Antec Basiq BP500U 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.
+12V1 and +12V2 are the two independent +12V inputs from our load tester and during our tests the +12V1 input was connected to the +12V1 rail the +12V2 input was connected to the +12V2 rail, so on this test +12V1 and +12V2 really represents the rails by the same name on the power supply.
| Input | Test 1 | Test 2 | Test 3 | Test 4 | Test 5 |
| +12V1 | 4 A (48 W) | 7 A (84 W) | 11 A (132 W) | 14.5 A (174 W) | 18 A (216 W) |
| +12V2 | 3 A (36 W) | 7 A (84 W) | 10 A (120 W) | 14 A (168 W) | 18 A (216 W) |
| +5V | 1 A (5 W) | 2 A (10 W) | 4 A (20 W) | 5 A (25 W) | 6 A (30 W) |
| +3.3 V | 1 A (3.3 W) | 2 A (6.6 W) | 4 A (13.2 W) | 5 A (16.5 W) | 6 A (19.8 W) |
| +5VSB | 1 A (5 W) | 1 A (5 W) | 1.5 A (7.5 W) | 2 A (10 W) | 2.5 A (12.5 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 | 103.2 W | 194.8 W | 296.3 W | 393.9 W | 489.9 W |
| % Max Load | 20.6% | 39.0% | 59.3% | 78.8% | 98.0% |
| Room Temp. | 46.2° C | 45.6° C | 47.1° C | 46.6° C | 48.3° C |
| PSU Temp. | 47.2° C | 46.7° C | 46.8° C | 47.1° C | 47.8° C |
| Voltage Stability | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Ripple and Noise | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| AC Po wer |
127.4 W | 234.7 W | 359.9 W | 486.9 W | 621.0 W |
| Efficiency | 81.0% | 83.0% | 82.3% | 80.9% | 78.9% |
| AC Voltage | 112.7 V | 111.6 V | 109.4 V | 108.9 V | 107.6 V |
| Power Factor | 0.976 | 0.988 | 0.994 | 0.996 | 0.997 |
| Final Result | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
Antec Basiq BP500U proved to be a decent entry-level power supply. Efficiency was between 81% and 83% when we pulled between 20% and 80% from its labeled capacity (between 100 W and 400 W), dropping a little bit below 80% at 500 W, which is normal to happen with products from this class. It could really deliver its labeled power at 48° C and it didn’t burn or explode.
Voltage stability was one of the highlights from Basiq BP500U. The main positive voltages (+3,3 V, +5 V and +12 V) were always within 3% from their nominal values, i.e., they were closer to their nominal values than required by ATX specification, which allows a tolerance of up to 5% for them.
Ripple and noise levels were always below the maximum allowed (120 mV for +12 V and -12 V outputs and 50 mV for +5 V and +3.3 V outputs). Below you can see the results for test number five.
Figure 16: +12V1 rail with the power supply delivering 489.9 W (51.8 mV).
Figure 17: +12V2 rail with the power supply delivering 489.9 W (52.0 mV).
Figure 18: +5 V rail with the power supply delivering 489.9 W (16.8 mV).
Figure 19: +3.3 V rail with the power supply delivering 489.9 W (35.8 mV).
Now let’s see if we could pull more than 500 W from this unit.