Spire BlackDragon 400 W Power Supply Review

Conclusions

At first glance, the Spire BlackDragon 400 W looks like a good entry-level power supply, with a good cable configuration and the manufacturer promising 86% efficiency.

Efficiency was between 77.8% and 83.1% on our tests. It’s not as high as promised by the brand, but it is good enough for an entry-level power supply. Voltage regulation was very good, with all positive voltages within 3% of their nominal values, while the ATX12V specification allows for a 5% margin. Noise and ripple levels were very low when we pulled up to 80% of the power supply labeled wattage, i.e., up to 320 W.

At 400 W, noise and ripple levels skyrocketed, which usually means the power supply surpassed its operating limits. Due to Spire’s reputation for buying power supplies from Seventeam and adding 50 to 100 more watts to the original label (click here to read the full story), we wouldn’t be surprised if this unit was originally a 350 W unit relabeled to 400 W.

Even though we know that entry-level systems won’t pull anything closer to 400 W, we can’t recommend this unit. The fact that it has a suggested price of USD 80 makes our non-recommendation easier. For less than that, you can buy the new Seasonic G-360, which is a vastly superior unit for the savvy user building an entry-level PC.