| December 1st, 2003 2:34 pm - Doc | [ Bottom ]
Testing
Smart and Silent Fan Control manages the fan's
rotation speed by the amount of heat that is created and the amount of load
there is. It removes unnecessary rotation of the fan to extend it’s life
and at the same time reducing noise without increasing the temperature. Generic
and other low priced power supplies increase the PSU's fan speed proportional
to the amount of heat that is produced and the amount of load there is, which
makes the fan noisier and spin more.

|
Test Bed |
|
Processor:
|
Athlon XP 2600 |
|
Motherboard:
|
Asus A7V333 |
|
CD-ROM: |
1x - |
|
Hard Drive: |
1x 80GB Maxtor |
Testing
with ASUS PC Probe

Power
fluctuations over one hour while using benchmarking tools.




As it can can noticed, results vary very little, which mean the power supply offers
constant power supply at all times.
|
PCMark 2003 - High Load and Low Load |
|
|
VCore |
+3.3 |
+5 |
+12 |
|
Low: |
1.68 |
3.24 |
4.94 |
12.12 |
|
High: |
1.69 |
3.26 |
4.97 |
12.19 |
|
Average: |
1.685 |
3.25 |
4.955 |
12.15 |
Tested below are fan speed variations. As it can be seen from the test fluctuates very little.

|
|
High |
Low |
Average |
|
Fan Speed |
2860 |
2886 |
2875 |


Last
two chart comparisons represent the variable fan control. First chart has
the chassis fan turned low to preserve energy and to reduce noise. Second
chart represents normal state of the chassis fan.
The tests were
done showed that the power supply is very stable. The voltages fluctuated very
little and remained five percent of the desired voltage. The power supply was
very quiet at all times. The only difference between the low load and high load
tests was that the voltages fluctuated more in the PCMark 2004 tests.
Conclusion:
The Apex 500 Watts power supply is amazing of how quiet and stable it is. The
performance the power supply showed was magnificent. This power supply contained
an astounding amount of features. The downside of the product is that it is
expensive. This product is recommended to anyone who desires a quiet PSU, save
money on the electricity bill and countless other reasons.
Pros:
- Admirable performance
- Physically appealing
- Variable speed fan
- Extremely quiet operation
- Ample number of connectors, including Serial ATA
Cons:
- Speed control knob is too small
- Includes one Serial ATA connector, but two might be more practical
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