be reviewing Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus 460 Watt PSU.
Do not confuse this power supply with older Cooler Master Extreme Power series. This is totally new product.
Cooler Master product range is little confusing at the moment. There are 4 power supplies carrying same name but different model numbers. The one which we received is RS-460-PCAR-A3 and does not come with Passive PFC. Only EU models come with Passive PFC. This model carries EPS12V connector and an extra SATA connector over the other two models.
Lets have a quick look at the power supply specification and features
[BREAK=Features & Specifications]
Features.
1. Compliance with the newest Intel standard ATX 12V V2.3
2. More than 70% efficiency at typical load operation
3. High reliability (MTBF > 100,000 hrs)
4. Green power design to meet Energy Star and Blue Angel requirements
5. Multiple protection design(OVP/OCP/OPP/SCP)
6. Support dual +12V1 and +12V2 outputs for higher power usage
7. Two-year warranty
Specifications
Type: ATX Form Factor 12V V2.3
Dimension (W / H / D): Standard ATX 150 x 140 x 86 (mm)
Input Voltage: 180~264 V
Input Current: 6 A @ 230V
Input Frequency Range: 47 ~ 63 Hz
Power Good Signal: 100 ~ 500 ms
Hold Up Time: > 17 ms
Efficiency: >70% Typically
MTBF: >100,000 hrs
Protection: OVP / OCP / OPP / SCP
Output Capacity: 460 Watts
Operation Temperature: 0~40℃
Safety: Nemko / TUV / cUL / CE / BSMI /FCC / C-tick / CCC (Passive Model Only)
Fan: Sleeve bearing 120mm fan
Connectors:
M/B 20+4 Pin x 1
CPU 4+4 Pin x 1
PCI-E 6 Pin x 1
4 Pin Peripheral x 5
SATA x 4
[BREAK=External appearance and comments.]
External appearance and comments.
Aesthetically the PSU is good looking. Functionally there are few things that I would like to point out.
The PSU is meant to be entry level / mid level third party PSU and not high end model. And there are obvious cost cutting with this model.
Coming from likes of OCZ, Tagan and Corsair PSUs, the first thing I notices was the thickness and length of the wires. The wires are not very long. People with big cabinets with bottom mounting PSU might face problems with certain motherboards. Definitely with the cable management as they are not long enough to be routed from back of the motherboard or around the motherboard to reach ATX and EPS power connectors.
The second thing I noticed was the thickness of cables. They were thinner than what we see on high end PSUs. 20 AWG wires are typically seen on Powersafe / VIP entry level PSUs and same is the case with this one. Now I really don’t know if I should be criticizing Cooler Master for this or not. Its not high end PSU but it would have been great to see some quality maintained by reputed brand.
A large 120 mm Fan is used for cooling.
A look at the connectors and cables.
Now lets open up this baby and have a look what is inside.
Opening up the PSU requires the removal of 4 screws. Do not do this on your PSU as this voids the warranty.
A first look inside lead to little disappointment. The heatsinks are really small and tiny. I expected something better than this. Though 120mm fan will be blowing air directly over this entire region, it would have been nice to have little bigger heatsink on power transistors.
This version of the PSU does not come with Passive PFC.
Now let’s move onto the test setup and the way we tested.
[BREAK=Test Setup]
How we tested.
Now this wont be a technical mambo jumbo review. What we were after, is real world stability and performance. We did not have access to precision load testing equipments so those tests were not possible anyway. But what we had was a good combination of mid – high end computer configurations good enough to give this PSU a run for its money.
Hardware Used
*Intel C2D E8400
*Intel C2Q Q6600 G0 stepping
*Gigabyte X48 DQ6 motherboard
*Seagate 500 , 320, 750 GB HDDs
*Hitachi 160GB HDD
*Gecube HD3650
*Sony 16X DVD RW
*Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme HSF with thermaltake high speed 120mm 94cfm fan
*3 x 120mm sflex fans
Testing equipment
*Unit-T multimeter
*Anshuman Analog oscilloscope
[BREAK=Testing with Intel C2D E8400]
Testing with Intel C2D E8400
To start off we put in a new 45nm dual core processor. As many of you must be aware that these are overclocker’s dream dual core processors.
We started off with stock settings with all available HDDs and fans connected along with Gecube HD3650. We ran a loop of rthdribl, started Prime95 blend test and then started copying a large 4.3gb file and measured the voltages.
Here are the voltage readings.
+12v1: 11.97v
+12v2: 11.97v
+5v: 5.03v
+3.3v: 3.26v
As you can see the voltages are well within the allowed 5% tolerance of ATX specifications.
Now lets have a look at ripple voltages
+12v: 64mv p-p
+5v: 26mv p-p
+3.3v: 28mv p-p
These two as well are within the allowed 120mv ( for 12v) and 50mv ( for 5v and 3.3v) tolerance band of ATX specification.
Then we cranked up the system straight to 4.05Ghz with cpu being supplied 1.4v vcore. Graphic card was overclocked to its max known clocks and again same procedure was repeated.
Here are the voltage readings.
+12v1: 11.88v
+12v2: 11.88v
+5v: 4.91v
+3.3v: 3.24v
As you can see the voltages are well still within the allowed 5% tolerance of ATX specifications.
Now lets have a look at ripple voltages
+12v: 88mv p-p
+5v: 28mv p-p
+3.3v: 34mv p-p
These are again within the ATX specifications but 12v and 3.3v line ripple started worry me slightly at this point.
The PSU passed with flying colours with a dual core processor even with moderate overclock.
[BREAK=Testing with Intel C2Q Q6600]
Testing with Intel C2Q Q6600
This review was delayed by a few days just to test this PSU with the quad core CPU. I got hold of a Q6600 G0 65nm Quad core cpu. This should really put this PSU to the test.
First lets have a look at the stock speed results. Test procedure remains the same.
Here are the voltage readings.
+12v1: 11.97v
+12v2: 11.97v
+5v: 4.97v
+3.3v: 3.22v
And a look at ripple voltages
+12v: 66mv p-p
+5v: 26mv p-p
+3.3v: 30mv p-p
Still within the allowed range.
The next step was to try and overclock the CPU to 3.6Ghz. This chip needs 1.48v to reach those speeds. We tried setting all known things in bios and tried to boot.
This resulted in BSOD at windows boot. It simply will not boot with the settings which were known to work on this exact same platform.
So I bumped in little more voltage into CPU as just trial and it booted at 1.52v vcore.
So we proceeded with the tests.
Here are the voltage readings.
+12v1: 11.84v
+12v2: 11.84v
+5v: 4.93v
+3.3v: 3.20v
And a look at ripple voltages
+12v: 104mv p-p
+5v: 28mv p-p
+3.3v: 42mv p-p
The readings were little all over the place. 3.3v line was literally jumping up and down and 12v ripple exceed the 100mv. And we got couple of random reboots at this speed.
So we reduced the overclock to 3.5Ghz and again tested.
Here are the voltage readings.
+12v1: 11.84v
+12v2: 11.84v
+5v: 5.03v
+3.3v: 3.26v
A look at ripple voltages
+12v: 98mv p-p
+5v: 28mv p-p
+3.3v: 40mv p-p
Even though the ripple voltages are still on a slightly higher side, the system was 100% stable at 3.5ghz and we did not get any reboots.
[BREAK=Performance Analysis and Conclusion.]
Performance Analysis and Conclusion.
This is a touch one. This PSU did very well with Core 2 Duo processor. Handled it at 4Ghz without a hiccup. Ripple voltages though on a slightly higher side compared to other high end PSUs, were still well within ATX specifications.
On the other hand. It could not handle the Quad core CPU at 3.6Ghz well. And mind you this was with single HD3650 which is one of the least power hungry mainstream cards. We did have plenty of HDDs and fans connected to the PSU. This system is by no means low end. Quad core CPU does demand a lot from the PSU and if you plan to overclock your quad core CPUs high, this is not the PSU for you.
Overall we were satisfied with what this power supply had to offer at attractive price. It ran nice cool and quiet. Didn’t make lot of noise or did not generate too much heat.
If you are out there making yourself a new machine, do yourself a favour and buy this PSU than generic or low end power supply. At least you will be guaranteed a good quality supply capable enough to cope up with moderate overclocking.
Overall we gave it score of 7 out of 10 simply because of amazing value for money this PSU offers.
There are two more versions from Cooler Master with the same model name. Both of them are grey coloured with 80mm fan at the back instead of 120mm fan that this product ships with. Ratings and specifications look the same. But even if you have to spend few hundred bucks more, buy this one for its 120mm fan alone which greatly reduces the noise.
Pros
Low Cost
Good Performance
Nice Looks
Runs Cool and silent
Cons
Short and thin cables
Will not handle highly overclocked quad core cpu.
Thanks to Cooler Master India for providing this test sample for this review.
Funky aka Shripad signing out.
