Cooler Master Elite 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 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 EPS12V connector was installed on the +12VB input of our load tester).
| 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) | 11.25 A (135 W) |
| +12VB | 2 A (24 W) | 4.5 A (54 W) | 7 A (84 W) | 9 A (108 W) | 11 A (132 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 (3.3 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 | 67.5 W | 135.4 W | 213.1 W | 280.4 W | 348.4 W |
| % Max Load | 19.3% | 38.7% | 60.9% | 80.1% | 99.5% |
| Room Temp. | 42.4° C | 44.4° C | 45.4° C | 45.8° C | 46.8° C |
| PSU Temp. | 46.3° C | 46.1° C | 46.3° C | 46.8° C | 47.6° C |
| Voltage Regulation | Pass< /td> | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Ripple and Noise | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| AC Power | 91.4 W | 176.3 W | 281.3 W | 372.6 W | 483.0 W |
| Efficiency | 73.9% | 76.8% | 75.8% | 75.3% | 72.1% |
| Final Result | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
The Cooler Master Elite Power 350 W passed our tests, being able to deliver its labeled wattage at high temperatures.
Efficiency was lousy, between 72.1% and 76.8%, and because it can’t provide efficiency above 80% we can’t recommend this product.
On the other hand, voltage regulation was excellent, with all voltages within 3% of their nominal values (except the -12 V output, which was still inside the proper limits). 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 positive voltages closer to their nominal values than necessary all the time.
Noise and ripple levels were below the maximum allowed, with the +12 V output presenting low ripple and noise levels, but the +5 V and +3.3 V presenting relatively high levels, but still inside specs. 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 15: +12VA input from load tester during test five at 348.4 W (33.4 mV)
Figure 16: +12VB input from load tester during test five at 348.4 W (34.2 mV)
Figure 17: +5V rail during test five at 348.4 W (36.6 mV)
Figure 18: +3.3 V rail during test five at 348.4 W (31.4 mV)
However, when we tried to pull more than 350 W from it, the unit burned (while we tried to pull 370 W).
