Akasa Essential Power 350 W Power Supply Review
Load Tests
Contents
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 they were connected to the single +12 V rail provided by this unit (+12VB input was connected to the ATX12V connector and all other connectors were installed on the +12VA input).
| Input | Test 1 | Test 2 | Test 3 | Test 4 | Test 5 |
| +12VA | 2 A (24 W) | 4.5 A (54 W) | 7 A (84 W) | 9 A (108 W) | 11.5 A (138 W) |
| +12VB | 2 A (24 W) | 4.5 A (54 W) | 7 A (84 W) | 9 A (108 W) | 11.5 A (138 W) |
| +5V | 1 A (5 W) | 2 A (10 W) | 4 A (20 W) | 6 A (30 W) | 8 A (40 W) |
| +3.3 V | 1 A (5 W) | 2 A (6.6 W) | 4 A (13.2 W) | 6 A (19.8 W) | 8 A (26.4 W) |
| +5VSB | 1 A (5 W) | 1 A (5 W) | 1 A (5 W) | 1.5 A (7.5 W) | 2 A (10 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 | 66.4 W | 133.0 W | 207.2 W | 271.2 W | 345.4 W |
| % Max Load | 19.0% | 38.0% | 59.2% | 77.5% | 98.7% |
| Room Temp. | 44.5° C | 44.1° C | 44.3° C | 45.5° C | 47.6° C |
| PSU Temp. | 52.7° C | 51.7° C | 51.5° C | 52.5° C | 55.5° C |
| Voltage Regulation | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Fail on +12VB |
| Ripple and Noise | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| AC Power | 95.4 W | 176.8 W | 272.2 W | 363.1 W | 484.0 W |
| Efficiency | 69.6% | 75.2% | 76.1% | 74.7% | 71.4% |
| AC Voltage | 116.5 V | 155.9 V | 114.7 V | 113.5 V | 111.6 V |
| Power Factor | 0.642 | 0.675 | 0.686 | 0.698 | 0.704 |
| Final Result | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Fail |
Akasa Essential Power 350 W can really deliver its labeled power at high temperatures. However, power isn’t everything.
Efficiency was always below 80%, varying between 69.3% and 76.1%.
During test five we saw a voltage below the minimum allowed: +12VB input from our load tester was at +11.34 V, when the minimum allowed is +11.40 V. All other voltages were within specs during all tests.
Noise and ripple, although below the maximum allowed, were higher than we’d like to see during test five. 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 15: +12VA input from load tester at 345.4 W (96.4 mV).
Figure 16: +12VB input from load tester at 345.4 W (96.2 mV).
Figure 17: +5 V rail with power supply delivering 345.4 W (33.4 mV).
Figure 18: +3.3 V rail with power supply delivering 345.4 W (9.6 mV).
Let’s see if we can pull more than 350 W from this unit.