Huntkey Balance King 5000 500 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 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.
The +12VA and +12VB inputs listed below are the two +12 V independent inputs from our load tester. During this test the +12VA input were connected to the power supply +12V1 and +12V3 rails, 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) | 7.5 A (90 W) | 11 A (132 W) | 14 A (168 W) | 17.5 A (210 W) |
| +12VB | 3 A (36 W) | 7 A (84 W) | 10.5 A (126 W) | 14 A (168 W) | 17.5 A (210 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 (5 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) | 1.5 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 | 104.8 W | 203.2 W | 305.0 W | 399.5 W | 500.1 W |
| % Max Load | 21.0% | 40.6% | 61.0% | 79.9% | 100.0% |
| Room Temp. | 44.5° C | 44.6° C | 45.8° C | 48.4° C | 46.0° C |
| PSU Temp. | 50.7° C | 50.8° C | 51.9° C | 54.5° C | 48.7° C |
| Voltage Regulation | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Ripple and Noise | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| AC Power | 136.2 W | 253.2 W | 379.3 W | 503.5 W | 645.0 W |
| Efficiency | 76.9% | 80.3% | 80.4% | 79.3% | 77.5% |
| AC Voltage | 114.0 V | 112.8 V | 111.3 V | 110.3 V | 108.4 V |
| Power Factor | 0.993 | 0.997 | 0.998 | 0.998 | 0.998 |
| Final Result | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
Huntkey Balance King 5000 could really deliver its labeled wattage at high temperatures (and even more than that, as we will talk about in the next page).
The only problem with this power supply was efficiency, which was above 80% only when we pulled between 40% and 60% from its labeled wattage (i.e., between 200 W and 300 W).
Voltage regulation was outstanding, with all voltages within 3% from their nominal values (except -12 V output during test one) – i.e., values closer to their “face value” than required, as the ATX12V specification allows voltages to be within 5% from their nominal values (10% for -12 V).
Noise and ripple levels were always very low. Below you can see the results for test five. The maximum allowed is 120 mV on +12 V and 50 mV on +5 V and +3.3 V. All these numbers are peak-to-peak figures.
Figure 18: +12VA input from load tester at 500.1 W (36.2 mV).
Figure 19: +12VB input from load tester at 500.1 W (35.8 mV).
Figure 20: +5 V rail with power supply delivering 500.1 W (11.4 mV).
Figure 21: +3.3 V rail with power supply delivering 500.1 W (9.2 mV).
Now let’s see if this unit can deliver more than 500 W.