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PC Power & Cooling power supplies -- what parts are theirs?
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I know that they're based on Fortron-Source or Zippy-Emacs designs, but what changes and additions are made to them by PC Power & Cooling? I can see beefier heatsinks, but what else? -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= *** Usenet.com - The #1 Usenet Newsgroup Service on The Planet! *** http://www.usenet.com Unlimited Download - 19 Seperate Servers - 90,000 groups - Uncensored -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= |
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There are several layers of "quality" when it comes to SMPS:
Design is ATX compliant o parts -- fusing & power filtering actually present on mains-in o operation -- shutdown on shortcircuit without damage o failure -- contained failure re no emission of material, excessive smoke Component quality o Capacitors -- most common failure in any analog system ---- cheap capacitors = high ESR, low temp rating, poor sizing, poor brand ---- hi ESR = hi Effective Series Resistance = power wasted as heat = shorter life o Enclosure perforation -- main restriction in PCs are the vents ---- 85-89% of system static resistance is the PSU exhaust fan grill & inlet grill ---- round wire grill can have 7-9x less airflow resistance o General component quality -- harder to identify ---- choke quality, hi-pot quality, PCB quality ---- connector gold-plated, wire thickness, insulation temp rating Component layout o Thermal shadowing -- components shield others from airflow ---- layout is important for cooling, and so reliability ---- hot chokes tight up against capacitors of low temp spec o Optimal layout for sizing -- of heatsinks to capacitors ---- surface area counts on heatsinks Fan quality o Brand ---- Fan tier-1 = Papst/Panaflo/NMB, tier-2 = Nidec/Sanyo, etc ---- PSU tier-1 = PSU with NMB or more commonly Nidec (HPQ/Dell) o Fan Life = Bearing ---- bearing life depends on bearing type & temperature ------ PSU exhaust fan = hot air heated by Case/CPU/PSU ---- heat & longevity = ball-bearing or fluid-bearing ------ ball-bearing gets noisier with age, fluid-bearing far less ---- best ball-bearings are NMB (quietest), then Papst (same life, bit noisier) ---- best fluid is Panaflo (NMB/Panasonic/Sanyo share patent, but NMB use it only in the fluid bearing of motors for hard drives which they supply) So what is a PC-Power-&-Cooling PSU? Probably somewhat like a Dell or HPQ PSU: o Make or Buy decision outsources Make to probably SPI/Sparkle/Fortran ---- all the same company o They specify areas based on prioritisation of gain v cost ---- cost being cost of the uprating vs benefit in warranty/reliability ---- flashy paint jobs are out, better ESR capacitors are in o Probably 10% higher cost allows 20-70% higher pricing ---- without resorting to gimmicks Of course, that doesn't guarantee a PSU is better, or that it is any different than an SPI one or a Channel Well Technology one. Plus failures DO occur. PSUs are an unusual device in that they don't like shocks in shipping. High temp burn-in doesn't catch every failure mode re mechanical cycling etc. Higher quality PSUs will increasingly be those which use thermal & mechanical modelling - easier than ball-grid-array solder balls, but more beneficial to PC users. So a lot of factors - the parts that are theirs are the specification. Offloading cooling from the PSU to case fans is a good idea, since it can lower the noise level but also lower the internal case temperature - beneficial to all. The new BTX specification will have the PSU basically cooling the HDs, and separate fan for the CPU/graphics/RAM/VRM - plus rear exhaust fan probably. ATX PSUs will work with BTX re physical, and electrical with a cheap adapter. They are simply moving the 20-pin ATX to a 24-pin connector, that's all. -- Dorothy Bradbury www.stores.ebay.co.uk/panaflofan for fans, books & other items http://homepage.ntlworld.com/dorothy...ry/panaflo.htm (Direct) |
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