Oh So Efficient: FSP Announces 400 W 80 Plus Titanium PSU

[N.Broekhuijsen]

FSP now has a 400 W 80 Plus Titanium PSU.

Oh So Efficient: FSP Announces 400 W 80 Plus Titanium PSU : Read more

 

[Lmah]

I see this as potentially being one of the better PSU's for a HTPC, assuming it is of a high build quality. Hopefully some vendors opt for a silent variation.

 

[none12345]

Note, a large fan IS still necessary. Small or tiny fans just don't last. Big fans practically never go out.

Id rather have a big fan, or no fan if doesn't need one. But definitely would not want a small fan in a PSU.

 

[Hydrotricithline]

Note, a large fan IS still necessary. Small or tiny fans just don't last. Big fans practically never go out.

Id rather have a big fan, or no fan if doesn't need one. But definitely would not want a small fan in a PSU.

Note, a large fan IS still necessary. Small or tiny fans just don't last. Big fans practically never go out.

Id rather have a big fan, or no fan if doesn't need one. But definitely would not want a small fan in a PSU.

I have to completely agree on that, I'd much rather have a Low rpm large fan vs a small fan or even no fan, the db level of most low rpm large fans is almost silent, especially with a psu, probably isn't going to be your noisiest component in the system.

I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing more psu's like this coming in higher amperages aswell

 

[Onus]

I'd like to see these articles delayed until pricing and availability is known. Otherwise, however accurate they turn out to be, they're little more than fortune-telling.

 

[RedJaron]

Would like to know how many PCIe aux power cables this model comes with. Most 400W - 450W models I see don't include any power cables for the GPU even though they have the capacity to handle them. If this thing has two 6-pin cables, it'd be a top recommended unit for any budget builder.

 

[gallovfc]

It's about time!! Low wattage PSUs deserve some atention too.

 

[InvalidError]

It's about time!! Low wattage PSUs deserve some atention too.

The problem with high-quality, high-efficiency low-wattage power supplies is that they cost nearly as much as very similar quality higher-power supplies with slightly lower efficiency. For a given price and quality, most people would probably pick a 650W Platinum (or even Gold) PSU over a 400W Titanium.

Most of the time though, people putting together low-end builds simply pick 80+ basic/Bronze PSUs... or worse when they do not know better.

 

[RedJaron]

It's about time!! Low wattage PSUs deserve some atention too.

The problem with high-quality, high-efficiency low-wattage power supplies is that they cost nearly as much as very similar quality higher-power supplies with slightly lower efficiency. For a given price and quality, most people would probably pick a 650W Platinum (or even Gold) PSU over a 400W Titanium.

Most of the time though, people putting together low-end builds simply pick 80+ basic/Bronze PSUs... or worse when they do not know better.

True enough. And that's not just for Plat and Titanium models. A good 80 Gold 400W - 450W unit is just as much as an 80 Bronze 550W that will not only meet your needs now, but also in future, more power demanding builds. And I don't think most people will care too much about the efficiency differences between Bronze and Gold.

 

[alextheblue]

If this thing has two 6-pin cables, it'd be a top recommended unit for any budget builder.

As Invalid points out, these aren't really suited for budget builds. Super-high efficiency comes at a cost. A 450W FSP Aurum 92+ Platinum PSU costs around $100 - this Titanium unit would probably be at LEAST that expensive. A 450W FSP 80 Plus Silver PSU can be had for $60 or less. In a budget build $40-50 can make a big difference. Outside of FSP you can get also find good-quality 80 Plus Bronze or 80 Plus units for even less (or with higher output per dollar if your build necessitates it).

I see this as potentially being one of the better PSU's for a HTPC, assuming it is of a high build quality. Hopefully some vendors opt for a silent variation.

FSP builds some of the best quality units in the industry. They make PSUs for several major vendors too, so other brands often get the credit for FSP's excellent quality. At 400W with a Titanium efficiency rating and a large fan I would bet that it's already whisper quiet. It likely only produces audible noise levels at full load conditions - and by then the rest of your fans have also ratcheted up and are probably louder anyway.

 

[slyu9213]

Price this right and it will be a wonder.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

"At this efficiency rating, PSUs need to manage 90 percent efficiency at 10 percent load, 94 percent at 50 percent, and 90 again at 10 percent."
so it needs to do 90% @ 10% load twice?

 

[Drejeck]

Hope they do a semi passive version with semi modular cabling sleeved. Can't wait to see it's ripples. It could be the best PSU at 400W making the life uneasy to other 500W PSUs even in gaming (since power consumption is at the lowest lever ever imagined with a lot of calculating power for gamers too)

 

[zodiacfml]

Cant imagine how much these things would cost.

 

[OrpheusRex]

I'm all for efficiency but I didn't see anything about durability. Omitted or just forgotten?

 

[Onus]

I'm all for efficiency but I didn't see anything about durability. Omitted or just forgotten?

Unknown. It will remain unknown until someone like Oklahoma Wolf at JG tears one apart. Still, as efficient as it is, it should stay cool, putting less stress on its innards. Longevity should be good.

 

[InvalidError]

I'm all for efficiency but I didn't see anything about durability. Omitted or just forgotten?

How many PSU manufacturers advance claims about reliability beyond the warranty period which is generally meaningless as far as real-world reliability is concerned?

To hit Titanium efficiency, all of the major components must be picked for extremely low losses and that usually means both higher quality parts and more of them, so you should expect better overall quality and engineering out of necessity. On the other hand, this introduces more potential points of failure.

 

[firefoxx04]

I would love to put this unit in my home server. I went from a decent (at best) raidmax to a more reliable and highly recommended silverstone 80+ gold psu.

My server went from a 55-60 watt idle to roughly 42 watt idle with just a power supply change. This is with all the drives at rest and typical idle load going on within windows server. I could get the numbers even lower if I went to a embeded micro atx based board. My HTPC is a fm2 setup and only runs at 26 watts during full HD playback.

 

[mrjhh]

It's difficult to effectively predict reliability, even by looking at the components used. We had a product where the power supply failed because a supplier to a supplier changed their process, and the insulation on a EMC coil failed, shorting out the supply, which was also related to a change in how the part was soldered. We had another case where a component was running close to the part's limits, and would catastrophically fail, sometimes destroying the traces on the board, causing the entire board to be unrepairable. These things happen, and even when the power supply originally had good service life, a later change in a supplier to a supplier can make the service life lower.

 

[alextheblue]

I would love to put this unit in my home server. I went from a decent (at best) raidmax to a more reliable and highly recommended silverstone 80+ gold psu.

My server went from a 55-60 watt idle to roughly 42 watt idle with just a power supply change.

Sounds like that Raidmax either was NOT decent at all (in terms of efficiency) or else it was too high of a wattage and was running far outside of its efficiency band. As the article points out, you really want to match wattage to usage if you want to stay efficient - 80 Plus cert levels help, but they don't change that basic premise.

 

[InvalidError]

Sounds like that Raidmax either was NOT decent at all (in terms of efficiency) or else it was too high of a wattage and was running far outside of its efficiency band.

The big catch is that a ~40W server is well below the 20% mark for most PSUs and nothing below 80+ Titanium (the highest standard) is required to meet any particular efficiency goal below 20% load. At 10% even for a 400W PSU, you are already well into la-la-land on anything short of a Titanium-class PSU.

While some non-Titanium PSUs fare better than others at 10%, the results are rarely flattering. The reason for that is that internal circuit operation ends up accounting for a large chunk of total power at very light load unless the designer goes through considerable extra trouble to specifically improve low-load efficiency which most people pay little to no attention to.

Instead of wishing for more Titanium-rated PSU, I would wish for more high-quality 150-400W PSUs.

 

[xenol]

400W would easily handle a high-end gaming rig considering all of my gaming rigs measured from a Kill-A-Watt with a single video card have registered no more than 230W. Since they were all 80PLUS PSUs too, that's anywhere from 185W-205W of actual power consumption needs.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

I would love to put this unit in my home server. I went from a decent (at best) raidmax to a more reliable and highly recommended silverstone 80+ gold psu.

My server went from a 55-60 watt idle to roughly 42 watt idle with just a power supply change.

Sounds like that Raidmax either was NOT decent at all (in terms of efficiency) or else it was too high of a wattage and was running far outside of its efficiency band. As the article points out, you really want to match wattage to usage if you want to stay efficient - 80 Plus cert levels help, but they don't change that basic premise.

Radimax and "decent" do not even belong in the same sentence. Normally Radimax is in the same sentence as "time bomb".

 

[JonnyDough]

A smart move on FSP's part - especially since the push towards lower energy usage is becoming more and more prevalent. With systems becoming more sensitive due to manufacturing processes shrinking it is more important than ever to have a steady constant clean supply of power. 1000w PSUs always were ridiculous - and may soon be a thing of the past due to more efficient hardware. This seems like a logical step, and I would love to see a 300w version also. Seasonic and FSP already make 80+ Gold in 300w so a 400w PSU in Platinum would seem normal. Titanium must not have been a large leap for them from Platinum as far as monetary cost was concerned.

 

[InvalidError]

Radimax and "decent" do not even belong in the same sentence. Normally Radimax is in the same sentence as "time bomb".

Raidmax does not have many reviews, which leaves most of their better and worse units unreviewed.
http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page6337.htm

Cheap PSUs are usually cheap. Failure is practically expected from low-end units.

Seasonic and FSP already make 80+ Gold in 300w so a 400w PSU in Platinum would seem normal. Titanium must not have been a large leap for them from Platinum as far as monetary cost was concerned.

Going from not having any efficiency requirements below 20% load with Platinum to having to hold 90+% all the way down to 10% load with Titanium is a fairly big deal: it is not uncommon for Platinum-rated PSUs to be only 80-85% efficient at 10% and getting to Titanium means having to somehow halve internal power use and losses. To get there, you need over-engineered components and circuit design with much tighter tolerances.

If it was easy and cost-effective, everyone would be doing it and it would be no big deal.