[nextpage title=”Introduction”]
Super Flower offers seven power supply models within their Golden King series: 500 W, 550 W, 600 W, 650 W, 750 W, 850 W, and 1,000 W, all with the 80 Plus Platinum certification. Today we are going to take a look at the 650 W version. Let’s check it out.
Super Flower is a traditional OEM manufacturer, meaning that their core business is to produce products that will be sold by other companies using their own brands. The Golden King 650 W, for example, is also sold as the Kingwin Lazer 650 W (LZP-650). So, even though power supplies with the Super Flower brand are not sold in the U.S., you may find them under a different brand.
Since we’ve already reviewed the 750 W version of this power supply, which is sold in the U.S. as the AZZA Platinum 750 W, we will be able to discuss the differences between the two versions.
Figure 1: Super Flower Golden King 650 W power supply
Figure 2: Super Flower Golden King 650 W power supply
The Super Flower Golden King 650 W is 6.7” (170 mm) deep, using a 140 mm ball-bearing fan on its bottom (Hong Hua HA1425M12B-Z). The unit has a switch on its rear for you to select the mode in which you want the fan to work. In “normal mode,” the fan will increase its speed with the temperature. In “ECO mode,” the fan will be left turned off until the power supply’s internal temperature reaches between 65° C and 70° C, so the power supply won’t emit any noise while it is “cold.”
The modular cabling system from this power supply has six connectors. Differently from most power supplies with a modular cabling system, you can install any kind of cable in any connector, i.e., there is no specific connector for the video card power cables or for the peripheral and SATA power cables. The unit comes with the main motherboard cable, an ATX12V/EPS12V cable, and two video card power cables permanently attached to it. They use nylon sleeves that come from inside the unit. This power supply comes with the following cables:
- Main motherboard cable with a 20/24-pin connector, 21.6” (55 cm) long, permanently attached to the power supply
- One cable with two ATX12V connectors that together form an EPS12V connector, 24.4” (62 cm) long, permanently attached to the power supply
- Two cables, each with one six/eight-pin connector for video cards, 22.4” (57 cm) long, permanently attached to the power supply
- Two cables, each with one six/eight-pin connector for video cards, 20.5” (52 cm) long, modular cabling system
- Two cables, each with four SATA power connectors, 20” (51 cm) to the first connector, 5.5” (14 cm) between connectors, modular cabling system
- One cable with three standard peripheral power connectors, 19.7” (50 cm) to the first connector, 5.1” (13 cm) between connectors, modular cabling system
- One cable with two standard peripheral power connectors and one floppy disk drive power connector, 19.7” (50 cm) to the first connector, 5.1” (13 cm) between connectors, modular cabling system
The wires that are permanently attached to the power supply are 16 AWG, i.e., thicker than the minimum recommended. All other wires are 18 AWG.
The number of connectors is outstanding for 650 W power supplies, as it is rare to see 650 W units with four connectors for video cards, allowing you to install two high-end video cards that require two connectors each without the need for adapters.
Let’s now take an in-depth look inside this power supply.
[nextpage title=”A Look Inside the Super Flower Golden King 650 W”]
We decided to disassemble this power supply to see what it looks like inside, how it is designed, and what components are used. Please read our “Anatomy of Switching Power Supplies” tutorial to understand how a power supply works and to compare this power supply to others.
On this page we will have an overall look, and then in the following pages we will discuss in detail the quality and ratings of the components used.
Figure 8: The printed circuit board
[nextpage title=”Transient Filtering Stage “]
As we have mentioned in other articles and reviews, the first place we look when opening a power supply for a hint about its quality, is its filtering stage. The recommended components for this stage are two ferrite coils, two ceramic capacitors (Y capacitors, usually blue), one metalized polyester capacitor (X capacitor), and one MOV (Metal-Oxide Varistor). Very low-end power supplies use fewer components, usually removing the MOV and the first coil.
In the transient filtering stage, this power supply has two X capacitors more than the minimum required (plus two additional Y capacitors and one additional X capacitor after the rectifying bridge), but it doesn’t have an MOV, which is the component in charge of removing spikes coming from the power grid.
Figure 9: Transient filtering stage
On the next page, we will have a more detailed discussion about the components used in the Super Flower Golden King 650 W.
[nextpage title=”Primary Analysis”]
On this page, we will take an in-depth look at the primary stage of the Super Flower Golden King 650 W. For a better understanding, please read our “Anatomy of Switching Power Supplies” tutorial.
This power supply uses one US30K80R rectifying bridge, which is attached at the same time to an individual heatsink and to the heatsink where the active PFC and switching transistors are attached. This bridge supports up to 30 A at 97° C. In theory, you would be able to pull up to 3,450 W from a 115 V power grid. Assuming 80% efficiency, the bridge would allow this unit to deliver up to 2,760 W without burning itself out (or 3,105 W at 90% efficiency). Of course, we are only talking about this particular component. The real limit will depend on all the components combined in this power supply. This is the same bridge used by the 750 W version.
The active PFC circuit uses two IPP50R199CP MOSFETs, each one supporting up to 17 A at 25° C or 11 A at 100° C in continuous mode (note the difference temperature makes), or 40 A at 25° C in pulse mode. These transistors present a 199 mΩ maximum resistance when turned on, a characteristic called RDS(on). The lower the number the better, meaning that the transistor will waste less power, and the power supply will have a higher efficiency. These are the same transistors used by the 750 W version.
The active PFC circuit is managed by an NCP1653A active PFC controller.
Figure 11: Active PFC controller
The output of the active PFC circuit is filtered by a 560 µF x 400 V Japanese electrolytic capacitor, from Chemi-Con, labeled at 105° C.
In the switching section, another two IPP50R199CP MOSFETs are employed using a resonant configuration. The specifications for these transistors were already discussed above. The 750 W version uses more powerful transistors here (23 A at 25° C).
Figure 13: The two active PFC transistors, the active PFC diode, and one of the switching transistors
The switching transistors are controlled by an SF29601 controller, but we couldn’t find more information about this chip. We believe that the original manufacturer got a resonant controller and relabeled it, as SF stands for “Super Flower.” Interestingly enough, the controller is placed in the secondary of the power supply.
Figure 14: Resonant controller
Let’s now take a look at the secondary of this power supply.
[nextpage title=”Secondary Analysis”]
As one would expect in a high-efficiency power supply, the Super Flower Golden King 650 W uses a synchronous design, where the Schottky rectifiers are replaced with MOSFETs. Also, the reviewed product uses a DC-DC design in its secondary. This means that the power supply is basically a +12 V unit, with the +5 V and +3.3 V outputs produced by two smaller power supplies connected to the main +12 V rail. Both designs are used to increase efficiency.
The +12 V output uses four IPP041N04N G MOSFETs, each one supporting up to 80 A at 100° C in continuous mode, or up to 400 A at 25° C in pulse mode, with a maximum RDS(on) of 4.1 mΩ. The 750 W version uses more powerful transistors here (90 A at 100° C).
Figure 15: The +12 V transistors
As explained, the +5 V and +3.3 V outputs are produced by two DC-DC converters, which are situated on a single printed circuit board located in the secondary section of the power supply. Each converter is controlled by one NCP1587A integrated circuit and uses four IPD040N03L MOSFETs, each supporting up to 76 A at 100° C in continuous mode and up to 400 A at 25° C in pulse mode, with a maximum RDS(on) of 4 mΩ.
Figure 16: The DC-DC converters
Figure 17: The DC-DC converters
We didn’t see an integrated circuit for monitoring the power supply outputs. Since the Power Good wire and sensors were connected to the small printed circuit board where the resonant controller was attached, our best guess is that the enigmatic SF29601 controller with the aid of four operational amplifiers provided by an LM324 integrated circuit do the trick.
The electrolytic capacitors available in the secondary are also Japanese, from Chemi-Con
, and labeled at 105° C, as usual.
[nextpage title=”Power Distribution”]
In Figure 19, you can see the power supply label containing all the power specs.
This unit has a single +12 V rail, so there is not much to talk about here.
How much power can this unit really deliver? Let’s find out.[nextpage title=”Load Tests”]
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 this test, the +12VA and +12VB inputs were connected to the power supply’s single +12 V rail. (The +12VB input was connected to the power supply EPS12V connector.)
Input | Test 1 | Test 2 | Test 3 | Test 4 | Test 5 |
+12VA | 5 A (60 W) | 10 A (120 W) | 14.5 A (174 W) | 19 A (228 W) | 23.5 A (282 W) |
+12VB | 5 A (60 W) | 10 A (120 W) | 14 A (168 W) | 19 A (228 W) | 23.5 A (282 W) |
+5 V | 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) | 1.5 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 | 141.2 W | 273.5 W | 395.2 W | 528.4 W | 654.4 W |
% Max Load | 21.7% | 42.1% | 60.8% | 81.3% | 100.7% |
Room Temp. | 45.3° C | 44.9° C | 45.7° C | 47.5° C | 46.1° C |
PSU Temp. | 45.0° C | 45.5° C | 46.3° C | 47.9° C | 49.5° C |
Voltage Regulation | Pass | Pass | Pass | Fail at +5VSB | Fail at +5VSB |
Ripple and Noise | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
AC Power | 154.6 W | 297.3 W | 433.2 W | 587.3 W | 743.0 W |
Efficiency | 91.3% | 92.0% | 91.2% | 90.0% | 88.1% |
AC Voltage | 115.2 V | 114.3 V | 111.7 V | 109.9 V | 107.7 V |
Power Factor | 0.986 | 0.983 | 0.988 | 0.991 | 0.992 |
Final Result | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass |
The 80 Plus Platinum certification guarantees minimum efficiencies of 90% at 20% load, 92% at 50% load, and 89% at 100% load. In our tests, the Super Flower Golden King 650 W presented 91.3% efficiency at 20% load. We didn’t test this power supply at 50% load, but considering that we saw 92.0% efficiency at 40% load and 91.2% efficiency at 60% load, we can assume that this unit is able to achieve 92% efficiency at 50% load. At full load, we saw 88.1% efficiency, which is below the minimum advertised by the 80 Plus Platinum certification. However, we have to consider that during this test, the AC voltage dropped to 107.7 V, which may be the culprit. Also, always keep in mind that we test power supplies between 45° C and 50° C, while the 80 Plus tests are conducted at 23° C, and efficiency drops as temperature increases.
Voltage regulation for +12 V, +3.3 V, and -12 V was excellent, closer to their nominal values (3% regulation) during all tests. The +5 V output went outside this tighter regulation during test one, at +5.16 V, but still inside the proper range. The +5VSB output, however, was inside the proper range during tests one, two, and three, but was below the minimum allowed at tests four (at +4.68 V) and five (at +4.67 V). The ATX12V specification states that positive voltages must be within 5% of their nominal values, and negative voltages must be within 10% of their nominal values.
Let’s discuss the ripple and noise levels on the next page.
[nextpage title=”Ripple and Noise Tests”]
Voltages at the power supply outputs must be as “clean” as possible, with no noise or oscillation (also known as “ripple”). The maximum ripple and noise levels allowed are 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. We consider a power supply as being top-notch if it can produce half or less of the maximum allowed ripple and noise levels.
The Super Flower Golden King 650 W provided low ripple and noise levels, as you can see in the table below.
Input | Test 1 | Test 2 | Test 3 | Test 4 | Test 5 |
+12VA | 7.4 mV | 12.0 mV | 15.2 mV | 20.6 mV | 37.0 mV |
+12VB | 8.6 mV | 13.4 mV | 16.8 mV | 23.4 mV | 42.6 mV |
+5 V | 6.0 mV | 8.2 mV | 9.8 mV | 10.8 mV | 12.8 mV |
+3.3 V | 4.2 mV | 5.6 mV | 6.4 mV | 8.6 mV | 15.0 mV |
+5VSB | 5.2 mV | 6.6 mV | 8.8 mV | 10.6 mV | 17.6 mV |
-12 V | 9.4 mV | 9.0 mV | 10.2 mV | 10.2 mV | 12.2 mV |
Below you can see the waveforms of the outputs during test five.
Figure 20: +12VA input from load tester during test five at 654.4 W (37 mV)
Figure 21: +12VB input from load tester during test five at 654.4 W (42.6 mV)
Figure 22: +5V rail during test five at 654.4 W (12.8 mV)
Figure 23: +3.3 V rail during test five at 654.4 W (15 mV)
Let’s see if we can pull more than 650 W from this unit. [nextpage title=”Overload Tests”]
Below you can see the maximum we could pull from this power supply. The objective of this test is to see if the power supply has its protection circuits working properly. This unit passed this test, since it shut down when we tried to pull more than what is listed below. During this test, noise and ripple levels at the +12 V outputs double, but were still below the maximum allowed. All outputs were still inside 3% of their nominal values, except for the +5VSB output, which was below the minimum allowed at +4.72 V.
Input | Overload Test |
+12VA | 28 A (336 W) |
+12VB | 28 A (336 W) |
+5 V | 10 A (50 W) |
+3.3 V | 10 A (33 W) |
+5VSB | 3 A (15 W) |
-12 V | 0.5 A (6 W) |
Total | 778.4 W |
% Max Load | 119.8% |
Room Temp. | 45.4° C |
PSU Temp. | 50.3° C |
AC Power | 915 W |
Efficiency | 85.1% |
AC Voltage | 107.3 V |
Power Factor | 0.993 |
[nextpage title=”Main Specifications”]
The main specifications for the Super Flower Golden King 650 W power supply include:
- Standards: EPS12V 2.92
- Nominal labeled power: 650 W
- Measured maximum power: 778.4 W at 45.4° C
- Labeled efficiency: 80 Plus Platinum certification, minimum efficiency of 92% at typical (i.e., 50%) load, 90% at light (i.e., 20%) load, and 89% at full load
- Measured efficiency: Between 88.1% and 92%, at 115 V (nominal, see complete results for actual voltage)
- Active PFC: Yes
- Modular Cabling System: Yes
- Motherboard Power Connectors: One 20/24-pin connector and two ATX12V connectors that together form an EPS12V connector, permanently attached to the power supply
- Video Card Power Connectors: Two six/eight-pin connectors on two cables permanently attached to the power supply and two six/eight-pin connectors on two cables on the modular cabling system
- SATA Power Connectors: Eight on two cables, modular cabling system
- Peripheral Power Connectors: Six on two cables, modular cabling system
- Floppy Disk Drive Power Connectors: One
- Protections (as listed by the manufacturer): Over voltage (OVP), over power (OPP), and short-circuit (SCP) protections
- Are the above protections really available? Yes.
- Warranty: NA
- More Information: https://www.super-flower.com.tw
- Average Price in the U.S.: NA
[nextpage title=”Conclusions”]
The Super Flower Golden King 650 W can be an option if you are looking for a 650 W power supply with the 80 Plus Platinum certification and modular cabling system as long as its price is right. Unfortunately, since it is not sold in the U.S., we can’t compare its price to its main competitors.
However, in the U.S. we have the Kingwin Lazer 650 W, which is identical to the Super Flower Golden King 650 W and is found for USD 170 at Newegg.com, which is way above its main competitors: the Antec Earthwatts Platinum 650 W and the Rosewill FORTRESS-650, both at USD 120.
The advantages of this power supply include the “ECO” switch, which keeps the fan turned off until the power supply’s internal temperature reaches between 65° C and 70° C, and the presence of four power cables for video cards.
The disadvantages include the +5VSB output operating below the minimum allowed (at least on the sample we received), availability, and pricing.
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