Cougar A-Series 560 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.
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 this test, the +12VA input was connected to the power supply +12V1 rail, while the +12VB input was connected to the power supply +12V2 rail.
| Input | Test 1 | Test 2 | Test 3 | Test 4 | Test 5 |
| +12VA | 4 A (48 W) | 8 A (96 W) | 12 A (144 W) | 16.5 A (198 W) | 20.5 A (246 W) |
| +12VB | 4 A (48 W) | 8 A (96 W) | 12 A (144 W) | 16 A (192 W) | 20.5 A (246 W) |
| +5 V | 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 | 114.9 W | 217.4 W | 330.4 W | 436.6 W | 562.8 W |
| % Max Load | 20.5% | 38.8% | 59.0% | 78.0% | 100.5% |
| Room Temp. | 46.2° C | 45.8° C | 46.4° C | 48.4° C | 44.6° C |
| PSU Temp. | 48.8° C | 49.0° C | 49.8° C | 50.4° C | 50.0° C |
| Voltage Regulation | Pass | Pass | Pass | Failed on +5VSB | Failed on +3.3 V and +5VSB |
| Ripple and Noise | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Failed on +5VSB |
| AC Power | 138.4 W | 258.5 W | 397.3 W | 539.8 W | 723.0 W |
| Efficiency | 83.0% | 84.1% | 83.2% | 80.9% | 77.8% |
| AC Voltage | 114.8 V | 112.9 V | 110.9 V | 109.6 V | 107.6 V |
| Power Factor | 0.979 | 0.954 | 0.972 | 0.978 | 0.988 |
| Final Result | Pass | Pass | Pass | Fail | Fail |
The Cougar A-Series 560 W can really deliver its labeled wattage at high temperatures. However, as we always stress, maximum power isn’t everything you need to know.
This unit presented decent efficiency between 83% and 84% when we pulled between 20% and 60% of its labeled wattage (i.e., between 112 W and 336 W). At 80% load (448 W), efficiency dropped to 81%. At full load, however, efficiency dropped way below the 80% mark, at 77.8%. We wonder how this unit got the 80 Plus Bronze certification.
Voltages were closer to their nominal values (3% regulation) during tests one, two, and three. On test four, the +3.3 V was outside this tighter regulation, but still inside the proper range, at +3.15 V. However, on tests four and five, the +5VSB was at +4.70 V, below the minimum allowed (+4.75 V). Also, the +3.3 V was below the minimum allowed during test five, at +3.10 V. The ATX12V specification says positive voltages must be within 5% of their nominal values, and negative voltages must be within 10% of their nominal values.
Noise and ripple levels were low, except the +5VSB output, which surpassed the 50 mV limit at 61.2 mV during test five. Below you can see the results for the power supply outputs during test number six, with the unit delivering around 600 W. The maximum allowed is 120 mV for +12 V and -12 V outputs, and 50 mV for +5 V, +3.3 V and +5VSB outputs. All values are peak-to-peak figures.
Figure 17: +12VA input from load tester during test five at 562.8 W (50.2 mV)
Figure 18: +12VB input from load tester during test five at 562.8 W (57.4 mV)
Figure 19: +5V rail during test five at 562.8 W (17.4 mV)
Figure 20: +3.3 V rail during test five at 562.8 W (31.4 mV)
Let’s see if we can pull more than 560 W from this unit.