Aerocool HorsePower 750 W Power Supply Review

[nextpage title=”Introduction”]

Aerocool HorsePower series feature a modular cabling system and standard 80 Plus certification, being manufactured by CWT and being based on their PSH platform. HorsePower 750 W is internally identical to Thermaltake Toughpower 750 W (W0116RU) and Corsair TX750W (this model from Corsair doesn’t have modular cabling system, though).

Figure 1: Aerocool HorsePower 750 W power supply.

Figure 2: Aerocool HorsePower 750 W power supply.

Aerocool HorsePower 750 W is 6 1/4” (160 mm) deep, using a 140 mm fan on its bottom. It features active PFC circuit.

The modular cabling system has seven connectors, two for the video card power cables (the red ones), one for the EPS12V/ATX12V cable (eight-pin black connector) and four for SATA and peripheral power cables (six-pin black connectors). The main motherboard cable and two cables with one six/eight-pin video card power connector each are permanently attached to the power supply. All cables use 18 AWG wires, which is the correct gauge to be used. The cables included are:

• Main motherboard cable with a 20/24-pin connector, 19 ¾” (50 cm) long, permanently attached to the power supply.
• One cable with one EPS12V and one ATX12V connector, 19 ¾” (50 cm) to the first connector and 5 7/8” (15 cm) between connectors (modular cabling system).
• Four cables with one six/eight-pin connector for video cards each, 19 ¾” (50 cm) long (two permanently attached to the power supply and two using the modular cabling system).
• Two cables with four SATA power connectors each, 19 ¾” (50 cm) to the first connector, 5 7/8” (15 cm) between connectors (modular cabling system).
• Two cables with four standard peripheral power connectors and one floppy disk drive power connector each, 19 ¾” (50 cm) to the first connector, 5 7/8” (15 cm) between connectors (modular cabling system).

The number of power connectors is perfect for a 750 W product. It brings the same cable configuration used on Corsair TX750W (this model from Corsair doesn’t have a modular cabling system, though) and more cables than Toughpower 750 W (one extra video card power cable and two extra SATA power connectors).

Figure 3: Cables.

Now let’s take an in-depth look inside this power supply.

[nextpage title=”A Look Inside The Aerocool HorsePower 750 W”]

We decided to disassemble this power supply to see what it looks like inside, how it is designed, and what components are used. Please read our Anatomy of Switching Power Supplies tutorial to understand how a power supply works and to compare this power supply to others.

This page will be an overview, and then in the following pages we will discuss in detail the quality and ratings of the components used.

Figure 4: Overall look.

Figure 5: Overall look.

Figure 6: Overall look.

[nextpage title=”Transient Filtering Stage”]

As we have mentioned in other articles and reviews, the first place we look when opening a power supply for a hint about its quality, is its filtering stage. The recommended components for this stage are two ferrite coils, two ceramic capacitors (Y capacitors, usually blue), one metalized polyester capacitor (X capacitor), and one MOV (Metal-Oxide Varistor). Very low-end power supplies use fewer components, usually removing the MOV and the first coil. 

This power supply is flawless in this stage, with four Y capacitors, one X capacitor and one ferrite coil more than the minimum required.

Figure 7: Transient filtering stage (part 1).

Figure 8: Transient filtering stage (part 2).

In the next page we will have a more detailed discussion about the components used in the Aerocool HorsePower 750 W.

[nextpage title=”Primary Analysis”]

On this page we will take an in-depth look at the primary stage of Aerocool HorsePower 750 W. For a better understanding, please read our Anatomy of Switching Power Supplies tutorial.

This power supply uses one GBJ1506 rectifying bridge and attached to the same heatsink where the active PFC transistors are located. This component can handle up to 15 A at 100° C, which in theory allows it to pull up to 1,725 W from a 115 V power grid without burning itself; assuming 80% efficiency, it would allow this unit to deliver up to 1,380 W without burning itself out. Of course we are only talking about this component and the real limit will depend on all other components from the power supply.

Figure 9: Rectifying bridge.

Two SPW20N60C3 power MOSFETs are used on the active PFC circui
t, each one capable of delivering up to 20.7 A at 25° C or 13.1 A at 100° C in continuous mode (note the difference temperature makes) or up to 62.1 A at 25° C in pulse mode. These transistors present a maximum resistance of 190 mΩ when turned on, a characteristic called RDS(on). This number indicates the amount of power that is wasted, so the lower this number the better, as less power will be wasted thus increasing efficiency.

Figure 10: Active PFC transistors.

The electrolytic capacitor used to filter the output from the active PFC circuit is Japanese from Hitachi and labeled at 85° C.

On the switching section HorsePower 750 W uses another two SPW20N60C3 transistors, as you can see in Figure 11. The specs from these components were already published above.

Figure 11: Switching transistors.

The switching transistors are controlled by the famous CM6800 PWM controller.

Figure 12: PWM controller.

Now let’s take a look at the secondary of this power supply.

[nextpage title=”Secondary Analysis”]

This power supply has four Schottky rectifiers on its secondary heatsink.

The maximum theoretical current each line can deliver is given by the formula I / (1 – D), where D is the duty cycle used and I is the maximum current supported by the rectifying diode. Just as an exercise, we can assume a typical duty cycle of 30%.

The +12 V output is produced by two STPS6045CW Schottky rectifiers connected in parallel, each one supporting up to 60 A (30 A per internal diode at 150° C, 0.84 V maximum voltage drop), giving us a maximum theoretical current of 86 A or 1,029 W for the +12 V output.

The +5 V output is produced by one STPS40L45CT Schottky rectifier, which supports up to 40 A (20 A per internal diode at 130° C, 0.70 V maximum voltage drop), giving us a maximum theoretical current of 57 A or 286 W for the +5 V output.

The +3.3 V output is produced by another STPS40L45CT Schottky rectifier, giving us a maximum theoretical current of 57 A or 189 W for the +3.3 V output.

It is always good to see the secondary highly overspec’ed like this.

All these numbers are theoretical. The real amount of current/power each output can deliver is limited by other components, especially by the coils used on each output.

Figure 13: +12 V, +5 V and +3.3 V rectifiers.

The outputs are monitored by two integrated circuits, a PS229 and a WT7518. There is no technical information available on the first one, and the second one is a four-channel over current protection circuit, possibly added to expand the over current protection from the PS229 into four channels.

Figure 14: Monitoring circuit.

The electrolytic capacitors from the secondary are from Samxon and labeled at 105° C as usual.

[nextpage title=”Power Distribution”]

In Figure 15, you can see the power supply label containing all the power specs.

Figure 15: Power supply label.

As you can see, according to the label this unit has four +12 V rails. Inside the unit we could clearly see four current sensors (“shunts”) and the monitoring circuit really has four over current protection channels. Therefore this unit really has four +12 V rails (read our Everything You Need to Know About Power Supply Protections tutorial for more information).

The four available rails are distributed like this:

• +12V1 (yellow/black wire): ATX12V/EPS12V cable.
• +12V2 (solid yellow wire): Video card power cables from the modular cabling system.
• +12V3 (yellow/blue wire): Video card power cables that are permanently attached to the power supply and motherboard main cable.
• +12V4 (yellow/orange wire): SATA and peripheral power cables.

Now let’s see if this power supply can really deliver 750 W.

[nextpage title=”Load Tests”]

We conducted several tests with this power supply, as described in the article Hardware Secrets Power Supply Test Methodology.  

First we tested this power supply with five different load patterns, trying to pull around 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% of its labeled maximum capacity (actual percentage used listed under “% Max Load”), watching how the reviewed unit behaved under each load. In the table below we list the load patterns we used and the results for each load.

If you add all the power listed for each test, you may find a different value than what is posted under “Total” below. Since each output can vary slightly (e.g., the +5 V output working at +5.10 V), the actual total amount of power being delivered is slightly different than the calculated value. On the “Total” row we are using the real amount of power being delivered, as measured by our load tester.

The +12VA and +12VB inputs listed below are the two +12 V independent inputs from our load tester. During this test the +12VA input was connected to the power supply +12V3 and +12V4 rails, while the +12VB input was connected to the power supply +12V1 rail.

Input	Test 1	Test 2	Test 3	Test 4	Test 5
+12VA	5 A (60 W)	11 A (132 W)	16 A (192 W)	22 A (264 W)	27 A (324 W)
+12VB	5 A (60 W)	10 A (120 W)	16 A (192 W)	21 A (252 W)	27 A (324 W)
+5V	2 A (10 W)	4 A (20 W)	6 A (30 W)	8 A (40 W)	10 A (50 W)
+3.3 V	2 A (6.6 W)	4 A (13.2 W)	6 A (19.8 W)	8 A (26.4 W)	10 A (33 W)
+5VSB	1 A (5 W)	1.5 A (7.5 W)	2 A (10 W)	2.5 A (12.5 W)	3 A (15 W)
-12 V	0.5 A (6 W)	0.5 A (6 W)	0.5 A (6 W)	0.5 A (6 W)	0.5 A (6 W)
Total	148.4 W	297.2 W	445.4 W	592.9 W	751.2 W
% Max Load	19.8%	39.6%	59.4%	79.1%	100.2%
Room Temp.	45.7° C	46.0° C	47.8° C	46.9° C	49.8° C
PSU Temp.	44.0° C	44.8° C	46.2° C	48.9° C	52.7° C
Voltage Regulation	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass
Ripple and Noise	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass
AC Power	184.1 W	354.7 W	532.5 W	720.0 W	941.0 W
Efficiency	80.6%	83.8%	83.6%	82.3%	79.8%
AC Voltage	112.5 V	110.6 V	108.4 V	106.2 V	103.5 V
Power Factor	0.998	0.996	0.997	0.998	0.998
Final Result	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass

Aerocool HorsePower 750 W can really deliver its labeled power at high temperatures.

Efficiency was between 79.8% and 83.8%.

Voltage regulation was exceptional, with all voltages within 3% from their nominal values (the only exception was the -12 V output during test five) – i.e., values closer to their “face value” than required, as the ATX12V specification allows voltages to be within 5% from their nominal values (10% for -12 V).

Noise and ripple was below the maximum allowed, which is great. With other power supplies that we reviewed that are based on this same project we achieved higher noise levels during test five, almost touching the 120 mV limit, which didn’t happen with this unit. This result can be easily explained by the fact that we recently changed the load pattern used in our power supply reviews in order to provide a smoother transition between load patterns and a better balance between the +12VA and +12VB inputs of our load tester. Translation: in our older reviews we pulled more from the +12 V outputs during test five than on this review. The noise level, however, was still at a value that we consider high – we like to see noise levels at half of the maximum allowed or less.

Below you can see the results for test five. The maximum allowed is 120 mV on +12 V and 50 mV on +5 V and +3.3 V. All these numbers are peak-to-peak figures.

Figure 16: +12VA input from load tester at 751.2 W (77.4 mV).

Figure 17: +12VB input from load tester at 751.2 W (84.5 mV).

Figure 18: +5 V rail with power supply delivering 751.2 W (11.8 mV).

Figure 19: +3.3 V rail with power supply delivering 751.2 W (16.6 mV).

Now let’s see if this unit can deliver more than 750 W.

[nextpage title=”Overload Tests”]

 

Below you can see the maximum we could pull from this unit. If we increased one more amp on any given output the unit would burn fuses from our load tester.

Input	Overload Test
+12V1	33 A (396 W)
+12V2	33 A (396 W)
+5V	10 A (50 W)
+3.3 V	10 A (33 W)
+5VSB	3 A (15 W)
-12 V	0.5 A (6 W)
Total	880.4 W
% Max Load	117.4%
Room Temp.	45.4° C
PSU Temp.	43.2° C
AC Power	1,137 W
Efficiency	77.4%
AC Voltage	100.5 V
Power Factor	0.999

[nextpage title=”Main Specifications”]

Aerocool HorsePower 750 W power supply specs include:

• ATX12V 2.2
• EPS12V 2.91
• Nominal labeled power: 750 W
• Measured maximum power: 880.4 W at 45.4° C.
• Labeled efficiency: Information not available, 80 Plus Standard certification
• Measured efficiency: Between 79.8% and 83.8% at 115 V (nominal, see complete results for actual voltage).
• Active PFC: Yes.
• Modular Cabling System: Yes, partial.
• Motherboard Power Connectors: One 20/24-pin connector (permanently attached to the power supply), one ATX12V connector and one EPS12V connector (these two attached to the same cable, which is available on the modular cabling system).
• Video Card Power Connectors: Four six/eight-pin connectors in separated cables (two permanently attached to the power supply and two available on the modular cabling system).
• SATA Power Connectors: Eight in two cables (modular cabling system).
• Peripheral Power Connectors: Eight in two cables (modular cabling system).
• Floppy Disk Drive Power Connectors: Two in two cables (modular cabling system).
• Protections: Over voltage (OVP), over current (OCP) and short-circuit (SCP).
• Warranty: Information not available.
• Real Model: CWT-750VH
• More Information: https://www.aerocool.us
• Average price in the US*: USD 135 – USD 160

* Researched at Google Products on the day we published this review.

[nextpage title=”Conclusions”]

Aerocool HorsePower 750 W is internally identical to other power supplies based on the 750 W PSH platform from CWT, like Corsair TX750W and Thermaltake Toughpower 750 W. The performance achieved by HorsePower 750 W was, therefore, identical to the performance achieved by these other products.

HorsePower 750 W brings the same cable configuration found on Corsair TX750W and has the advantage of having a modular ca
bling system, feature not present on TX750W. Compared to Toughpower 750 W, HorsePower 750 W has as advantage coming with more video card, SATA and peripheral connectors.

The only real problem we see with HorsePower 750 W is pricing. Researching on the web we could easily spot this product on the USD 135-160 range, which is too high – you can find better units at this range (e.g., Thermaltake Thoughpower XT 775 W and XFX 750 W Black Edition). ZipZoomfly is currently selling it for USD 101, which is a terrific price for this unit, making it to correctly compete with products on this price range, like Seventeam ST-750P-AF (no modular cabling system) and Seventeam ST-750ZAF (modular cabling system). These models from Seventeam, however, provide higher efficiency and therefore are still our pick for users that want a good and relatively inexpensive 750 W power supply.