Hipro K1 580W - PSU Review

Written by Stuyo

Thursday, 18 June 2009

 

Page 3 - Tests

Test system

The computer we tested Hipro K1 580W with, is the best available to us, being at the same time one of the most powerful and not so mainstream gaming machines.

• Motherboard: ASUS M4AT79 Deluxe
• Processor: AMD Phenom II 955 Black Edition
• Video cards: 2 x HD 4890 DDR5 1GB Sapphire
• Memory: 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600MHz Corsair
• Hard drive 1: Western Digital Velocity Raptor 10 000 RPM 150GB
• Hard drive 2: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 7200RPM 300GB
• Optical drive: Optical ASUS DVD+/-RW 20x
• Cooler: 4 case fans

PSU's tested and compared

• In Win Commander 750W
• Hipro 580W
• Seventeam ST-750P-AF
• Cooler Master Real Power 1000W
• Raptoxx Exxtreme Series RT-EBAD1200 1200W

Testing methodology

Tests for PSU voltages in idle and under load modes were made with the above mentioned configuration. Later we decided to run tests for energy efficiency with few more PSU's, in which test we would measure the amount of power consumed from the system while performing the exactly same operations with the exactly same hardware but with different PSU. That would show with great preciseness the difference in effectiveness of the "80+" models that were in the ModReactor lab.

For the tests we used a good multimeter. We measured the power consumed with a plain home Power Meter, that can be obtained anywhere for about 12$ - 20$ and has accuracy of +/- 1W, which is quite acceptable.

Results

Hipro K1 580W voltages were the worst from all tested PSU's. The +12V is particularly weak. As for the +5V, it got high under load. At least the +3.3V line is stable, pity it's not all that important.

Now let's see how much power does Hipro K1 580W consume

At low power consumption Hipro K1 580W performed best. But under a serious load the model was last. Apparently while consuming 467W (input), this PSU is at its limit (look at the +12V line values). At power efficiency of about 80% and consumed power of 467W, this equals to output power of something around 370W. Now if memory serves right this PSU was rated as 580W, was it not? And obviously it reaches its limits at 370 having values on the edge of acceptable (+/- 5% or 11.60V to 12.60V for the 12V line, 4.75V to 5.25V for the 5V). Smells like "Chinese watts" to us. Consider this - we used two cards that required a total of 4x PCI-E connectors, but as we made clear earlier in this article the PSU has only two of them. Obviously we used adapters, but it is apparent to us HIPRO were fully aware that allowing users to have the connectors as a standard option was unwise, not to mention undesirable in combination with 3-4 hard drives. That however does not excuse them.

Random thoughts

Hipro K1 580W has 4 12V lines, which is a bit unserious at this power rating. Especially considering the not too modest price of 65$. And then look at the performance - despite its four lines, the PFC isn't dealing with sharing the load.

As for the additional peripherals capabilities you have only three 4-pin molex, and only two PCI-E connectors. Well, at the performance we've seen, no wonder Hipro engineers limited it as they did. Try to put more than two low-end or one high-end video car and it will fail. At least we get 6 SATА connectors. And sleeved cables, even if partially – as in cheap PSU's.

Unfortunately we didn't have oscilloscope to check the stability of the PSU, but the passive indications are present - its heavy and has quality components. If nothing else it will take good care of your machine.