Cooler Master Elite 100 Case Review
The Power Supply Performance
Contents
We conducted several tests with this power supply, as described in the article, Hardware Secrets Power Supply Test Methodology.
We tested this power supply with five different load patterns (50 W, 75 W, 100 W, 125 W, and 150 W), watching the behavior of the reviewed unit 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 powers listed for each test, you may find a different value than what is posted under “Total” below. Since each output can have a slight variation (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. In 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 our tests, the +12VA and +12VB input were connected to the power supply single +12 V rail (the ATX12V connector was installed on the +12VB input of our load tester).
| Input | Test 1 | Test 2 | Test 3 | Test 4 | Test 5 |
| +12VA | 1.5 A (18 W) | 2.5 A (30 W) | 3.5 A (42 W) | 4 A (48 W) | 5 A (60 W) |
| +12VB | 1.5 A (18 W) | 2.5 A (30 W) | 3.5 A (42 W) | 4 A (48 W) | 5 A (60 W) |
| +5V | 1 A (5 W) | 1 A (5 W) | 1 A (5 W) | 2 A (10 W) | 2 A (10 W) |
| +3.3 V | 1 A (3.3 W) | 1 A (3.3 W) | 1 A (3.3 W) | 2 A (6.6 W) | 2 A (6.6 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 | 0.3 A (3.6 W) | 0.3 A (3.6 W) | 0.3 A (3.6 W) | 0.3 A (3.6 W) | 0.3 A (3.6 W) |
| Total | 52.3 W | 75.6 W | 98.7 W | 121.2 W | 146.3 W |
| % Max Load | 34.9% | 50.4% | 65.8% | 80.8% | 97.5% |
| Room Temp. | 29.8° C | 30.5° C | 31.3° C | 32.2° C | 32.8° C |
| PSU Temp. | 31.3° C | 32.2° C | 33.1° C | 34.4° C | 34.6° C |
| Voltage Regulation | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Ripple and Noise | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| AC Power | 66.7 W | 93.0 W | 119.9 W | 148.1 W | 179.7 W |
| Efficiency | 78.4% | 81.3% | 82.3% | 81.8% | 81.4% |
| AC Voltage | 114.4 V | 113.6 V | 113.4 V | 113.1 V | 112.7 V |
| Power Factor | 0.989 | 0.994 | 0.991 | 0.990 | 0.990 |
| Final Result | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
The Cooler Master RS-150-FSGA-J3 can really deliver its labeled wattage.
Efficiency was above 80% only when we pulled between 75 W and 150 W from it.
Voltage regulation was excellent, with all voltages within 3% of their nominal values (except for the -12 V output, which stayed inside its allowed range). The ATX12V specification allows voltages to be up to 5% from their nominal values (10% for the -12 V output). Therefore this power supply presents voltages closer to their nominal values than necessary all the time.
Noise and ripple levels were always low. Below you can see the results for the power supply outputs during test number five. The maximum allowed is 120 mV for the +12 V and -12 V outputs, and 50 mV for the +5 V, +3.3 V, and +5VSB outputs. All values are peak-to-peak figures.
Figure 16: +12VA input from load tester during test five at 146.3 W (37.4 mV)
Figure 17: +12VB input from load tester during test five at 146.3 W (37.6 mV)
Figure 18: +5V rail during test five at 146.3 W (18.6 mV)
Figure 19: +3.3 V rail during test five at 146.3 W (18.4 mV)