FSP Aurum Gold 700 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 input was connected to the power supply +12V1 and +12V3 rails, and the +12VB input was connected to the power supply +12V2 rail.
| Input | Test 1 | Test 2 | Test 3 | Test 4 | Test 5 |
| +12VA | 4.5 A (54 W) | 9.5 A (114 W) | 14.5 A (174 W) | 19 A (228 W) | 25 A (300 W) |
| +12VB | 4.5 A (54 W) | 9.5 A (114 W) | 14.5 A (174 W) | 19 A (228 W) | 25 A (300 W) |
| +5V | 2 A (10 W) | 4 A (20 W) | 6 A (30 W) | 8 A (40 W) | 10 A (50 W) |
| +3.3 V | 2 A (6.6 W) | 4 A (13.2 W) | 6 A (19.8 W) | 8 A (26.4 W) | 10 A (33 W) |
| +5VSB | 1 A (5 W) | 1.5 A (7.5 W) | 2 A (10 W) | 2.5 A (12.5 W) | 3 A (15 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 | 137.5 W | 277.1 W | 414.5 W | 538.7 W | 695.1 W |
| % Max Load | 19.6% | 39.6% | 59.2% | 77.0% | 99.3% |
| Room Temp. | 44.8° C | 43.9° C | 44.9° C | 47.1° C | 47.5° C |
| PSU Temp. | 42.4° C | 42.9° C | 43.4° C | 44.3° C | 46.5° C |
| Voltage Regulation | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Ripple and Noise | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| AC Power | 153.1 W | 304.2 W | 459.9 W | 606.1 W | 801.0 W |
| Efficiency | 89.8% | 91.1% | 90.1% | 88.9% | 86.8% |
| AC Voltage | 117.6 V | 116.1 V | 114.7 V | 113.2 V | 111.3 V |
| Power Factor | 0.985 | 0.996 | 0.998 | 0.999 | 0.999 |
| Final Result | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
The FSP Aurum Gold 700 can really deliver its labeled wattage at high temperatures.
Efficiency was extremely high when we pulled between 20% and 80% of the power supply labeled wattage (i.e., between 140 W and 560 W), between 89% and 91%, dropping to 86.8% at full load.
Voltage regulation was very good, with all voltages within 3% of their nominal values, except the -12 V output and the +3.3 V output during tests one and five. 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 most of the time.
Noise and ripple levels were below the maximum allowed, but a little bit high for us to consider this a “flawless” unit. 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 19: +12VA input from load tester during test five at 695.1 W (69.2 mV)
Figure 20: +12VB input from load tester during test five at 695.1 W (75.6 mV)
Figure 21: +5V rail during test five at 695.1 W (30.6 mV)
Figure 22: +3.3 V rail during test five at 695.1 W (32.4 mV)
Let’s see if we can pull even more from the FSP Aurum Gold 700.